Wednesday 29 January 2014

Sunrise to sunset

Well as requested by some of you I have got some photos to share for a wordless Wednesday post...if you hover over them you will get a little bit of a story so not totally wordless but nearly there. Hope you enjoy the pictures I will now post each week as much as I enjoy taking them.

The first morning rays






Morning sunshine



Beautiful red sunset





the magical moon coming out to play.




Monday 27 January 2014

Let's share Christmas!!

O.K., so it's still cold, miserable and the days are still short so I thought now whilst we are all still feeling a little glum would be a good time to share my 'gardeningy' Christmas presents!!

So no more talk....Picture time!! :-)

A book on honey and all it's uses.

So firstly I have a Honey book to share with you. This, very surprisingly came from the Headmaster at school. Up until now I have always received a box of chocolates so I was a little taken aback by this wonderful gift and have to give credit where it's due. It is full of amazing myths and legends on honey and then also has lots of food recipes a long with ways to make the best use of your hives by utilising everything the bees give you. I haven't had chance to read all of it yet but I do love it and know that it is going to be coming out a lot, not only to help me with things to make and do with my honey and hive products but also to give me some ides on the new blog I have started for Grantham Beekeepers. (yes I am publicising again...but really some of the posts I have in mind are going to be relevant for all of us to help sustain the worlds bee populations!!)

Paper pot maker...large

 Next is a paper potter. I already have one of these in the greenhouse on the plot but the beauty is that this one is a little bigger so now I can make two different sizes of pots. I love the inscription painted on the front of this one. How true it is for all of us who garden or own and allotment!!

Seed storage tin with compartments.

Then last but not least is my seed storage tin. Again I do have one of these, same size but in pink that I have shared with you before. Now I have two I will be able to order my seeds better so that older seeds can go in one and keep all of this years seeds together. Also by not clumping so many into the one tin will give me better visibility.

Of course you all no about my wonderful camera...I'm thinking I should start another blog purely for photos...I love finding opportunities to experiment but then what do you do with them?? Maybe I should have a random photo day On here...what do you think??

After all check out this....

The full moon??

When you can take photos like this with it without having to do any editing at all it's a shame not to share them!!

That's all for now!.
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Sunday 26 January 2014

Oh, the weather outside is frightful.....

Don't get me wrong, it's not snowing or anything but the weather is dreadful. Yesterday along with just about everyone else in the U.K. we had the slashing rain, thunder and lightning and driving hail, but at least that was short lived. Now it's just rains....miserable dreary mizzly (yes I'm well aware that isn't even really a word but with our climate it needs to be added to the dictionary!) rain!!

so what have I done??? Took advantage of using the computer and finally got caught up with some of my favourite blogs whilst at the same time feeling shamefully embarrassed that it's so long since I have looked at their posts or even written a post on my own blog. 

I will keen my blog going it's just his time of year there is so little to say and nothing really to lift peoples spirits. I haven't really made any firm plans for the spring yet and I know that as I was behind last year things will be tough starting out in the spring...but I think I will actually embrace the vigour of that when I can finally get stuck into things again.

Things should be a little less hectic this year. Whilst the bee plot isn't sorted totally it is well on it's way and titivation can continue throughout the year at a pretty much leisurely pace as and when I have the time. I won't be doing Kate's plot this year as it was a one off to give her some time to think. Incidentally Kate decided that she wanted to keep the plot so will be carrying on this year and without that extra land things should be so much easier. I was thinking of backing off a little more and resigning from the committee this year but I couldn't do it when I found out my friend had been nominated for chair...so I will hang around another year and see how things pan out.

An extra that I have taken on this year is obviously the bees but they don't take up much of your time although I am on the committee there too...something to do with 'publicity' and soon to take over membership. With the publicity side of things I have set up a blog called Grantham Beekeepers. It is very early days yet but I would love for you all to go over and check it out. It's not just designed for the members of Grantham to read but will hopefully in time have many followers interested in things they can do to help the bees and I am hoping to get stories, photos and anecdotes from people all over. Obviously at times some of the posts may only be interesting to people who keep bees but I am trying to keep it as light hearted as possible so please go over and check it out...see what we have got up to so far and follow us too. The more the merrier. Oh, and if you have any photos or stories then feel free to get in touch, I will gladly take any extra input.

