Weed Control Products

 A couple of weeks ago I was asked to do a sponsored blog post for Roundup gel - never one to turn down an opportunity to blog about something new (I do sometimes find it hard to get inspiration) I jumped at the chance.

Now, it turns out that since then, we appear to have had pretty non stop rain. I had tried the gel a couple of times but I am pretty sure it got rained off before it had been there 2 minutes to be honest.  So, in light of the fact that this post has been waiting a while, and we have the promise of a dry afternoon, I have started again and will call this, somewhat optimistically, blog post #1 of 2 !

The reason I was happy to do this is that I don't really like using weedkillers or any other non-organic means of any kind of pest or weed control where I can help it.  I have chickens, and if I use spray weedkiller that means I have to be a lot more careful about where i let them roam, and what i do with rakings and cuttings. (My hens are my compost bins normally) So this seems ideal, a thicker consistency weed control product that I can apply more particularly, exactly where i want it.

It comes in a plastic container, a similar shape to a stick deodorant, (but bigger)

You take the lid off by squeezing two tabs either side of the container just under that green lip (I am saying that cos it took me a while to see them) and you get this:

(Well you get that when you have taken the foil protector off and clicked that blue button on the side for what seems like 50 times to get the gel up to the top)

We have a little bit of land next door that the chickens had had their run on a few months ago - the grass has all been cleared (they're good at that) but quite a large patch of deep rooted weeds have regrown):

The Roundup gel is easy to apply, and it tells you on the container how many "clicks" of gel you need for different types of weed.  It's sticky, thick consistency means it definitely does only go where you put it, but the downside to that is that i found you had to hold the back of the leaf to smear the gel on - that really wouldn't work for stinging nettles !! (Well, not without a good pair of gloves anyway).  I did try it on the lawn weeds as I have a lot of dandelion type weeds, and i was doing a review it seemed a good idea to try, but again the need to press fairly firmly against the leaf made the application difficult in those circumstances, and I think I got as much on the grass as i did on the weeds.  

My verdict for the application of the Roundup Gel weed killer is that for areas of a few, large weeds - bindweed, bramble, etc it would be great. It would negate the need to spray everything in sight, and if you were planning  something where you just needed to rid an area of a certain few large weeds, or if you have a rambling bramble climbing across your best perennial bed,  it would be perfect in terms of ease of application. But if you have a lot of dense weeds or small leaved weeds (it says it will do couch grass but i have no idea how you would apply it to something so thin and flexible, maybe using an old paint brush) then I don't think the gel would really be the right product.

Hopefully, if you tune back in in a fortnight or so I should be able to show you the result of it as a weed control product - well that's if it doesn't rain again of course.

Sometimes a downside.....

So, the downside to acquiring all those wonderful pots, planter, and bed that I wrote about here, was this:

3 tonnes of topsoil that needed to be moved from outside my garden, to inside my beds.  Boy do I ache today!

In other news I've just this minute received some new sunglasses from Spex4less.com  Very impressive service.  I just wanted a cheap pair of prescription sunglasses to wear when I haven't got my contacts in. I wear contacts a lot in the summer so generally just wear plain sunnies, but now and again for whatever reason I don't have them in, and this was an idea solution. Prescription sunglasses for £27 incl delivery.  In case you're interested, I went for these ones - Here. (They've gone up a bit since obviously, but there are offers and voucher codes around the site. Given that they are sunnies, I could probably have done with a deeper lens, but they're perfect for me, and I'm not the most careful person with my glasses so it's not worth spending a fortune on the, (1 dog, 8 hens and 2 cockerels do not bode well for glasses!) If they last the summer I'll be happy! *rolls eyes*

It's been raining (finally) this week, so not much else to tell you. I do have 2 finished objects to photograph and show but they're not "quite" ready yet! ;)

'Til soon xx

A weekend!

So, here's the garden extension:

I spent 4 hours in it yesterday afternoon, and it doesn't look much different...... although I did find 2 paths! LOL

before I got out there tho' it had rained quite heavily, so whilst waiting for that to ease,  I made a notebook:

Very slap-dash but kind of fun. It's 4 signatures (which I sewed together on a sewing machine cos I was in a rush and couldn't find a needle <<< I'm soo bad)  but it'll do for my purpose for now! And by the time I was placing a book on it to hold it while the PVA dried, the rain had stopped.

