That was hectic.
Let's see... Over the last thirty six hours...
1) I've sorted out the plugs (but alas not the spaghetti junction of cabling) under my desk, and now have stack, printer and scanner on an extension board with switches, so I only need to turn them on when I want to use them. The router and modem are permanently on at the board, mainly because K&K occasionally want online access from their machines when I'm not booted up, and if we leave the modem turned off for any length of time it has a tendency to lose the programming, necessitating a reboot/reprogramme from the server, which is a pain in the arse [takes a breath: aren't run on sentences fun?] and, unfortunately, so is the monitor, because the cable lead won't reach the new extension board. But it's not a transformer, so it could be worse. While everything was unplugged I took the opportunity to open the stack and clear out all the dust and gunge inside - far less than I was expecting, but nevertheless the fan is running considerably more quietly now. Will try to schedule it in for once a year, looks like that's all I'll need.
2) K&K joined me in the garden for a concerted weeding of the rockery. It looks much better now, though it still needs a little more work. Tomorrow I'm planning to tackle the frewtnog pond, clear most of the grass around it and see if I can train the native honeysuckle to provide shade instead. Going to be a fiddly and messy job, but not as bad as sorting out Roeg's Pool...
3) Had a phone call from Chelsey. More on that if anything comes of it.
4) Took Kai to see Iron Man (and nearly had a fit when I saw that the tickets are now £5.25 on the cheap day, making this no longer an inexpensive treat for us. We're going to have to be very choosy with what we decide to see there now). I expected, from the first few minutes, that it was going to be yet another jingoistic self-congratulatory American blockbuster, all cg action and bugger all plot or character - so I was startled and very pleased when it turned out to be (reasonably) well acted, with an American villain, fairly decent character development, and a blinkworthily realistic depiction of the current/recent political situation (and for that reason alone I can think of a number of Americans who won't like it at all). Over all it's a damn fine movie, thoroughly enjoyable, and has gone straight on our list of 'to buy's. Great stuff.
5) Was mightily gobsmacked with flabber well and truly gasted when, on hearing a quiet, rhythmic tapping from the garden, I found a woodpecker - one of these - drilling away at the goat willow! So that explains the holes all over the trunk! Ken was only saying yesterday he thought a woodpecker had been at it... It does signal the final days of the tree, alas, as the trunk and lower branches are now in a right state, with the bark cracking away and the branches feeling spongy and unsafe. Kai's not happy about losing his climbing tree, but understands there's nothing we can do about it. The tree must be infested with insects in the wood for it to be attacked like this. Heh, what with hedgehogs and the mole (which we still have), woodpeckers, the pair of blackbirds that have laid claim to the garden, the maggle family, the fine fat healthy slowworms (we know of five so far, but there are probably more), the mice under the compost bins, the frogs, the newts, the bees and the butterflies that visit, we have a proper little nature reserve here!
6) We have blueberries and greengages coming. And tonight we ceremoniously ate the first two fully ripe strawberries of the year (sorry Lutra, forgot the photo). They were wonderful, tart and sweet at the same time, the real thing, nothing like the bland and watery ones you can buy in supermarkets. Just a pity that we won't have all that many of them (the planters don't hold that many plants). Still, we must have a couple of dozen ripening already, so a bigger crop than last year, and bigger berries too.
7) We were all delighted that the Oz garden won gold - we all love it! (Burnham Nursery's orchids won gold too.) Crackin' stuff.
I'm supposed to be writing, but I'm tired (got to bed 1.30am and got up again at 7.30am. And Kai's on holiday!) May try for an early night instead...

Labels: Chelsea Flower Show, films, garden, gardening, wildlife