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janestarzYesterday I met up with Elise at the allotment. The greenhouse I built several years ago had some storm damage from storm Ciáran, and it needed fixing. One of the roof windows had blown out and one of the corners had sprung from its casement. Of course the windows in the thing are all plastic and they are mostly held in place with clear bison kit.
We started the day's work with a nice little break in the sunshine, eating tangerines I brought and enjoying the sounds of birds chirping in the trees.
It would also be a good day for pruning the large fruit trees at the water's edge, and I climbed on top of the pallets that form the two bay compost bins underneath. I cut down large chunks of the pear tree, that was sending out vertical shoots several metres long and then moved onto the possibly prune tree next to it. This one fought back; there were large thorny growths on some of the branches and I cut my hands and arms on them despite wearing my trusty Ohio University jumper. I think this is also the last time I can get away with standing on the pallets; the left most one broke and nearly dropped me into the compost. These pallets have been outside for years and they're untreated wood, so it makes sense they degrade.
When we finally couldn't ignore the greenhouse any more, it was time to get some new kit and set to work. The state of the greenhouse is really appalling. The plastic windows are degrading and show a lot of damage, and Elise and I resolved to break it down at the end of this next season, or in the next winter at the lastest. Fixing the roof window included a lot of glue and hope to hold it together.
It's great that it's survived this long, but honestly: I needed it to capture rainwater and store my tools in a dry place. It shouldn't be falling apart after three years of use, I don't think.
Perhaps next year we can just build a little roof on tall supports to catch the rainwater and store the tools in a box undearneath instead.
When we were eating some chocolate to refuel, a red squirrel visited the newly pruned fruit trees! It was really close to us and just hopped on by in a rush from A to B. So cute to see it up close. Mom said we should give it some walnuts. Perhaps we can be friends.
Once home, after dinner, I conked out behind the PC playing Factorio, and Kwibus was out on the balcony chasing...what turned out to be a mouse! We've been trying to feed the birds on the balcony, attracting mostly jackdaws, pigeons and mice. The cats think this is amazingly interesting, of course, and Kwibus has been staring at the balcony at night mesmerised by whatever was lurking out there. When I had cooked a pumpkin stew we tossed the seeds onto the balcony, and the seeds were moved the next day. When I looked under the chest with potting soil we have on the balcony, there were seeds in there, demolished and well. Clear signs that the mice were using the shelter of the chest to eat in peace. No wonder Kwibus was riveted!
Last week he saw the mouse in person but it yeeted down the drain pipe and Kwibus couldn't catch it. This week, Menno decided to help the little fellow out by lifting the box of potting soil out of the way. And Kwibus caught it proudly!
He immediately moved towards the (closed) balcony door, because this prize needed to be properly assessed indoors. Of course there was no way I would be opening the door for him and the (still alive) mouse. Every time Kwibus put the mouse down it would try to skitter away, only to be caught again.
Because Kwibus wasn't going to be let inside with the mouse and he was showing no intention of killing and eating it, Eisirt finally decided to just toss the mouse off the edge of the balcony. The mouse was still alive, but severely in shock. We have no idea if it survived. Kwibus was the proudest cat ever though!
(I didn't tell him about the little red squirrel we saw, he might get ideas above his station.)
I'm sure if the mouse survived and recovers from the shock, it will try to come back up here again. After all, those seeds we put up for the birds are one of the only sources of food out here. We'll see how Kwibus reacts if the mouse returns.
We started the day's work with a nice little break in the sunshine, eating tangerines I brought and enjoying the sounds of birds chirping in the trees.
It would also be a good day for pruning the large fruit trees at the water's edge, and I climbed on top of the pallets that form the two bay compost bins underneath. I cut down large chunks of the pear tree, that was sending out vertical shoots several metres long and then moved onto the possibly prune tree next to it. This one fought back; there were large thorny growths on some of the branches and I cut my hands and arms on them despite wearing my trusty Ohio University jumper. I think this is also the last time I can get away with standing on the pallets; the left most one broke and nearly dropped me into the compost. These pallets have been outside for years and they're untreated wood, so it makes sense they degrade.
When we finally couldn't ignore the greenhouse any more, it was time to get some new kit and set to work. The state of the greenhouse is really appalling. The plastic windows are degrading and show a lot of damage, and Elise and I resolved to break it down at the end of this next season, or in the next winter at the lastest. Fixing the roof window included a lot of glue and hope to hold it together.
It's great that it's survived this long, but honestly: I needed it to capture rainwater and store my tools in a dry place. It shouldn't be falling apart after three years of use, I don't think.
Perhaps next year we can just build a little roof on tall supports to catch the rainwater and store the tools in a box undearneath instead.
When we were eating some chocolate to refuel, a red squirrel visited the newly pruned fruit trees! It was really close to us and just hopped on by in a rush from A to B. So cute to see it up close. Mom said we should give it some walnuts. Perhaps we can be friends.
Once home, after dinner, I conked out behind the PC playing Factorio, and Kwibus was out on the balcony chasing...what turned out to be a mouse! We've been trying to feed the birds on the balcony, attracting mostly jackdaws, pigeons and mice. The cats think this is amazingly interesting, of course, and Kwibus has been staring at the balcony at night mesmerised by whatever was lurking out there. When I had cooked a pumpkin stew we tossed the seeds onto the balcony, and the seeds were moved the next day. When I looked under the chest with potting soil we have on the balcony, there were seeds in there, demolished and well. Clear signs that the mice were using the shelter of the chest to eat in peace. No wonder Kwibus was riveted!
Last week he saw the mouse in person but it yeeted down the drain pipe and Kwibus couldn't catch it. This week, Menno decided to help the little fellow out by lifting the box of potting soil out of the way. And Kwibus caught it proudly!
He immediately moved towards the (closed) balcony door, because this prize needed to be properly assessed indoors. Of course there was no way I would be opening the door for him and the (still alive) mouse. Every time Kwibus put the mouse down it would try to skitter away, only to be caught again.
Because Kwibus wasn't going to be let inside with the mouse and he was showing no intention of killing and eating it, Eisirt finally decided to just toss the mouse off the edge of the balcony. The mouse was still alive, but severely in shock. We have no idea if it survived. Kwibus was the proudest cat ever though!
(I didn't tell him about the little red squirrel we saw, he might get ideas above his station.)
I'm sure if the mouse survived and recovers from the shock, it will try to come back up here again. After all, those seeds we put up for the birds are one of the only sources of food out here. We'll see how Kwibus reacts if the mouse returns.
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Date: 2024-01-29 12:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-29 12:40 pm (UTC)