They're building their nest (out of mud pellets) on top of the keystone in the arch, on the 'in' side; it's nicely sheltered, but it does mean they get disturbed whenever we come or go. If we're doing anything for any length of time on the driveway, they perch on the telegraph wire opposite, and noisily complain.
Aside from the antics of these new tenants; we got an early start to the weekend, as we were telecommuting on Friday, so I got out to mow the lawn after work. First, admittedly, I had to mend the mower: the bolt that holds the blade was jammed stuck, and it took some work to get it to shift. By 'work', I mean destructive dismantling. New bolt installed, and mowing completed. It was swelteringly hot, though, so I was glad to finish. Liz started to clear weeds growing around the puschkinia and bluebells, which is another good thing to have done.
On Saturday, we had a busy day in the garden. The butterfly net (8mm square mesh) for the brassicas arrived a while ago, and so we put that over the rectangular vegetable bed. It went on really easily, after the shenanigans with the fleece covers, and it has reinforced edges which hooked over the existing nails neatly. We've stiched the ends together (non-permanently, so the same mesh can be reconfigured, wherever the brassicas are next year) with polypropylene cord. Earlier this week, we mended one of the split fruit cages with the same cord, with some success—they had been stiched with hemp twine, but that's rotting.
We also put some bird netting (inch mesh) over the peas, beans, and carrots. It's actually cat netting, rather than bird netting, for the carrots: the boys appear to have taken to sitting on the carrots. I wouldn't otherwise object (too much), but I don't want them bruising the foliage and attracting carrot root fly.
Belatedly, we realised we hadn't sown any butternut squash, so we planted a pair of seeds where we had put gourds, and covered them with bottle-cloches. The gourds joined another half-dozen from a windowsill in a large half-barrel, filled with compost and topsoil. They're a little crowded, I expect, but I only want a few fruits.
Sunday came, and we nipped out to the garden centre. The bitter winter saw off the clematis 'Pink Champagne' growing near the front door, and we also wanted a climber to go up trellis near the kitchen (disguising the old door). We found two new clematis to do this; an 'Angelique', and 'Marie Boisselot'. We also picked up a dozen petunias (pale yellow/cream), and planted these into two of the new hanging baskets. The other two hanging baskets received three verbena, three pelargoniums, and a small fuchsia or two; these are now near the door, and the petunia baskets are on the front of the house. The dahlias we got at the same time have graduated into bigger pots, too, to grow on until they're needed once pansies in the troughs have gone over.
We also re-planted the Christmas tree, into a larger bucket-pot, and sowed some more salad leaves. We've been eating salads with lunch for the last three days, as they're leafing nicely. The spinach is especially good.
Lastly, and least glamorously, I trimmed back the ivy where it was threatening to block the study window. Needs to be done a few times each year: I try to prevent it from adhering to the wooden window-frame. We also weeded the front garden, and reshuffled a couple of the hellebores under the acer, as there were a couple of gaps, and a bit of congestion. The front garden, with its two new clematis, four new hanging baskets, and weeded beds, is looking much better!
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