Pallet gardening...

There's a lot on the internet about pallet transformations.

Last year I had grand plans to turn 2 old pallets into veg boxes, I got as far as whacking them with a hammer n nails then they sat at the bottom of the garden.

The bottom of my garden is a no go area, over-run by weeds and a very wobbly/unsafe shed.

There they sat.

Que me finding instagram 

{I know always late to the party}

and no longer did they look like fire pit material

{not that I have a fire pit...yet}

I set my sights low and aimed to get one done

so I made a start,

gave it a good clean and stuck in situ

Popped along to Homebase, 11cm terracotta pots just 59p each {Bargain}

add a few plants and already a huge improvement

unable to paint though till the weather drys out.

I've chosen Cuprinol Urban Slate

Should show the flowers off nicely

This one needs dragging up

a few more pots/plants {begonias next}, a lick of wood stain and I'll be happy with them.

Then it's onto the next pallet project...

The space where the mouldy pallet is a real little sun trap, catching the very last rays of sunshine in my garden...

but it is SO UGLY!

I made a half-hearted start one year by painting the fence, but that was as far as I got.  

If you had seen the state of the whole garden you would know it was the least of my worries.

But it would be nice to be able to sit down there. 

I have high hopes of crochet projects being hooked away whilst I relish those last few drops of sunshine gold.

So as always with a limited budget I plan to make a pallet seat!

Two pallets should do it, a wedge of foam...

I think it can realisticly be done...nothing a bit of brute force, a cuppa tea and a hammer/drill can't sort out...surely?

Hopefully once {if} that is done I can move to the space down by the shed but that will more likely carry onto next years planning/budgeting.

In My Garden this week...

1st July 2013

following on from a similar thread over at the Soulemama blog...
{only she shows real progress of her lovely little farm}

The last time I took a photo it looked like this

Today it's looking like this

It doesn't look a great deal different I'll admit but there's 200lts of top soil {8 large bags to me} and a box of grass seed added to the mix.  

Im not expecting amazing results, I am hoping of course but certainly not expecting!  

I think given the state of it and my budget I will be happy to not twist my ankle when walking over it and to see a bit more green than brown.  

Home brewed plant food...

I thought I'd share how it goes with the making of the Home Made Plant Food Brew.  

Firstly the nettles.  

You can apparently cut nettles from the roadside, you cannot however dig them up!  We live next to an unkempt patch of hillside which rife with nettles and thorns so acquiring the nettles is nice and easy.

A LOT of nettles are needed, pack them tightly into the bucket...make sure you really squash them down

Cover them with water and put the bucket out of reach/sight of the kiddos

Finally we wait...reasonably patiently for a month...lets step away, no need to give it a poke or prod just let it be.

Im not sure if this can be used on indoor plants as well?  

The compost I used for the strawberries had food in it to last 6weeks so this will be brewed right on time to give them a top up.  

I also have no idea how long this will last?  Hoping that in an up-cycled milk container kept in the shade it will keep long enough for the strawberries.

The gardeners out there might have the answers?  

As a side thought can the home brew be used on grass to help it grow?  Surely wouldn't do any harm?

But Im getting ahead of myself again, need to level the ground and scatter the grass seed before watching it grow!

Moving on...

This is one of the humbling things about blogging...

the on line support from others.

We are busy people, you are busy, you have lives and yet you took time to stop by and give me a cheer from the sidelines.

And from my heart I thank you.

  

For me it's a blip, yet another curve ball but one that knocked me sideways by surprise.

I will try my absolute darnedest not go on about it anymore.

So moving onto the things at home...

Fonzy is still in his creative, making things stage.

  
He loves Angry Birds, I can't remember how he found them as we don't have it on this and my phone is a brick {talk/text only}  Saving pennies from Nanny and finding odd pennies around the house he is growing a little collection but he doesn't have them all by a long shot.  He spends hour upon hour each day creating his very own versions, mainly from empty cereal boxes but if there are no empty cereal boxes he simply makes his own paper box!  Playing with them now seems to be second to the actual making of them. The house resembles part paper shredding area part paper recycling centre, although I am trying hard to move it to the dining/play/craft room but it does like to migrate.

RV has finally found his confidence to play outside again.  We took tiny steps at a time, sitting with them outside while they played, each time spending longer and longer.  His little buddies from the estate spotted him and have been amazing...I've lost count of the number of times I heard one of them say in their own way how great it was to have him back among them.  Some of the older rapscallions have taken him under their wings and the biggest step has been that he managed to stay outside playing whilst the boy who hit him was 'around'.  The boy is a lover not a fighter, he'd rather have a hug than argue and I know how brave he has been to get back out there.

My lovely Loopy is having a bit of a time at school, we have a tummy ache almost every morning but especially on the days when there is an assembly.  I've been in twice to speak with her teachers and we still haven't managed to find a solution that works for them and her.  I know she enjoys school days as she comes out with a huge grin almost every day, telling me what a fab day she's had.  She has lots of friends, not one special one but lots of lovely mates.  She is now also worrying what class she will go into, there are 2 teachers for year 3 and she is dreading one.  I will once again be speaking with her teachers this week to ensure they are also aware of her worries and hope they can work towards helping her.

