Close to giving up today

Had set aside the day today to empty the trailer of poo onto the cardboard. Predictably, all my helpers disappeared, (someone's xbox may go on a little holiday!!) so it was down to me!
had a wobble halfway through, it all seemed a bit too much for just me, and the lack of support was overwhelming, but picked myself back up, told myself it would be worth it, and started planning the pep talk I would give the family when they had tea!!!
2 Hours, 45 minutes later, it was done. About 2/3 of the garden is covered now, so still need more cardboard and poo, but I managed it! Feel quite proud of myself now, and glad I persevered.
I did take the photo, but it was rather dark by the time I had finished, and it is impossible to see what I have done! So, I googled a wish this was my garden photo instead!!!!

Poo!!!!!

Oh my!! A day spent shovelling poo, what has my life become???


Gillian took me to where her daughter goes horse riding today to get some fairly fresh horse manure, before we left, Lochlan helped me to cover the whole garden (one bed) with cardboard, so now it is ready for the poo to go on top. I'm not expecting to use this side of the garden this year, so it was ok to use fairly fresh stuff.
Gillian couldnt help with the shovelling, as she has hurt her back, so she helped me guide the trailer in, we parked next to the piles of poo, and I started forking it into the trailer. It took ages!

By the time I had got this far, I was shattered, and my arms were really aching. Fortunately the man (owner??) came over for a chat and to find out what I planned to use the poo for. When I told him, he said "Oh, I could have done it quickly for you with the loader" needless to say, I encouraged him to do just that, and fortunately he did!
I was a little worried as the tyres on Gillians trailer nearly popped under the weight, so we had to remove some of the manure from the trailer, but eventually it was all done, and by the time Rachel had finished her lesson, we were ready to leave.
Once I had had a cuppa, and warmed up a little at home, I went out and started barrowing it onto the garden, now it really was down to me, no loader available this time! It took quite a while, and a lot of effort, but I got the first four barrow loads onto the carboard. It is only a very thin layer, and 4 barrow loads certainly didnt go very far, I think I will need at least another trailer of fresh to cover this garden, not to mention the well rotted stuff for the other garden! I am going to be burning all those new year calories at this rate!

Next week I am going back for some well rotted stuff, so better get a move on laying this load!

Pruning again!

More time pruning today, spent a good couple of hours out in the garden today and can really start to see the potential.
Eilidh came out too, but wasn't too keen on most of the jobs, she finally settled to raking up the leaves and loose stuff from the garden and also emptying the wheelbarrow for me. Once she had completed a bit of raking, you could really see the garden starting to take shape, so I am getting quite excited now.


I bought some weed preventing fabric from the factory shop today, 1.5, x 8m for £4, i thought that seemed quite good, so bought 2. I think that I will use that over the garden once Alex (or me) have dug the weeds out. I didnt want to dig, as was hoping to put up boxes, but Alex has vetoed the boxes as he isnt willing to let me spend money on the wood, so said that he would dig it all for me. I hope he does dig it though, as I cant see him finding time.
I pruned the hedge along the back, up to the greenhouse. It really tidied it up. I also had a couple of boxes available, so laid them over the garden on the other side, and it is starting to take shape.
I bought some summer flowering bulbs and some red and white onion sets in poundland this week, and had wanted to have time to plant some of the bulbs in pots outdoors, but this week has been none stop, so hope to manage it next week some time. The onions have to wait until February, so hopefully we will have the first bed dug by the time they are ready to go in.

Happy Sunday!

My first major amount of time spent in the garden!!!!!
I am so pleased! It was dry, it was not freezing cold, it was not snowing, I was not needed elsewhere, so I got to spend a full 2 hours in the garden before it got dark! I cleared the area around the gate, so it now opens fully!!! Then I cut the hedge back to the fence so that I can walk around the first box, which I am going to get the materials for, and hopefully start building on Wednesday!!!!
I also laid a couple more boxes, picked up more broken glass and filled the peanut feeder for the birds :)
This morning whilst Eildh was at Ice skating, I walked back from the factory shop. Didnt have time to walk there and back as needed Dads birthday present and he was already on his way to the ice rink!
I've decided my phrase for this year is going to be 'Just do it'. No more not doing things incase I get it wrong, it's my garden, no-one is going to give me a row for getting it wrong, so I'm just going to 'do it' :)

Snowy Sunday

Woke up this morning to yet more snow, but havent let it stop me!!!
Whilst Eilidh was at Ice Skating, I walked up through Lockerbie to Tesco, was surprised to make it all the way to Tesco in 10 minutes, expected it to take twice that, think it would be as quick to walk as to take the car! By the time I had dashed round Tesco and come back again, that was 27 minutes, Sorted!!!
Took the first part of Peter's advice today and started covering the left side of the garden in cardboard. I had 14 boxes up in the loft, so I flattened them and laid them over the garden. I expected to cover one whole bed, but havent even managed 1/8th of a bed!!! Also, the ground was frozen and covered in snow, so it was a bit harder!!!

A fruitful Saturday!

