Storm Benjamin

 

Told you it was going to rain !  🌧️ So Storm Benjamin wasn't too bad here . It rained hard during the night .....I didn't hear any thunder . Now there are squalls coming in and it is a bit windy now and then . 

It has passed now . We might even see the Sun ! 🌤️

I hobbled up to the shed on my walking frame . Got to make space for the hanging basket .

All my lettuces and kale withered away while I was in hospital . 

I can't bend down to plant them , so ....anyway ....I threw them into the hedgerow . 

I'm still thinking about rescuing them now .  

I  shoved everything along to the end , the Epies , baby Agaves and pathetic pumpkins .

Anyway an hour later , it took me over an hour to do this ten minute job .

So now there is space for the hanging basket .

Normally, if I had been feeling up to it , I might have taken out the succulents in one long block and left it there on the bench and re-planted the basket with Wallflowers and Universal Pansies .

It has been so difficult with both of us poorly and in and out of hospital . I am so , so tired .

Trying to stay positive ...... my son in law dug out a nice big hole and placed a tub into it , to keep it open . The idea being , that  next year I can just easily drop in my Musa ensetii"Maurelii" the red leaved banoonah  .

                             Bobbin the Robin approved !

               Dinner-plate Dahlias that my daughter gave me are enjoying the rain .

                        Love and Peace  🤍 Love and Peace 🤍 Love and Peace 🤍

                                                            Debbie 💐 x

Musa ensete "Maurellii " Winter protection time 🌿

 

With my painful back injury and not only that but husband poorly too . Both been in hospital at the same time .Both now slowly recovering at home . Sigh ,  I had given up on the plans I'd made to dig up and haul in the Musa ensete "Maurellii" .

But then someone kindly came to the rescue !  My lovely exotic red banoonahs are now safely tucked away for the Winter . Fresh compost added to the pots , there is still plenty of time for them to get their roots down before the real cold weather starts . 

Musa basjoo will just have to take it's chance in the ground . I'll throw something over it if need be . An old curtain or coat .

My variegated Yucca elephantipes  has also been dragged in .I am just so grateful !

 The weather has been dry , but now turning quite cold . 

 I wore my jacket  for the first time this Autumn  . Slowly hobbling about with my walking frame .

I'm having a rethink about the vegetable garden for next year .   

                   ......... feeling blue  .....

                    

⛈️Dodging the showers 🌤️🌦️

 

                        There are still some hefty showers coming through !

I kept Ricardo company while he made a start cutting down the old grape vine arbor /arch  .

   At this point , I was a little worried that it might not turn out quite as I had planned !

It is going to become ( hopefully ) a very la-di-da and uppity over-wintering pergola for my Musa basjoo . 

When the weather starts to get really bad ....

I'm going to staple gun fleece or windbreak mesh onto it . Maybe a clear corrugated plastic roof or something over the top .

If we get a particularly cold weather warning I can throw an old coat or duvet over it .

  My thinking is that I want it to be tall enough , that we can use it again for a second year . After that , it will be left uncovered .

It is very rotten in places and pieces falling off . It would be great if we can save it .

                          Almost finished !                                                 

                                           Oh ! I love it SO much !

         A steaming hot Cornish Pasty for lunch and a nice cuppatea !  🫖☕

                                                       🌦️🌧️⛈️🌦️☀️  

Thinking Days

 

                          The sun has returned . 

         My Achilles ankle is hurting so am not allowed to do much for a couple of days .

Meanwhile on the bedroom windowsill - My Turmeric plant is looking fabulous ! 

My only thought now is  of how big it is going to get and can I get it through the Winter months . Will it be happy on the windowsill or should I take it up to the greenhouse  ?  🤔

                                   The smaller weirdo plant is Ginger ! 

Anyway the lovely leaves of the Turmeric reminded me of the Banana plants outside .

I should be taking out the Musa Ensete maurelii - ( the red one )  sometime soon  and moving it into it's overwintering shelter .

The green one is Musa basjoo - this is the hardy one . I'll talk about that in a bit ....more thinking to be done  🤔

I looked through my records to remind myself of when I usually do this .  🤔

So here I am digging it out ....it seems that I did this around 25th September  .

So I have a couple of weeks still to get organised  .

I need a couple more bags of good compost . I take them up with as much of a good root-ball and earth as I can and put them into their tubs with lovely fresh compost to get their roots down into . I water to settle them in then that's it really . I hardly give any watering over Winter . They ( I actually have two of these ) are then dragged into their shelter zones under cover . They have light from the overhead corrugated plastic roof . 

                                Musa basjoo -  the hardy one .

At least I hope it is ! I kept it under cover last winter , because it was , I felt , too small . 

This year I am going to be very brave and leave it in the ground  and make some kind of a frame to go over it . 🤔

Scary !   

Then I had an idea !  🤔💡 🍇🌿😃

The old grapevine arbor/arch . I had twice tried to put it back up , but it just keeps falling down and is very rickety and broken in several places . We were going to chop it up for fire wood , but now I'm thinking . 🤔

 If we cut it down by a third , it could make an attractive (in a wonky kind of way ) shelter to go over the banana plant !  😃

Might even paint it ! 🤩

Anyway , as you can see , I haven't really done much about this area that I was recently saying needs smartening up .

Well , this is because it's not one of those garden make-over shows and Rome wasn't built in a day !

... and I've been really busy doing this !

Clearing the pathway/route up and around this shrubby slightly sloping bed , so that I can prune the bushes and trees ...I need to check on a newly planted red leafed Acer that is up there in front of the Holly tree .

There are a couple of  trees that have got to go .

🕊️And we have a new dovecot to replace the one that was smashed down in the storms last year . I need to clear out the remaining broken bits of the base of the old one . 

I was heartbroken when that came down in the winter storms . My sweet heart daughter and son in law bought us a lovely new one . 🕊️

There is a lot of thinking to be done here too  🤔

I'm going to clear everything back from the Cornish hedge , take out any Sycamore and Sloe bushes that are germinating  . They are a real pain ! I think I have cleared most of the brambles in this first part of the way . 

Possibly that fir tree is on it's way out .

I will dig a large hole while the earth is soft , wet and easy to dig and next year I think that one of the Red Musa Banoonahs will look quite splendid here . 

Lower down than I usually plant it .🤔 It should look nice with the Cornish hedge behind it .

More thinking !  🤔 At the moment I can easily climb up onto this bed and there is a little step , it would be better if it was wider . 🤔 So , I am going to move some of the rocks around , to widen that step .

You can go now if you're bored ....

So I printed out a picture of this , numbered to rocks and cut them out .....to help my husband visualise what I am planning  .

Then I moved them into their new positions ....

That's just my keyboard underneath the picture ....so I cut out a bit of the undergrowth to fill in the gap .

...and stuck it where the new widened bit of the step will be . 

I would like to take out number one and two , and make it a little bit bigger still but Ricardo is not sure about that . 

                      It's o.k ....everything will be okay.....I know what I'm doing . 

                                 Debbie knows what she is doing ! 

                                                  I is knowing !                    

                                                     🌿☀️🌿