Spring is nearly here!
Re: Spring is nearly here!
A personal project dear to my heart is nearing fruition and that is a summary of fruit that will or won't grow in North Wales. I started this as a personal record of what to grow and what not to grow when I moved here 8 years ago and have made notes along the way as to how various fruit trees or soft fruit has performed in our cold wet northern climes. I have been surprised with some and disapointed in others. I was asked for so many copies I've decided to offer it to club members, its about 20 pages of A4.
Re: Spring is nearly here!
'The time has come the Walrus said, to talk of many things
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and Kings
And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings'
This, if my memory serves me correct was subterfuge for the little oysters to take their minds off being eaten by the sly and crafty Walrus, now where have I heard that kind of bullsh*t before? Oh yes, I remember, its the anniversary of my divorce 25 years this week.
Hey ho,it's that time of year again when it's winding down to winter and the barbecue's redundant, the patio table and umbrella are stored away from the colder darker months to follow and you have had a big tidy up of fading bedding plants as they die back in their pots and picking the windfalls up before the slugs get them, well thats my week, how's your's!
Christmas I think is the bright oasis in an otherwise quiet time in our koi world. It's that time of year for sombre reflection of the cock-ups you made this year and the resolve to do better next year.
The long dark dreary winter months are the time to dream and plan of that 'Superpond' of the future, either the lottery win job of the artificial lake measured in acres rather than litres with the real stone road bridge across we have all dreamed of.Or, reality is, the more practical down to earth improvement from 150 gallons to 350 gallon fibreglass job planned for next February.
The practical hands on jobs this month is netting all the leaves out of your pond and in my case keeping on top of the waterlillies as they die back and stain the water. Pull the leaves off this time of year as soon as they start to go yellow and when the first heavy frosts hit them remove all the leaves down to the crown, try to pull them off or cut them off, either way they will die back anyway and pollute the water.
Also changed this month is from feeding high protein food to wheatgerm.
I used the last of my Japan mix ground up feeding the koi fry which have now grown up to three inches (the biggest two) and they went on Saturday 12th Oct to their new home on Merseyside, that is, except for six which I am growing on for a friend who lost all his fish this year.
Picked the last of my plums a week ago and the last of my pears yesterday but still got a lot of late ripening apples left on a tree and nowhere to store them other than a shed.
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and Kings
And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings'
This, if my memory serves me correct was subterfuge for the little oysters to take their minds off being eaten by the sly and crafty Walrus, now where have I heard that kind of bullsh*t before? Oh yes, I remember, its the anniversary of my divorce 25 years this week.
Hey ho,it's that time of year again when it's winding down to winter and the barbecue's redundant, the patio table and umbrella are stored away from the colder darker months to follow and you have had a big tidy up of fading bedding plants as they die back in their pots and picking the windfalls up before the slugs get them, well thats my week, how's your's!
Christmas I think is the bright oasis in an otherwise quiet time in our koi world. It's that time of year for sombre reflection of the cock-ups you made this year and the resolve to do better next year.
The long dark dreary winter months are the time to dream and plan of that 'Superpond' of the future, either the lottery win job of the artificial lake measured in acres rather than litres with the real stone road bridge across we have all dreamed of.Or, reality is, the more practical down to earth improvement from 150 gallons to 350 gallon fibreglass job planned for next February.
The practical hands on jobs this month is netting all the leaves out of your pond and in my case keeping on top of the waterlillies as they die back and stain the water. Pull the leaves off this time of year as soon as they start to go yellow and when the first heavy frosts hit them remove all the leaves down to the crown, try to pull them off or cut them off, either way they will die back anyway and pollute the water.
Also changed this month is from feeding high protein food to wheatgerm.
I used the last of my Japan mix ground up feeding the koi fry which have now grown up to three inches (the biggest two) and they went on Saturday 12th Oct to their new home on Merseyside, that is, except for six which I am growing on for a friend who lost all his fish this year.
Picked the last of my plums a week ago and the last of my pears yesterday but still got a lot of late ripening apples left on a tree and nowhere to store them other than a shed.
Re: Spring is nearly here!
What a weekend of storms! spent my time on Saturday securing my greenhouse roof vents and doors against bursting open again as they did last year. Had to replace one blown out vent last year hence caution, picked the last of my apples before the wind tore them off and netted more leaves from my pond or they sink and block the Nexus filter.
Its 12 months next week to the big floods that devastated St Asaph and the river is already way up its banks and close to overflowing with all the rain we've had over last few days.