Other than that, life has been fairly normal:
We walked and Spot got hot, so we stopped for a sit:

But evidently for just a bit too long:

Right, time to go and see what Sunday has to offer.

Have a great weekend and week everyone x

Colour!

Today I have finished two blankets (like buses, none for ages then two at a time)

First there is my nephew's sockyarn blanket. It was made originally when he was born, but he's now nearly 4 and it needed lengthening, so here is a Big Boy's Blanket!

Made from sock yarn scraps, it's just mitred squares of 31 stitches, with a slipped stitch edging so once the first row is done you can pick up and knit on.  It's about 5ft long now, should last him a couple of years!

Secondly I have finished my blanket of sunshine:

It is the Willow Block from Jan Eaton's book 200 crochet squares. Made in Rico cotton in 15 colours. Each colour took each position in the square twice, so there are 30 squares, and 4 rows of DC around the edge.  I have more yarn to do more edging and I may well at some point, but for now it's finished!  I haven't measured it but I'd say it's around 4ft x 3ft 6.

 The garden is also really colourful at the moment, with the marigolds particularly showing their form:

There they are above, bordering my rampaging vegetable bed. Any minute now those yellow flowers will be joined by red runner bean flowers and ripening tomatoes, and the yellow courgette flowers.

The petunias are also pretty awesome now, they have a gentle fragrance, and a neon colouring - fantastic:

The photo doesn't do them any justice at all, they are deep and bright, like a perfect velvet. Amazing colouring.

I'd have taken photos of the Gazanias too as they are also beautiful colours, but they have not deemed it sunny enough today to open fully - I love how they open what they consider a sensible amount for the day - rain, and they stay tightly closed, cloudy - and they open just a tad, full on burn your bits sun - and they turn their faces up to the sun as wide open as they can be and enjoy the warmth on their petals. - It's all very clever.

I have also chosen my July challenge, but it's tucked away in my Lovely sock project bag. (Mine has meeces on, it's super cute and awesome!) and quite frankly I'm too lazy to get it out to photo - especially as I haven't even cast on yet. It's waiting for me tho'!

So there you have it, colour on a Sunday. And now the evening sun has come out and is at the best it has been all day - I feel a little garden knitting coming on, while I listen to the blackbird staking his claim to his territory!  Hope you all had a great weekend.

Summer colours

-Summer colours in the garden

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blog is getting a little bit neglected!

As always seems to happen in the spring and summer the blog is beginning to get neglected as sunny days take me outside to the garden.

See!!! - We've tidied up the back corner of the garden and put a lovely big deck area in for evening sun.  it's 4.5m across the back, and 3.7m front to back, and makes the garden suddenly seem huge! - We've got to put some new fence panels up at the side as my poor neighbours fence is a little dilapidated, but that's ok, and I think I will also use some of that nice bamboo screening (or willow, or brushwood maybe) .  I feel it's just crying out for bright floor cushions and quilts though, don't you? It's a lovely place to sit in the evening already, even just in this chilly spring sun. Once i get the chiminea up there, or the firepit - I may never come in! ;)

I've also bought a little bit of new yarn, and more importantly (or rather more unusally) some FQ's to make a quilt for a friend who is having a baby,

Here it is all layed out cut into 5" squares. I've changed the layout quite a lot though, cos ...... well I wanted to! and also because it's going to be a disappearing 9 patch (or whatever else you want to call it, there seem to be a lot of names) So I changed some of those red middle squares as I didn't want all  the tiny squares to be red - I want it to be "scrappier" than that! And when I cut the 9-patch-block into 4, I'm then going to mix it all up again...... so really the above photo is absolutely nothing like what it will look like! LOL


In other news, the F1 season has started, so that's all good fun! And British Summer Time has begun today, which is playing havoc with my tummy - I have no idea when to eat! ;)

Right I'll try to blog as often as I can, but if I'm not, you'll know I'm snoozing in the garden instead!

Holy Sunshine Batman

It's 34 deg in my conservatory - which can only mean I should be in the garden under the trees!