Well I think that is about all for today...kind of feel all I've done is have a little whine and then advertise the bee blog...but I feel quite proud to have caught up with you all and I will be back tomorrow with some photos for you to look at!!

Happy Sunday!.
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Thursday 16 January 2014

Pot's, Pot's, Pot's!!!

I received a text message the other day from Jez whom I helped out over the summer with the his hives and has been my mentor since I completed the course...this was what I read.....

pot's for potting ...hundreds of them?????

 Pot's are always useful and when someone sends you a text like this you think they have a few pots spare and I am sure people could make use of them either on the allotments or at home. With all these thoughts running through my head I replied.....


Seems like a reasonable response to me...don't you think?? I didn't expect what happened a couple of days later when Jez turned up though...

pot's for potting ...hundreds of them?????
Now that's A LOT of pots...and they are all outside my gate. Jez came and said to me, 'You put the kettle on and make a cuppa whilst I get them out!' so It wasn't until I went to put my bin away (which of course I couldn't do for pots!!) that I found out just how many there were!!

Turns out, the company Jez works for has just taken over a new container which was previously used for not very legal activities...hence all the pots!! Moral of this story...always ask exactly how many you may be talking about!!

At present they are still cluttering up my bins and drive way but hopefully tomorrow I will able to get sorted through them and get them moved up to the allotment. For now I'm thinking they can live in the greenhouse and the shed until I can see if I can offload some on other plot holders.

Something good did come out of it though, a villager who has recently moved back was taking a walk and when he saw all the pots thought maybe I would have an allotment so knocked on the door as he is interested in going on the waiting list. Nice gentleman and we had a nice chat about what we offer and the village in general...maybe these things do happen for a reason!!

Will be catching up with you all over the weekend and showing you a few bits I got for Christmas too!!
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Thursday 2 January 2014

Happy New Year!!

Well it's been a whirlwind of a two weeks and tomorrow normality returns and I'm back at work.

So I intended on getting some posts up over the holiday period but time seems to have whizzed by and I didn't even get the chance to catch up with my favourite blogs let alone write anything on mine...enough whining....it's a brand new year and what will be will be. I will get caught up with things and plod on at a pace which makes me happy therefore always enjoying my blog and garden and the other bogs I follow too!!

So Christmas and New Year were both nice. spent with family and friends in a quiet and laid back manner, just the way I like it. I got some lovely gifts. Some garden related, some bee related and some just 'me' related. I was very happy with everything anyway and will share one of then with you today and then the others with you over the next week.

So the gift I'm going to share with you today was what my Hubby bought me...a new camera!!! In all honesty I knew I was getting it and exactly which one as I did a lot of research into getting a camera I would be happy with. I loved my old camera but I have had it for a lot of years and it just isn't working right any more.

So the new camera I have is this....

canon PowerShot SX240 HS
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS
It's a wonderful camera for me with a great zoom lens and some fantastic features not all of which I have worked out yet. It's a lovely size and weight...slips nicely into my pocket but isn't so small and light that I wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there!!

Of course I have been playing around plenty with it and it has produced some cracking shots...a few of which I will share with you now...

woodgrain on the shed

  
This is a close up taken of the grain on the side of our shed...the amazing thing is that I actually stood in my kitchen to take this and zoomed through the kitchen and conservatory past the windows and into the garden!!
winter berries



Just a random photo of some berries whilst I was walking Trojan over the fields. I love the clarity of the close up and have always envied people who have been able to take shots like these!!
The moon in the morning


And finally this was taken in the early hours of the morning...I have always wanted to take great shots of the moon...I wouldn't say this is great but I am still learning...I was pretty pleased with the way it came out though!!



So those are just a few of the shots that I have taken...I have taken so many I think I should start another blog just to show them off!! The only downside to the camera...and bare in mind this is a personal thing, there is no viewfinder...only the screen on the back to look at. It is a good size screen I just think you are more stable when using a viewfinder...non the less I will get used to it and it was a fantastic price.

So with this in mind I should be able to take some great photos on the allotment this year to share with you all....can't wait for the weather to be frosty...or snowy...or dew in the morning...anything but this horrible grey with strong gusty winds!!

Oh...just one more photo then...

Trojan
Trojan!!!!
After all, Trojan has been my moving subject and helped me learn a lot about the camera so he deserved the chance to say 'Hi' to you all!!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and wishing you all the best for the upcoming year.
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