JUBILEE STEPS AT TEN IN THE MORNING 10am: a dozen or so blackbirds stripping berries from Jubilee Steps cotoneasters. With ground hoar-frosted and hard as iron, it’s a mercy for our feathered friends that such a heavy bounty is to be had. They scorn the scarlet berry clusters during autumn, as if saving themselves for [...]
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Posts Tagged ‘sycamore’
4 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman JUBILEE STEPS AT TEN IN THE MORNING, (LACK OF) VISION
Monday, January 4th, 201022 December 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman HOLLY TREE ON BREECH COMMON
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009HOLLY TREE ON BREECH COMMON Pulled up on the frozen verge where Breech Lane turns into a tunnel before coming out on the top of Foyle Hill. Opposite a footpath sign there’s a tall holly tree which stands handsomely in dark and pale waxy green. This is where I get our festive decorations from, with the [...]
Read More »14 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman WELCOME TO SLOUGH
Saturday, November 14th, 2009Parking all day in Slough is only £2 at the weekend. That’s actually really cheap. You might ask why one would want to visit such a place on a day when the whole country has been, and is being, battered by storms but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve sampled the flavour which this Berkshire town [...]
Read More »1 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman DRIVING TO SWINDON
Sunday, November 1st, 2009After the second successive night of blustery gales, first thing this morning I took the high roads from North Dorset cross-country to windy Swindon. In conditions made treacherous fallen leaves and sheets of driving rain, the route was mercifully light on traffic. Rain entered through even a tiny crack in the wound-down window to assault [...]
Read More »11 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman AN EXPLANATION FOR FAILING RUNNER BEANS?
Tuesday, August 11th, 200911 August 2009 AN EXPLANATION FOR FAILING RUNNER BEANS? My mother phoned the other day to ask me why her runner beans were not setting. She started them in toilet rolls in spring and planted out her strapping youngsters (“the best ever at that stage”) into enriched soil in a sunny place after all reasonable [...]
Read More »13 July 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman TREES IN CARDIFF
Monday, July 13th, 200913 July 2009 TREES IN CARDIFF My step-daughter graduated today with a high 2:1 reading English at Cardiff. We were all there to share her moment. The journey from Diana Street to The Hayes took place during a break in the showers in a vehicle with the sun roof open. I faced backwards and, rather [...]
Read More »2 June 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman ‘THE BIG LUNCH’ LATEST
Tuesday, June 2nd, 20092 June 2009 ‘THE BIG LUNCH’ LATEST… This is an Eden Project inspired national event happening wherever people feel the urge to get thier local communities together on Sunday 19th July 2009. If you Google The Big Lunch then all you need to know is there. Essentially the idea is to stop what you’re doing [...]
Read More »17 May 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman POSSIBLE BEES NEST BEHIND THE BACK WALL, GREAT LANE AT 17.05
Sunday, May 17th, 200917 May 2009 POSSIBLE BEES NEST BEHIND THE BACK WALL Just beyond the back garden wall I think I’ve discovered a bumblebees nest. It was pure happenchance. I’d climbed up to cut down an elder branch which was knocking the greenhouse roof. Job done, I laid the brash where it fell and popped back over. [...]
Read More »11 May 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman ON SEEING A HOBBY BY THE FLYOVER
Monday, May 11th, 200911 May 2009 ON SEEING A HOBBY BY THE FLYOVER I wrote the following almost to the day in 2005, whilst still working as a Groundsman for Shaftesbury Town Council. It’s worth noting that since my Unfair Dismissal the grass is no longer cut so cleanly or regularly. Even this last weekend I had someone [...]
Read More »20 April 2009: DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman POT MARIGOLD SEEDLINGS, DRIVING TO & FROM BOURTON, BADGERS GETTING DESPERATE
Monday, April 20th, 200920 April 2009 POT MARIGOLD SEEDLINGS Each year I grow pot marigolds, aka Calendula, around the plot. They are brilliant flowers; colourful, edible, beloved by all manner of insects and, come autumn, bulky enough to make a real positive contribution to the compost heap. I rarely sow them from fresh any more as they self [...]
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