Good news . Bad news .

 

Boxing Day and up to watch the Sun rising .

We had got away for a few days fossil hunting in Dorset . We hadn't expected that cold weather to last as long as it did  .

I had a few precious plants covered and fleeced over , but I knew before we came home , that I would probably have a few loses .

I pulled out the last of the Courgettes . The low light levels had finished them off  . The spent compost , I threw onto the African Keyhole bed .

Coriander , Dill and Pak Choi , I think , will be fine .

O.K. So I'll give you the bad news first .  Yep ...my beautiful Red Ensete Ethiopian Bananas are looking really bad . 

    The reason for this is the man who built our new workshop and woodshed did not do the roof properly . Apart from it being four inches lower than the old shed roof and it is also leaking all over the place .  He is supposed to be coming back to fix it , but he is taking his time . So where it has leaked on the plants , they have frozen and then thawed .

I have always got these two huge plants through the winter just fine . They usually look a bit tatty but always recover .

I have never seen them looking so sad and I fear this time they will not recover . 

I,ve kept these two plants going for a few years now .

This makes me feel so unhappy .

The good news is that all of my Sweet Peas are germinating . 

                                 This makes me feel so happy !

Expertrees team came and coppiced some of our overgrown hedgerows for us  . They did an excellent job . 

They even cut me some nice Hazel bean poles , which will save me doing it ! 

So now our neighbours will also have a better view of the Sun-rise . A perfect Winter Solstice gift !

                                                   Everybody happy !

The wasps seem to have gone from the big old tree stump , so now I can dig up my potatoes , if they haven't rotted in the ground . I'm going to try growing potatoes in tubs next year .

I was worried that my Squirrel friends would not come back after such a drastic coppicing .

                                           "You talking about me ? "

      I topped up the feeding station with peanuts and ....I needn't have worried  !