The Tolkien Coming of Age Club 2

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

We moved to BST a week ago and the unusual chill of the end of March has given way to traditional April weather - sunshine and showers but enough extra light to mean a lot of the week-end has been devoted to the garden. I have given the lawns a first rough cut with the hover mower and tidied the hedges. Having worked such long hours last summer I am determined to do more than keep on top of the basics this year. I went to the nursery yesterday for and edging tool and ont he return journey my gar was doing the "mobile greenhouse thing".

It was great to feel that Spring is hear even though you don't fully appreciate the size of the garden till you have walked round it with a mower then a rake. One of my pond-fish doesn't seem to clever so I have just bought it a tonic... I am ridiculously attached to my fish ....

It's not been fit to do any gardening here since about last October! Still, this did not stop me dodging hail and sleet today to go and tackle some work, mainly consisting of jet washing containers to get rid of algae, and pruning the tree-like herbs (I am now going to see if I can actually train some of the lavender to grow like a tree). Picked up the gargoyles and Bruce Forsyth (AKA The Thinker ) from where they had landed in the wind. No signs of frogs or toads yet, and there are already snails about - the curse of every summer for me. I found some Violas which have lasted the winter in little pots on the walls, even though they should have died last summer according to the label, so I didn't have the heart to throw them out! But my many geraniums have bit the dust. I eventually had to stash the new Violas and Aubreita (which I've been after having for years, and nowhere had anyuntil this year!) in the growhouse and retreat back indoors.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Violas! I’ve always wanted to plant some of those, but haven’t settled on where. Our daffodils and grape hyacinth are out, and the tulips are coming along soon.

Had an inch or so of snow over the last week, so I’m debating on whether to plant peas this weekend. I'm afraid I don’t know much about them, but the package says they can be planted as soon as the ground can be worked. If that is the case I’m running a bit late, but do have the cherry tomatoes started.(Getting ready for them to be put in hanging baskets with flowers this year!)

[Lalwendë]

I always plant them in small terracotta pots (which I paint blue or white, or combinations of, with stripes or polka dots!) and then group them together on my picnic bench (also blue) so I can enjoy the scent when I'm sitting outside. Last year they were lilac and yellow and this year they are purple and cream, but I might have the fortune to have last year's grow again this year now!

The seasons are all wrong this year. My indoor hyacinths were out at Christmas, I have tulips coming up and the honeysuckle is growing like mad, but none of the trees have shown buds yet, and everything else is barely alive! It's frustrating because I don't know if my purple wallflowers are alive or dead, and they already have fully flowering ones in the garden centre - so I suspect mine are dead.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

I hope that they are just slow and not dead! As for the trees, ours are just begining to bud now, which is a few weeks after the tulip leaves first began coming up. And the peepers started their songs a bit before that.

It was a strange winter, though, and still we are having spells much warmer than should be at thes time of year.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Still, this did not stop me dodging hail and sleet today to go and tackle some work ...

We had a hailstorm down in t'south too today. And it started just as I had managed (on the third attempt) to get a bonfire going.

Still, we managed to keep it going and get through the piles of culled foliage that had been collecting. I am quite proud of myself. My first bonfire as an adult.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

We had a hailstorm down in t'south too today. And it started just as I had managed (on the third attempt) to get a bonfire going.

Still, we managed to keep it going and get through the piles of culled foliage that had been collecting. I am quite proud of myself. My first bonfire as an adult.

Having raked up a lot of dead stuff I was tempted to burn it in the incinerator but I decided it was too antisocial and incompatible with the laundry hanging on the outside line. It also isn't very eco friendly as well as narking the neighbours. So I indulge my pyromania only on still grey days. Our council does run a collection service to collect green waste and compost it for a small fee so I am hoping that will reduce the need for burning / trips to the tip but I there is no finer way to cook a spud than in the ash of a good bonnie

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Having raked up a lot of dead stuff I was tempted to burn it in the incinerator but I decided it was too antisocial and incompatible with the laundry hanging on the outside line.

Well, our neighbours aren't averse to the occasional bonfire themselves, so I wasn't too worried. Although the Saucepan Boy (aged 5) did say that he was embarassed by all the smoke.

As for the ecological consequences, I am not too worried about the occasional bonfire, compared to all the stuff being put out into the atmosphere by heavy industry. When I visited Beijing last year, the permanent smog hanging over the city was alarming. It occured to me that, if rapidly industrialising and incredibly populous countries like China can't be persuaded into environmentally friendly means of production, we are all stuffed anyway.

Anyway, we do our bit. We recycle.

I have wonderful memories of family bonfires as a child, so I was rather looking forward to it. I never realised that they were such hard work to start and maintain ...

Still, it's still smoking even now after some heavy rain.