We had a
bit of a shocker this week. We drove in through the gate and as I looked up at
the willow tree I had a slow but meaningful realisation that our tree had not
shown any signs of spring. This
magnificent willow has been the bringer of good news every month of March every
year. With a flurry of new growth and an all over hue of luminescent green we
are reminded that winter is over and we need to start planning our summer fun.
In the back
ground you can see the bright green of all the other willows in the garden and
this is what made me jolt and realise that our magnificent tree was dead.
The willow was
planted when our house looked like this in the mid 70’s. It grew around its metal support stake and had
been the Wow factor on the drive. Over
the past 2 years Mike and I have been chatting about needing to do a big prune and
perhaps cut it down to give us a view of the garden but somehow we never
committed to the idea. We are now feeling guilty and sad in case it heard of
our plans and decided to shut down to take the decision to cut it down out of
our hands……RIP big fat willow…..
With manure
in a pile and the weed killing starting to make its mark it is now time to
start work. So a hand de-weed, 3 barrows
of poo and 8 barrows of top soil gets you to this
The time on
the photos shows start at 9.41 and finish at 12.42. Not a bad mornings work and
shortly after I planted the Broad beans so now all we have to do is wait, water
and hope nature is looking kindly on us
this year.
Mike
switched on the hot bed and we bought a quality seed compost and got cracking
with this year’s sewing. Every day I go
into the potting shed to check on progress and on the fourth day was thrown
into a clappy hand excitement with seeds showing their heads and everything
looking very positive ….. I did have to get Mike in to help as I had written
all the labels in non-permanent ink and in the humid conditions the words were
running for their lives. Mike had to remember and decipher what was planted
where and I re-wrote with a very permanent pen, a near disaster, and any
gardener out there will be cringing at the thought of not knowing what seeds
went where.
Mike has
the bits to mend his dumper, and it was, in the end, very simple when we found
an on line engine bits supplier. Mike
went out to the garage and pottered about taking the head off but was at the
point of the rebuild when I noticed a hesitation. So, what’s the problem I asked and we went
through the issues of torque values and stuff that after 45 years of watching
him working on cars I actually understood.
Today I suggested we go out together
and get the cylinder back on. When we once did this many years ago on a
motorbike I nearly divorced him and the memory was still very raw. So I held the cylinder and he compressed the
rings and after much growling and snapping at each other it finally plopped
into place. I was just relieved that this
is a single cylinder engine.
Here we are
in perfect harmony working in the garage. I looked inside the cylinder and said
‘gosh that sleeve in in good condition’ then wondered how on earth I would know
that …….
And
finally, the drone shot for this blog is to say good- bye to the willow tree. You
can see that the blossom is starting to show on the cherry tree next door and
the willow would have been in full leaf by now……what a shame, but moving on, I can now get my clear view
into the garden from the house without feeling guilty for cutting down a perfectly
good tree
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