Walking, greenhouse glass, this and that

The start of my year out, not working full time and seeing where life takes me: exciting and scary. One of the things I want to concentrate on is walking locally every day and building up to hill walking again. Both Monday and Tuesday were busy days but I managed a 4.5 - 5 mile walk both days along the lovely, quiet country roads near the house. Its a great way of getting to know our new locality and opens up the opportunity to take photographs too. On Monday we did a circuit of 4.5 miles to Walston school and back and yesterday I walked to Walston village and explored the church and graveyard then back again, 5 miles. I didn't have a chance to walk until later in the afternoon, but this resulted in some lovely sunset photographs. Bracken is loving the long walks with me.

Monday: Dunsyre Hill, one of the local landmark hills

Dead tree and a storm brewing

Tuesday: more blue sky and still very warm for November

Tinto, a local big hill which is a Graeme, 

Back to the weekend just gone and some gardening. Saturday dawned dry, woo hooo. We spent a couple of hours cleaning greenhouse glass and working out how many new panes were needed for the wee greenhouse. We put in what we had and made a list which went to the glazier today. Gulp - it's an expensive business replacing greenhouse glass.

Bracken making sure the job is done right

Buffy our cockeral, reminding everyone who's in charge

Buffy says Hi

Plants moving in

Once we'd done as much with the glass as we could, we moved the bench in and I started putting plants in for the winter. I got some plants tidied up, the big greenhouse watered and some pottering about done and I also stripped the seed from a flower stalk of some Mullein, Verbascum bombycifera. This will get sown in the spring.

Some of the cuttings taken from plants at Easter Mosshat
and part of the auricula primula collection

Sunday saw me at a local charity Christmas fair, selling my photographs under another one of my hats, Birch Tree Images Photography www.birchtreeimagesphotography.co.uk. It was great to catch up with lots of friends, sell some photos and see Mandy and Wendy's hard work organising the whole thing pay off. They raised over £4000 for Teenage cancer Trust and Canine Partners, two very worthwhile causes.

Selling my photographs

On Tuesday morning I accompanied David to a derelict walled garden where he has been asked to do a tree survey for bats. Some of the trees are dead and to be felled, others are to be tidied up, but first they need to be checked by an ecologist such as David, in case there are bats using any of the crevices and holes for roosting in. This was interesting for me on several levels; a chance to see another derelict walled garden, some photography oppertunities, a chance to see ecological surveying with a view to my possible future job and to id trees in winter, ie with no leaves. It was good fun and very interesting.

Another abandoned walled garden

Entrance to the walled garden

and I suppose I should start thinking about planning christmas, it being mid November and everyone is talking about baking their christmas cakes .......

FInd us on Facebook, search for the Quirky Bird Gardener