I’ve been meaning to get a photo of these flowers for the last couple of years, we never planted them, and they only appeared when we removed a circle of grass around two trees in the garden, this is the blue/purple variety, the other variety we have is a yellow one. So they must have been dormant for many years!
I believe them to be a cultivars of Anemone nemorosa
Anemone nemorosa
It’s been nine months since my last post. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year 2009, we were away in India. We went to the North and the South of India.
Here are the photos https://andysworld.org.uk/album/India/
The tomatoes were a disaster last year!
Apologies for not posting for a while, life just gets in the way. But with the arrival of some new fish, starts a New Long Term Breeding Project.
I saw mature large “breeding pairs” of these fish three years ago at a local auction in West Yorkshire, they were advertised as a breeding pair, definately males and females but I suspect the owner, had no success in breeding them and hence they were up for auction. To this very day, I regret not keeping my hand up for longer, they sold for little money! and it’s taken me that long to obtain some young fish so I can grow on, and hopefully ontain some breeding pairs.
Let me introduce you to the Electric Blue Jack Dempseys
Alot has been documented and written about these fish, click the link above to search for it.
Two sites Practical Fiskeeping Article Blue Jack Dempsey identity revealed and www.bluejax.co.uk have some excellent information, rather than me retype it here.
But first things first, they need to grow……and then I can select males and femles.
Electric Blue Jack Dempseys
Electric Blue Jack Dempseys
Whilst out in the garden today, Angus Says Hello!
YEDL our electrical supplier were fiddling with the electrical supply again today! So I stayed at home to “baby-sit” the fish house, whilst it was on generator power from 8am this morning, supply was back on at 2.30pm.
So I decided to cut our massive hedge, we have a number of hedges that surround the front garden, there are two hedges that border the driveway, a typical hedge-row of blackthorn, hawthorn, bramble etc and a privet hedge, if only I knew someone with stick-insects they would have food for a year! Total length of hedge which needs cutting is approx 300ft, and the driveway has been rapidly disappearing, with the warm/wet weather. Another typical hedge-row of blackthorn, hawthorn, bramble etc surrounds the front garden, this has grown over 10ft in height!
My brother an RHS Qualified Garden Landscaper at Groundscaper recommended I purchase a Stihl HS45 Petrol Edger (West Country slang for Hedge Trimmer!).
Although expensive, it cuts through my hedges like a knife through butter. You have to be a bit careful with the privet hedge, because before you know, you’ve cut two foot off without noticing! Although it weighs approx 4.9kg with fuel, it’s Anti-vibration system and ergonomics make it easier to cut with for long periods of time.
A view down the drive from house, before privet-hedge was cut
A view up the drive towards house, before privet-hedge was cut. The hedgerow on the rights has already been cut.
A view up the drive towards house, before privet-hedge was cut.
Close-up of privet-hedge before it was cut
Privet-hedge after the hedge was cut taken from the house looking down the drive. Another tip from my brother an RHS Qualified Garden Landscaper at Groundscaper, before cutting, lay a tarpuline under the hedge to collect, hedge trimmings, move along the hedge as you cut, quick and easy to clear-up afterwards!
Privet-hedge after the hedge was cut taken from the house lookign down the drive. In the distance is the green reycycle bin to take to the tip, with hedge cuttings. It’s not difficult cutting hedges, it’s all the clippings you need to tidy up afterwards.
Privet-hedge after the hedge was cut taken from the house looking down the drive.
Privet-hedge after the hedge was cut taken towards the house looking down the drive.
Close-up of the privet-hedge after cutting.
Here are the photographs of the Hot Air Balloon flight.
Andy’s Hot Air Balloon Adventure Pictures from June 15th 2008
Video to come…
Earlier in the year I planted tomatoe seeds, first early potatoes, garlic was planted last year in September. Here are some pictures of the results.
I’m trying an experiment, of growing six varities of tomatoes, six in the green house in growbags using growpots, six outside using growbags and growpots, and six plants planted in 10L pots. This year I’m using double-height Miracle-Gro Organic growbags, instead of purchasing two normal size/width growbags.
tomatoes plants in 10l pots, outside in the garden.
six tomatoes plants outside using growbags and growpots
six tomatoes plants inside the greenhouse using growbags and growpots
tomatoes plants in 10l pots, inside the greenhouse.
first early potatoes planted in Humax organic potatoe bags by Medwyn Williams, Medwyn was the father of one of the boys that went to my school, and lived a couple of minutes from where I lived! I’ve recently noticed there is an Organic Humax range for potaotes, strawberrys, chillis, tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes etc Something to try next year. In the background you can see my six blueberry bushes.
Blueberrys ripening…not long now until eating, when they turn blue/purple! Must keep the water on!
Almost time to pull the garlic for eating, umm wet garlic!
Not for eating, but included for interest, the first Busy Lizzie ‘Blue Sky’ plants [RARE] and a few Begonia.
P.S. The chilli seeds/plants were a disaster! I decided to use my fish house and heated propagators to germinate them, the problem was, they spouted in record time, but overheated in the propagators and all died! So next year I need to find a cooler place or not use the heated propagators, or turn off, after they’ve germinated!
I’ve heard rumours that the nursery ryhme Baa Baa Black Sheep has had it’s words changed in nursery and pre-schools, and the children sing Rainbow or Multi-coloured sheep instead of the words “Black Sheep”.
So in my quest, I have found a true Black Sheep. Click the photograph for more Black Sheep photographs. This sheep is the Hebridean.
The Hebridean Sheep. The animals are entirely black, though the fleece usually goes grey with age. Lambs may have a dark brown appearance because the tips of the fleece have been bleached by the sun.
This is nothing to do with Black Sheep Ale which is also very good just up the road at Masham. Did you know there is also a breed of sheep called the Masham?
The problem with memory prices falling for digital cameras, is you end up with pictures all over the place, I’ve now successfully collated all the pictures of the cats from the two digital cameras we have, as they are no longer kittens anymore and uploaded them all to the web. I’ve uploaded approximately 300 new pictures, at approx 500MegaBytes!
They are located here:-
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