My eldest Abba has finally moved into her very own flat!  I'm still trying to work out how I feel about this.  I was looking forward to her moving out, getting the space and not having the constant arguing over everything with everyone.  But now she is gone there really is a huge gap in the home, what frustrated me before I miss now.  I am really proud of her, I'm happy she is happy, happy she is comfy in her little home.  Thankfully the car died the day after we moved her stuff to the flat.
Turns out Ikea deliver furniture to the door for a very reasonable price and considering how far from the car park and the 2 flights of steps to her flat it was even better value for her!!

Once she clears the last of her stuff little man {Fonzy} will be moving into that room, giving the girls a bit of much needed space...watch this space for more changing rooms.

Inspiring graffiti

The others are all well and good.  I always feel the need to touch wood when I say things like that, not wanting to jinx it.

H had his 18th last month, really doesn't seem possible that I can be the mother to this strapping 6' 3" lad.  
One of his tattoos

...designed by Abba

Lolly has had exams and has had a bit of reality kick in that she is going to have to actually work on some subjects to maintain her grades.

The garden is still in it's awful state. 

It's not beyond hope but it needs top soil to level it off which I will need a lift to get home.   

My strawberries are growing rather nicely, flowers on almost all the plants, little fingers are crossed for strawberries.  

I watched Gardeners World last night and the lovely Monty Don gave a 'recipe' to make your own plant food which I'll be popping into brew this weekend. 

Fill a bucket ram full of stinging nettles 
{we have an abundance of these} 

and cover with water, leave for a month, drain the water/brew into a container and use as plant food!  Sounds ingenious!! 
{and free}

We are ticking along, getting into new grooves.  The house will never be show worthy {some days it looks presentable} but it will always be a home and as we all know that is what really counts. 

I'm off to dream of mowing the lawn {who'd have thought I'd miss that chore?}, the smell of freshly cut grass...hmmmn

xxx

Chelsea Flower Show this is not...

The Wonderful Chelsea Flower Show started this week

*sigh*

I love the show, I've never been there but I've watched it every year since I was a little girl.  

A few years back the garden, my garden was quite pretty.  Lived in but it did have flowers and pots and a quite impressive selection of strawberry and tomato plants literally overflowing on the patio.

My hubby Bob used to work away for quite long periods of time, his job could take him away for 3months at a time.  Not just one offs but all through the year.  

This meant lots of quiet evenings by myself {pre internet}...I spent a LOT of time painting the house, moving furniture, moving rooms and come Spring I would spend time in the garden. 

You'll chuckle but I'd watch the highlights of the Chelsea show on TV then go out and do a spot of evening gardening!  

It's actually quite a good time as the slugs come out around then and I managed to keep on top of them without using chemicals...just checking pots, plants one by one.  Dead heading as I went along and at the end I'd fill the watering can and give them all a drink before sitting out on the patio {weather permitting, but I remember it being warm enough to sit out with a jumper} with a cuppa tea watching the bats flying over before heading back in feeling I'd done my 'bit'!

The garden is now a walk of shame and in all honesty I don't know where to start.  

I stripped it back a couple of years ago to put fencing up and then we got the chickens and let them have free reign and now the garden is simply a dusty mud patch.

Oh well small steps...I suspect getting the tape measure out will be a start!

Sid...

is a vicious little snitch...

He may look cute and quite cuddly but he is a bolshy little sneak thief who is happy to tangle with me and the garden broom!!

Dont go 'aaaahh bless him' {or her!}

This bolshy little squirrel thinks he is king of the garden...he has jumped up at Fonzy, clinging onto his wellies as he tried to shake him off; he has chased the chickens when they tried to shoo him off; he has jumped up at me as I tried to shoo him with the broom {I promise Im not over stating that}; he clung on like a rodeo rider to said broom when I got him.

My neighbours are now convinced they have the STRANGEST family next door; 

me running in wellies full pelt down the slippery garden, wielding a broom apparently looks a bit odd to the un-trained eye?!

The problem is; he is eating their food and they're fussy little madams who insist on posh organic feed,

so seeing him sprawled out in their feeder picking his way through the contents may look cute but is proving costly

 Any ideas on how to rid us of Sid are greatly accepted!

So far he's been back 2days in a row, thinks the broom is a ride of fun and I can't help but feel he and his mates are ridiculing me...

...and where oh where are the girls whilst he is in there having a slap up meal for 1?...

Defending their patch? Guarding the food? Chasing the offender down? 

Nah, not a bit of it...

...with the patio door open and unguarded??

yep getting comfy inside!

Wet Days...

Oh like the rest of the UK we've had so many wet days!

The garden which has been trashed by the chickens looks terrible!  Im embaressed to admit this is now our garden...plans are there to improve it but money is needed first, so for now we slip,slide and squelch our way to their house each day

The wet weather has given us more rainbows than I can remember seeing...

Taken on different days...

Wet days have meant more time spent inside...the garden is out of bounds now on wet days due to the general state of it.