My firepit has been restored........ bring on summer

My firepit has been restored ready for the summer!  it was looking pretty rusty so it's been red-oxided inside and out, then covered with heat resistant black paint inside and around the rim, and copper hammerite around the outside.  I'm disappointed with the copper colour (seriously none of the central heating pipes in my house are that colour, this definitely looks more brassy) I'd have liked a more pink/red tone to it, but it's fine and it'll hold a good few sausages! - next year I might re-do it red!! ;)

Things to do in the garden

The weather has been perfect this last week - sunny but not hot, just the perfect weather for getting all those little spring chores done without over-heating.

So, today I have re-painted the fire-pit. It was originally a gorgeous copper colour, but that has turned to a rust colour now (!) and the only decent colour in heat resistant paint, is black (I don't fancy a green fire pit!).... so for now the inside and the outside top rim are black, the rest of the outside is still "rust coloured" but I don't think that's too much of a problem...... yet anyway!

The chicken house is also having it's annual re-paint, a creosote alternative that hopefully will help with the red mite situation (it was already showing signs of infestation, little blighters)

I also popped to B&Q at the beginning of the week and got a few cheapish bedding plants to put in my tubs.  I really only grow herbs in the tubs, but my garden doesn't have much colour due to it being mostly vegetable and useful plants! so I thought a little flowery halo round the herbs was in order...... pictures to follow if they all flower! ;)

Right, back to it then, eh?

Is it Spring?

I'm not sure yet, the sun is out, the birds are frisky and I'm inundated with seed catalogues through the post...... something must be going on?

Spring is beginning

So, Poor Silkie has been sat on 7 eggs for three weeks and it looks like none will hatch :(  I am sitting here trying to decide what to do……. as I have the cockerel in with the other girls I could try putting yesterday’s and today’s eggs under her to try again, but that will mean she has sat for 6 weeks which may be too long……….. i won’t be worried if she leaves the nest cos it’s not like this new batch of eggs will cost me anything, but I am concerned for her health and whether she can last sitting that long?  Am waiting for some expert opinions on the poultry forum !

In gardening news:- the veggie plots have been started – onions, some carrots, some texel greens, are all in. In the greenhouse I have sown a couple of peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes and peas– just two of each for now and I’ll do another 2 in a few weeks in case of frost or other catastrophe (mice?!!!!)

The chickens have all come back into lay after the winter, and are looking lovely after their moult with their new feathers.

Spot is…………. well Spot really!  She is loving the fact that she can stay out in the garden most of the day,  and can usually be found asleep against either the veg plot or the shed, wherever is sunniest!

Knitting is….. slow! I am nearly done with Urban aran, and am, in all honesty, hating knitting it. But I have to finish things before I move on otherwise it will never get done – I am definitely one of life’s “starters”, so have to discipline myself with the knitting otherwise the house would be full of half done projects, and I rarely go back to an unfinished task (which anyone who sees the state of every half decorated room in my house (err that’s all of them) will know!

From Snow to Spring in 2 days

I took this yesterday....
only 2 days after all that snow! - It's really rare for me to get a full flower on my Camelia as usually they get frosted or blown off in wind before they bloom...... yet here one is in all its glory! Beautiful

Well I wasn't expecting that!

You know where we'll be!!!!!

Fabulous weather

I should have taken a photo..... the day started with a thick frost, but brilliant blue sky, and by 12 noon (having done my 30 min run - with Spot!) I was sitting in the garden (albeit wrapped in a wool cardi, with a scarf), knitting and listening to my latest download from audible. (Falling, by Elizabeth-Jane Howard) I stayed there til 3pm when it got a tad chilly as the sun had gone behind the house - but oh what a lovely thing to spend a February day in the garden......... Perfect!

Bad Blogger!

I'm sorry it's been so long - did you miss me????

The tummy bug was swiftly followed by a cold, so i've been self-nurturing for a while! I am so rarely ill these days that it all caught me a little by surprise, but I'm definitely on the mend now, and to be honest it wasn't so bad. I'm really Lucky that I can rest up as soon as there's a sign of anything untoward and that coupled with a few gentle dog-walks to keep the fresh air around seem to send most germs on their way pretty quickly!

So did you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year? I did, i got some fabulous presents and we all had a really lovely Christmas day at my Mum & Dad's.

