and the winner is...

Kai! Woohoo!

not quite like winning an oscar, but the Noro goes to Kai.

Thanks to everyone for posting on my blogiversary that was such fun.

....and for those intrigued by the veg covers, here they are made from jute garden twine and knitted on giant needles, 24mm and 75cm long, made by Rachel John the Extreme Knitter.

I made them to prevent the wood pigeons and collared doves from eating my young bean plants. They worked, but didn't prevent the slugs so today I have bought some slug traps which I'm going to prime with cheap beer and they can drink themselves into soggy oblivion! HA!

The Turn of the Screw

is finally on my mp3 from Craftlit.

Probably the best time for me to listen to a ghost story is while I'm sat in the sunshine knitting more large pot covers to keep the thieving pigeons off my bean plants.
I'm not sure I should tell D that I'm listening to this, as scary stuff usually keeps me awake at night and that keeps him awake too.
I was hopeless after watching "The Silence of the Lambs" years ago, and kept having nightmares, and after we saw the Arnie Schwarzenegger film "Terminator 2" I kept thinking that there was a silver man in the corner of the room just waiting to get me.


I won't tell him, best not.




The pot covers are more like hammocks really, suspended between canes above my plants so that the plants can grow but the larger birds can't get at the young plants.
I'm so annoyed with myself, though. When I was planting out the pumpkin plant yesterday I managed to snap the stalk, and today I managed to damaged the tomato plant too.
Perhaps the covers are there to protect the veg from me and not from the birds.

a question

of blood.*

there's no question that Ian Rankin is a tremendous writer. I was absolutely gripped by this book ( having got it back from J1!) and ended up being late for the Lunch club today when I was going down to take photos of the old folks to make a scrapbook for a departing friend. I had to go back later after the musical interlude and the lunch, and had a good giggle with some of the old folk, but I'm not old enough to join yet, which is a shame.

The sun has been out so I've put my chitted spuds in the buckets, lifted the daffs and planted the broad bean plants. Then I sat in the sun with my giant needles and garden string to knit more veg pot covers while listening to the end of Big Cherry Holler. It was OK, not as good as Rankin so I might have to get some of the Rankin books on audio.

* I very rarely guess whodunnit with Rankin which doubles the enjoyment. So many books have predictable storylines but not his. Rebus is a good copper, miserable , bad tempered, lonely and driven, he gets his man, but sometimes the man gets off as the lawyers tweak the evidence.

hoe, hoe, hoe...

... and into the garden for a spot of weeding and plant re-arranging. The weather is a bit warmer and there's a bit more sun so I'm trying to get outside and enjoy it: holly and ivy planted in the shady corner, and raspberries planted in the blue triangle. Buds are appearing on the apple trees and there's flower buds on the dicentra. I'm so pleased that the Bergenias ( elephant's ears) have survived the dog trying to put her nose under the fence to attack the dog next door. the flowers are a fascinating shape.



The primroses and primulas are so bright and cheery too..



I've planted some broccoli, cabbage and cauli in giant tubs, only I need to knit some covers for the tubs to keep the pigeons off the young plants. I think I'll have to make up the pattern , I can't see that one being available online!
J1 has cut the grass for the first time this year,and of course there's a million sycamore seedlings to pull out of the ground.