Still the Lego is a firm favourite...Im thinking I might sell a couple of toys that are getting less play now that Fonzy is older and put the money to a nice big box of Lego?

I keep finding various creations around the house, hidden in different shelves!

Bun thieves...

We are I think an odd family at times!  Some may say we're odd all the time, others would say not so odd but I would say odd at times...

There are times when I look out the door and wonder what on earth is going on, sometimes the noise level is an indication of what going on...other times it's the lack of noise

So when I looked out the window and spotted Fonzy I really had to chuckle

The day before I had baked Chelsea Buns...quite good ones actually if I say so myself.  Anyways Fonzy took his outside to eat and dropped it on the patio, before he could bend over to pick it up the girls had swarmed him and nicked it in lightening quick time.

So on this day when I baked cupcakes he was taking no chances!

He had squirreled himself away, dragging the footy goal to the fence providing himself a hen proof snacking chair!!

You gotta admire the ingenuity and determination to eat a cake...that's my boy!

It's beginning to feel a lot like...

Springtime!

The mornings are lighter and the days are longer, the blossom is either out in bloom or tightly budded just waiting to pop, the daffodils have been in bloom and dare I say it the weather has been warmer.

On the bright chilly days we've made the most of the sun that pours through the patio doors and taken up residence in the dining/play room basking the sun but hiding from the winds...

And on Monday we threw the doors wide open, made ourselves yummy milkshakes...served with stripey straws...

And played with the sand-table on the patio...

and spent the entire day outside!  

Letters were written in the sand and Fonzy practised his letter forming, shadows were made and light played with.  Tea with teddies was taken and there was MUCH giggling and very little bickering.

Simple days after a busy weekend are wonderful, the laundry pile is looking depleted, the washing smells lovely and fresh after a time on the line, the house looks much more cheerful in the sunlight which in turn makes us all feel so much more cheerful.

Here's to a good week (please!)

Free Range Chickens...

The girls are now Free Range garden chickens...we let them out whenever we're home.  For their own safety I think the days we're out n about they will have to stay in their deluxe home.

Despite having the whole little garden to roam around they prefer instead to stalk us at the patio window, the expectation of food and company

Making themselves at home on all the toys

Enjoying a spot of sunbathing

Another chicken post I know...but they are just so darned entertaining!

More work on the garden....

Well not really work on the garden but a clear out of the front shed to move the corner unit to the back garden on which Im hoping to grow a few herbs.

There's not much to show for the couple of hours it took me to clear the front shed out, sort and re-pack...out the back it looks even worse than when I stared this week as the kiddos have been out 'helping' me and this has involved a lot of riding bikes and scooters across what was the grass (its now just a mud patch)

{It gets a bit like this every year but they love going out so I learn to embrace the mud - after all mud is fun!}

So the fruits of my work yesterday in the garden are just this

before - a general mess, the corner dumping ground for the patio

And after...

You'll just have to take my word for it that it looks nicer than this, I did get rid of last years bunting which you can just see hanging drabbly on the fence.

I am sorry that it's been all garden and planning over the past couple of posts, but I am pretty excited to be working towards another long held ambition!

And so it begins...

After this sunrise this morning I was determind to make a start on the garden!

I'm not kidding you when I say the garden has endured 14years of abuse from the kiddos and only a smatter of attention from me, and certainly very little of anything good for the past few years

It is small and unruly.

(sounds like my youngest 3!)

As most of the growing is to be done in gro bags and sacks the need to toil the soil is small...which is good as the only patch to toil is a long narrow strip on the wall!

I was so keen to get stuck in that I didn't take before photo's but took a few afters...

although this a patch that will stay untouched, below the clematis and honeysuckle where our strawberries have rooted themselves

This is the little patch I hope to grow enough pumpkins to see us through Halloween this year

 And this is an idea of the after-trail little helping hands leave in the garden

I pulled out so many weeds, some skinny grass types and a few really sturdy dandilion ones.

The soil this side of the rose bush is not too bad as I used to grow Cape Daisies in it and look after it reasonably well, the other side of the rose is another story.  The main weeds have been removed and a couple of large unknown plant roots where pulled out.  There is however a tiny little tree that has self seeded and grown quite well in our neglect :)  A bit too much to pull out, I gave the roots a good old thrashing with the fork and will keep and hope we can get rid of it.

That's it for now, not much I grant you but a start.  

Thankfully the mild weather has left the soil OK to dig and I hope to get to the local dump to buy a couple of bags of compost from them in the next week or so to dig that into this little patch!

The 3 gro sacks will I hope sit on a sunny spot I have on the patio

1 for carrots 

1 for garlic and onions

and the final 1 for Butternut Squash

This will leave the patch of grass we have intact (well whatever we have left after the chooks are set free) for the kiddos and Cube.

OK I'm getting ahead of myself perhaps...next job in the garden a plank of wood down the pumpkin patch fence, to prevent the weeds from next door creeping through and give a support for the chicken wire to attach to...then to dig the compost or manure in.

There are a lot of jobs to do and I need to get them into order so I don't waste time and energy

or money!