So now we are storming into 2008! I have finished my Sunday cardi and will post pics soon. it's not the best knit I've ever made, but it is fine for a house cardigan, which is what I wanted. I just need to find some buttons for it......

i have plenty of knitting plans for 2008.... a jumper (started last night) a hoodie or two, and some socks. Plus I really fancy having a go at a sock yarn Clapotis to wear as a scarf.

In other news, the rest of the family are fine! - Spot disgraced herself slightly over Christmas by squeezing through my Mum's wrought iron gate that keeps the pooches in the kitchen and away from the new baby nephew..... not once, but three times!!!!! i have no idea how she did it, I would say the bars are less than 12" apart, but she did..... I obviously need to feed her up a bit! the chooks are good too, but the rodent problem has become more of a "problem" as the cold weather has struck and the rodent population of Guildford seems to have heard that there's free board and lodging at Noo's!!!! - There are definite signs of rats as well as mice - and i have woken up this morning to find that a mole has dug his way across my garden ! GRRRRR! I hate to be cruel, but they will have to be dealt with now before the weather warms up. :( i want my garden back!!! - Oh and pigeons have eaten my entire purple broccoli bed while I was away for just 2 days at Christmas - absolutely scalped it!!!!! (I know I should have covered it, but it's easy to be clever in hindsight!)

I also have another part time job. Working from home (Yay!) and for people that I have known for many years and have worked with in the past, so all is good..... but it does mean a little less time for blogging and internet surfing. So please bear with me! There may be fewer comments on your blogs as I pay flying visits, but I will still be reading! (so no talking about me!)

Sorry there's no photos today - I've run out of battery!!!! (well my camera has, although that phrase probably does describe me these past few weeks!) but I will get some taken for the blog soon - honest!

Squirrel.... my ar............FOOT!!!!!

Sorry people it wasn't a squirrel, it is indeed a SQUASH!

I have started a blanket for my sister's bump! I'm thinking it won't be finished until "bump" is about 18, but hey maybe I can start a new university craze!!! Because I'm lazy and don't want to sew in too many ends I'm knitting it in squares but picking up the stitches on the side of the just finished square to start the new one. It means that the sock yarn will be pooled across the blanket rather than individual squares, but assuming I do finish it before he/she is 18, he/she probably won't notice!!!!! It's just the right weather for this mindless kind of knitting, no thought, no concentration...... just keep going!

I'm also knitting a clapotis in some left over chenille - I don't know if I like it - bit like when I was knitting Sahara in it really, but it's something to do and it's easy knitting for this weather. I'm obviously in a blanket/throw/shawl/shrug mood!!!

Did anyone see the F1 GP today? I have to say that although I think Lewis Hamilton is the most amazing rookie driver we have seen - possibly ever...... I was a bit dismayed to hear the british media permanently going on about Alonso having held him up yesterday and what a bad sportsman Alonso is etc etc etc, when if you read the press conference with Ron Dennis, it was Lewis' blatent refusal to obey team orders in Q3 yesterday which caused the kerfuffle. I'm not saying Alonso was blameless - we don't know, and as the stewards penalised him there must have been good reason. BUT if Lewis had done as he was told the situation would not have arisen. I'm not saying whether what he did was right or wrong, he made a driver's decision. BUT I did get a bit sick of hearing about him being totally done wrong by.... when it was at least partly his own fault. Still he won the race and that was awesome. He is truly a talented driver and I hope that he will bring British Motor Racing back into the fore again!

I spy with my little eye......

Something beginning with SQ.............

Can you see it??????

Harvest Festival - Or What I had for Sunday dinner!

Well, it's got to that time of the year when the garden is producing more than enough to live on - As long as you never get bored of runner beans and courgettes! - Here was last night's dinner, baby carrots, runner beans (which went beautifully with a chicken leg and some new potatoes) and for desert 4 ripe plums! mmmmm
I have painted about one third of the chicken run! - Their house is in there too, along with a little bit of cover for them for when it rains, and to keep their food dry! - They seem very happy and I've had eggs from them both, and they're eating well. So all is good there.

For all you Spot fans:- The pooch seems to have been a little side-lined lately, so here she is in all her spaniel glory........