Up and at it early today, left the house before 10 to pick up Peter, and delivered Avon books en route (10 minutes walking)Spent a while admiring Peter's garden, wow, not a spot left unused! One day I will have the time to acheive that! Then Peter came to see mine, and was speechless at the overgrown wilderness of it. :(
Peter did say though, that managing it on my own was a near impossibility, especially with a full time job too, so that made me feel less of a failure. Peter has suggested that I cover the left side of the garden with a thin layer of fresh Horse manure, and then black plastic for a year, to let it all die down, which will give me time to concentrate of the right side. He has suggested that I create beds with wooden sides, then fill them, as high as possible, but at least as high as my knees, with Horse manure! He suggests using fresh stuff for the lower layer, then a thick layer of well rotted stuff, at least a year old, which I can then plant straight into.
He has also suggested that I use one of my plastic barrels for chicken poo, which I mix with water, and then in the summer, I can water the plants with it for extra minerals, so going to set that up too.
Needless to say, Alex was less than enthusiastic, and will make it as difficult as possible for me to do the woodwork, even though he could do it with his eyes closed, and we have loads of scraps of wood which could at least get me started, but I will go out and ask the advice of other joiners if I have to and do it myself, if that is the way he is going to be.
Obtaining horse manure which is not frozen may be a challenge!!
I also completed another half hour of walking by walking to Samantha's to ask for the manure!

Not so easy

I have discovered that it really is not so easy to stick to these resolutions when I am working. The last two days I have got home and been tired, and the weather has been cold (did not creep above freezing at any point today) and it has been dark, and I just haven't wanted to get out and do anything.
Tomorrow I am hopefully having Peter Dreghorn over and will both be doing some things in the garden and he will give me some hints and tips about what I can do, that may encourage me a bit more. Also thinking of redistributing my solar lights so that I have a number of them in the veg garden, which also may help, if it is not pitch black all the time. As for exercise, I don't know how to manage that either, as I really am tired by the time I get in from work, I will have to think about how I can fit a bit of walking into my daily routine, maybe walking the dogs before breakfast...
This is going to be harder than it seemed at first!

Not such a success today :(

Well, the day started really well, with the first 16 minutes of exercise taken at 8am this morning!!! I took Lochlan to the bus stop this morning for school, then walked along the Service Road and into Kirkhill with the Avon books. Managed a cracking speed, even with the ice on the ground!
I made up the rest of the minutes delivering Avon books all morning, I walked the majority of it, making myself park the car and walk to as many as feasible, so I am sure I saved a wee bit of diesel too!
Unfortunately I then should have gone straight out to the garden, and didn't, I went in for a cuppa instead, by the time I had done that, and the dishes etc, it had started raining really heavily, which kept turning to snow, I am afraid even with my desire to fulfill my resolutions, I was not determined enough to go out in that!!!
Still, not to rest on my failures, tomorrow is another day, onward and upward!!!

Still going!

Well, the weather tried to work against me today, but I was determined to get on and complete my targets early today, so with coat, scarf and gloves, I set out!
I decided to combine my Avon with my exercise today and delivered my books up to North Greyrigg. It's only 5 books, but there is a lot of stopping and starting involved when I do it by car, so I am sure that I saved a bit of diesel too. Mind you, I was out for 55 minutes, so probably was not economical with my time!
I so didnt want to do the gardening after that, it was wet and miserable, and it took real determination to do it, but I decided I should do the garden before I went back inside, as it would be harder to go back out. I had thought I would do some digging, but the ground was frozen, so I decided to pick up some more of the bits of glass from the broken greenhouse. I cleared quite a bit, and stayed out 11 minutes, so not groundbreaking, but more than I had done before I started!

Just a quickie!!!

Well, today it is really cold!!! Spent ages doing the ironing before I went out, so it was 4.10pm when I went out and was already getting dark.
Spent exactly 10 minutes pruning the raspberries, can see where I have been now, which is good, but realised that I will have to make sure when I do the garden during the day, I will have to leave the jobs which can be done in the dark, as I am going to have a lot of them coming up as it will be the end of February before it is light when I get back from work!
I then went out for exactly 20 minutes for a walk with the dogs! All the way down to Yett Farm and back, will need to think of some good walks to do as I speed up, as could have done with going a bit further.
Tomorrow I am going to get the Avon books ready and walk out to some of the customers down the road, that should take more than 20 minutes, and also reduce the amount of time it will take to deliver the books on Wednesday too!
Didn't take any photos, so hope you like the one I got from google!

Big long walk today!

The kids have been so full of energy the last couple of days, so I decided to take them and the dogs for a really long walk around the woods. We were out for a good hour, and it felt good to blow the cobwebs away, although it was quite cold.
Will need to think about going into the garden soon, as it is still going dark around 3.30, so only a small window of opportunity!
Peter Dreghorn has agreed to come out and give me some advice on my garden, starting on Saturday, so I am looking forward to that. I am a little concerned about how I will manage my 10 minutes once I go back to work, as it will be pitch black when I get home, but I hope I will work something out.
The photo is the kids on the walk, with Cleo too, Treacle was probably standing behind me!
Spent 10-15 minutes pruning the raspberries, doesn't look much yet, but I think as time goes on, I will see the difference I made.

Made a good start!

Well, I have done my 20 minute exercise today, took the dogs for a brisk 20 minute walk, not much, but it is a start. Caused me to cough a lot though, will be glad when I have shaken off this flu! Have done about 2 minutes of my 10 minutes in the garden though, so will have to go out and do some more shortly. I filled the bird feeder with peanuts! I must work out how to upload photos off my phone onto here, then I can use my own photos!
Will update after gardening time!
Spent probably about 30 mins in the garden in the end, picked up loads of the glass from the greenhouse, then worked away near the compost heap, clearing old nettles and rubbish. Would like to put sides on the compost heap, so might talk to Alex about some spare wood...