Those Darned Sciarid Compost Flies !

 

                        Sweet Daffodils in my garden right now . 

Meanwhile in the shed ......

I'd been noticing one or two of those pesky compost flies . And ordered a box of these yellow sticky fruit fly traps things from Amazon £3.49

                   They sent them out fast ! Very impressed !

There is no way any other insects such as butterflies or bees can get in to the shed , so only these sciarid flies will be caught .

  🪰🪰Sciarid flies lay their eggs in damp compost . The eggs hatch maggots 🐛🐛🐛. The maggots eat soft plant tissue including my seedlings tender roots and shoots . 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

I do not want them in my plant pots !  

Easy to use . Just peel off both sides and push it into the pots .  They are wickedly sticky !

                 Hopefully I have done this in good time .

                                            ☀️🌦️🌧️🌈

Sunshine and showers again ! 🌦️🌿

 

Wednesday , the Sun came out and shone pretty much all day . Glorious warm sunshine !

I fix up my henry hoover to a very long extension wire and gave the Summerhouse a good clean .

                                                                    🕸️🕸️🕷️

It was all going so well , that is until I went to move out this huge Aloe ferox .

  I hadn't watered it all through the winter months ,so it was quite light , but very spiky and awkward to carry out . I was also worried incase anything might come crawling or running out of the pot . So I lifted it carefully and quickly lifted it out on to the summerhouse deck trying not to look incase a spider should come out !

  As I passed through the door I heard a loud smashing sound  , I couldn't stop as I was still carrying it out . 

I thought it must be the lovely Chinese plant pot my friend had given me !  😭  

One "Arm" of the spiky Aloe had knocked down the pot as I came out .

I rushed back in ...the lovely Chinese pot was on the floor and when I picked it up I could see it was perfectly fine ...... no cracks or chips .......

....but the table it had fallen through was smashed to pieces ! 

My husband's Great Aunty Winnie's conservatory coffee table .....we're talking 1920's ! 

It was such thick glass too , at least a quarter of an inch thick , I really don't understand how the Chinese pot didn't get broken too ? !

Oh misery ! How I hate picking up smashed glass !  Ugh !

I picked up the worst of it . The table , we'll take it to the tip tomorrow ......sigh ....

 I feel terrible about it ....  😢 ( but so glad the Chinese pot was o.k. phew! )

Husband was o.k. about it . We still have the footstool that went with the bamboo conservatory furniture . The chairs went a long time ago . I recovered the footstool myself . I think Great Aunt Winnie would be happy that we'd kept her furniture for as long as we have  .

Still feeling fed up .  

Then 

The postman came and brought packages !   😃

I'd ordered a cutting of a plant .🌿

It has arrived !  🤩   Look how beautifully it has been packed ! 

And here it is !  Tradescantia pallida "Kartuz Giant "  and perfect !

 This is not the usual purple one that you often see . This one has really big leaves !

I used to have it , but lost it while we were having the new greenhouse built . All my plants were moved all over the place ! 

This was a nice calming job to do  .

Plants are good for you ! Really ! The best kind of therapy is getting your hands into the good earth !

And there she is all potted up with lots of new friends  😃🌿

         Feeling a much better now , I gathered up my sewing things ......

  ........and went and spent the rest of the day sitting in the warmth of the sunshine .....

............doing my embroidery . 

   I have just about come to the end of stitching my Angel . I am just waiting for the right sized piece of drift wood to be washed up on the beach , which she will be tacked on to  .

I'm now working on a "Pocket Oratory " but more on that on my "Cornish Needlework Basket " blog .

Friday  -    

It has turned cold again , icy cold showers , hail . I gathered kindling for the fire .

                Got the fire going .

                 Very gloomy weather again ,

             Made up paper fire twisties  , to start the fire with .

            I need more kindling than this for the next few days ! 

                       Cornish Pisky / Jack O'Lantern 

              Hope you are all o.k. Thinking of you . Peace and Love  🕊️💚🤍

                                        🌧️🌧️🌦️🌧️🌧️

🐌Just Weeding again 🌿🤗🌿🐌

 Not a lot to show you today . ☀️While the sun shone yesterday I gave the labyrinth it's third cut of the year and already it is looking much better .  

Today the weather is on the turn yet again . Very damp and mizzley .🌧️🌧️

I am tired after all the gardening I did yesterday . 

 I try to do a little bit everyday .

 I covered the Dahlia bed with some earth , mixing in some chicken pellets to give them a bit of a boost . Some of the tubers had become exposed after all the torrential rain . I should have given them a much thicker mulch back in the Autumn .....but that was when I had my spine injury  and I had no choice but to let go .

 Then I started to try and rake out the weeds growing through this Aloe . 

You may remember I did work on this bed back in the Summer .

Using this rake tool was useless , I ended up on my hands and knees  , to pull out miles and miles of Ivy and the occasional ouch... bramble .

 I don't wear gloves ....but I may have to go back in with gloves and actually  I think I will have to go back in and prize the bramble roots out with my big garden fork .

Annoyingly the brambles have chosen to grow right on the edge where the bed meets the lawn !

 I'll sort that out tomorrow . 

                    Ivy so hard to get to ! 

Big heap of weeds , which I have left on the lawn  to wilt . 

 I'll pick them up tomorrow .

I pulled off a couple of pieces that were beginning to walk across the lawn .

Just look at those gorgeous roots !  

 Gorgeous !  🤩

I will probably plant this somewhere else in the garden .

I got several pieces that I can make cuttings from to give away . 💚 They have lovely flowers in the Summer which butterflies and the bees love   🦋🐝🐝🐝

Meanwhile in the woodshed .......

......everything looks a little sad to say the least .  The Musa ensete maurellii is beginning to wake up after I gave them a little water the other day .

They wont be planted out until May , but can start into growth again now undercover .

This too looking very sad , I will start giving these a drink and some plant food soon .

This is/was a Peony ...... 😱........

....... but look !   There is a beautiful new shoot coming up in there !  🤩

More Agave americana variegata  . They have been kept dry over Winter , no water at all . I will repot these with fresh compost and later on I'll show you how they soon plump up and double in size .

So there we are , no pretty pictures to show you today I'm afraid .

The weather update - so now ,  🌧️it is forecast to rain and be mizzly forever ! 🌧️ For the next two weeks anyway .  🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️

                       Great !!   Easier to pull the weeds out !  🤗🌿🐌🐌

                                 Peace and Love  🩷