...... and what is she making those big beautiful brown eyes at..........

Mum has a bottle of beer!!!!!
I've taken the verification code off my comments for a while, to see if I get hit by spam. I have been having a lovely email conversation with a blind gentleman through work, and as part of the discussions I have learnt how very un-user-friendly the verification codes are for blind and deaf-blind users, because their screen readers can't read the image. Now blogger does at least have an audio facility (although obviously no use to a deaf-blind user), but have you ever heard it?? Go find a blog that uses the verification and click on the little disabled icon next to the box - it took me 8 goes to get mine! - Which is why it's not there any more!

Finally, my next social outing is to visit a very, very dear friend in Norwich next week. - I go up there for a day next Tuesday - and his birthday is on Friday. If anyone has any suggestions for a birthday gift for a Catholic Bishop, I'd be grateful! (I should add that he does have an excellent sense of humour!!!)

Right, Spot and I are off for a very long walk now! Byeeeeee

P.s. Thanks for all your lovely comments on the new layout - I can't take the credit though! - For a lovely selection of blogger templates check out Finalsense. Be warned though you will lose all your widgets!

p.p.s I have been tagged twice - for a Schmoozer award and a Rockin'Girl blogger award. I want to acknowledge both awards properly as I'm stoked to have received them, but just haven't quite got the time at the mo. Please bear with me!

Lessons Learnt

1:-Decide that you want to paint light coloured wood before you make an enormous chicken run and staple wire to the wood apparently at 2cm intervals

2:-When using water protective wood stain, remember it isn't very likely to come off you very easily either!

3:-Re No. 2 - Wear a hat!

4:-Re No. 3 - If you aren't wearing a hat, don't stand underneath the beam that you are painting.

5:-Don't wear a sleeveless t-shirt.

6:-Wear old clothes, shoes, hat, glasses, and if possible old skin - - you'll need the new stuff to cover yourself in after you've scrubbed all the old skin off in a vague attempt to remove dark brown stains from all over your body/face/hands/hair!

7:-Enjoy it! - Well you might as well - it's going to take weeks!

I'm going to get my knitting out now - it's safer!

Don't like not having time!

Just a really brief update, cos I've got to pay the tax!!!!!

I've been nominated as a Schmoozer blog by the lovely Ruth. i will acknowledge it properly and put the associated medal in my sidebar probably at the weekend, or sometime soon. I've got to re-decorate my blog so I'll do it then, and I'll nominate some other Schmoozers too!!

Work is OK - ish!!!! I don't think I'll be staying there long-term, for all sorts of reasons, not least because i miss having time to walk the dog every day and do the things i now know are important (cook properly for example!) there are other reasons which I won't go into here and now, but may do later depending on whether I need help making up my mind!!!

The garden is brimming with runner beans and courgettes - I already have a fridge full and have been off-loading onto the neighbour!!! - I got a good deal though as she re-paid me with a jar of homemade marmalade, and some cakes !!!!

Finally..... all you eco-warriors out there..... I need to ask a question.... I know that parabens and SLS in shower gels etc are horrible things! - When I popped into Sainsburys the other day they had a deal on Wrights coal tar soap, which i have always loved the smell of as it reminds me of my dear Grandma's house when I was small.....so I bought it! - Looking at the ingredient list, (Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium palm kernelate, cocamide DEA, Parfum Glycerin, Sodium chloride, Tea Tree Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Etidronic Acid, Eugenol, Amyl, Cinnamal, Coumarin, Limonene, CI 11680, CI 15510) there are none of the dreaded parabens or SLS. So, as one who doesn't really understand such things - why did we stop using a good old bar of soap? Is there something in that list that is dreadfully horrific? - I know it's probably not "great" cos it does all sound a little chemical, but i just wondered why we all moved onto liquid cleansers when soap seems a bit less ....ermmmmm..... yucky!!!!

ooooh one other finally!!!!!!!! For those that enquired about the future of the rodent population in my vegetable plot (among other places)...... at the moment they are safe, I won't do anything that may interfere with my veggies. however i do think that maybe in the Autumn i might have to take the matter in hand a little, as one ran out of the lawn-mower yesterday when i was half way through cutting the grass, so obviously there are a fair few around! and it's not good for the chickens!!!