A Different View

My plans for a full day at the allotment today were scuppered by the fickle British weather. Despite living in an era of climate change and increasingly hot dry summers and milder winters, July has been a total washout. As frustrating as the relentless weeks of drizzle are, I find it somewhat nostalgic. I remember damp summers where Wimbledon matches kept being called off due to rain (long before any of the courts had rooves!), hours spent indoors trying to amuse myself or going to activities or events held inside. But I digress.

By two o’clock, the worst of the rain was over and I collected my things and headed down to the allotment. There are still lots of things that need doing but I decided the best use of a couple of hours was to finish off pruning the willow. This is a beast of a job and after spending nearly five hours over two days hacking it back with a pair of increasingly blunt secateurs, I swore I would buy a battery powered hedge trimmer for next season. But I did enjoy the view from up the ladder – the whole plot looked completely different from there!

Happily, tidying up the willow makes a dramatic difference to the plot so it’s always worth the effort. As I worked, I heard voices behind me and went over to investigate. I found Steve and Sarah chatting by the Community Garden. Steve was busy watching the bees and I joined him. It’s been a while since I had had an update on them. Sadly, they have lost some hives. Apparently the Queen started laying mainly drone cells which meant the colony would die out. On the plus side, he’s been working hard to prep the honey from the super frames using a honey extractor to spin out the honey from the comb. I’m hoping that there will be enough jars for me to stock up as it’s absolutely delicious!

With the evening wearing on, I headed home armed with several hundred weight of eggs as I had forgotten to collect them for the last few days. Looks like it’ll be three egg omelettes for dinner the next few nights! Back at home, I checked on Gertie who is still recuperating. She tucked into her food with gusto, so much so that Asperitas came over to join in. It’s lovely to see Gertie getting along with a new friend.

So the plan for the next few days is to tackle the mass of weeds at the bottom of the plot by the main coop. Ideally, the weather will stay dry so I can actually make progress but I’m not holding out much hope!