Denbighshire council have been clearing the flood debris away and cutting the undergrowth back from river banks on the Elwy over last few months ready for these floods and the water is flowing through faster already.They have done an excellent job as I can now get to fish far more of the river bank that was totally unaccessible til now and you can see much more wildlife.
Thanks to the clearance of the mass of brambles and willow I saw two dippers and a kingfisher in the pools by the style on the far corner of the football pitch last Wednesday. Big problem now is all the large tree trunks they cut down and couldn't get through the industrial shredder they left behind on the river bank where they fell and the first flood last week picked them up and deposited some of the bigger ones downstream. Last Friday there was one at least 25 ft long and 18" in diameter jammed across the shallows 300 yards upstream from the back of Foxons and 600 yards off the road bridge that last year was blocked with trees and flood debris. It was this blockage that partly caused the catastrophic backup of floodwater through lower St Asaph this, coupled with a very high tide at Rhyl. Foxons was just one of many shops and business's flooded out last year, it only re-opened in March of this year. I stood and watched dozens and dozens of logs and branches in the river hurtling downstream at a fair pace and couldn't help wondering at the sheer volume of timber wasted and where it would end up, at sea probably as its only 4 miles to Rhyl downstream.
Luckily the log jam was carried away with the next flood on Sunday and was gone with the rest of the bigger logs on Monday morning when I walked our dogs, problem was the river was slightly higher and faster and still carrying timber which is worrying!
Its 12 months next week to the big floods that devastated St Asaph and the river is already way up its banks and close to overflowing with all the rain we've had over last few days.
Denbighshire council have been clearing the flood debris away and cutting the undergrowth back from river banks on the Elwy over last few months ready for these floods and the water is flowing through faster already.They have done an excellent job as I can now get to fish far more of the river bank that was totally unaccessible til now and you can see much more wildlife.
Thanks to the clearance of the mass of brambles and willow I saw two dippers and a kingfisher in the pools by the style on the far corner of the football pitch last Wednesday. Big problem now is all the large tree trunks they cut down and couldn't get through the industrial shredder they left behind on the river bank where they fell and the first flood last week picked them up and deposited some of the bigger ones downstream. Last Friday there was one at least 25 ft long and 18" in diameter jammed across the shallows 300 yards upstream from the back of Foxons and 600 yards off the road bridge that last year was blocked with trees and flood debris. It was this blockage that partly caused the catastrophic backup of floodwater through lower St Asaph this, coupled with a very high tide at Rhyl. Foxons was just one of many shops and business's flooded out last year, it only re-opened in March of this year. I stood and watched dozens and dozens of logs and branches in the river hurtling downstream at a fair pace and couldn't help wondering at the sheer volume of timber wasted and where it would end up, at sea probably as its only 4 miles to Rhyl downstream.
Luckily the log jam was carried away with the next flood on Sunday and was gone with the rest of the bigger logs on Monday morning when I walked our dogs, problem was the river was slightly higher and faster and still carrying timber which is worrying!
Re: Spring is nearly here!
Next to last club meeting for this year tomorrow night folks, December meeting is the Christmas meet on the 4th for a social gathering. There is no meeting for January as the first Wednesday is New Years Day!
Official recognition for my wildlife pond as I got a phone call Monday night from the North East Wales Wild life Trust to tell me their field officer was interested in viewing my wild life ponds; fame at last!
I'll make sure Cyn has a clean pinny on when he arrives.
Attended, if thats the right description the Denbigh Plum Festival on Saturday, not a lot going for it to be honest mostly due to the fact that it had been postponed from early October. This was due apparently to poor plum harvest, so no plums for sale other than in bottles or cakes mostly courtesy of the W.I. I actually have a Denbigh plum tree in my garden and that had no plums on either but to be fair it's only a young tree thats just started flowering. The Denbigh plum tree has been growing here in Denbigh from 1710 yet it's only just being recognised as a Heritage plum for the last few years, so again, fame at last!
Official recognition for my wildlife pond as I got a phone call Monday night from the North East Wales Wild life Trust to tell me their field officer was interested in viewing my wild life ponds; fame at last!
I'll make sure Cyn has a clean pinny on when he arrives.
Attended, if thats the right description the Denbigh Plum Festival on Saturday, not a lot going for it to be honest mostly due to the fact that it had been postponed from early October. This was due apparently to poor plum harvest, so no plums for sale other than in bottles or cakes mostly courtesy of the W.I. I actually have a Denbigh plum tree in my garden and that had no plums on either but to be fair it's only a young tree thats just started flowering. The Denbigh plum tree has been growing here in Denbigh from 1710 yet it's only just being recognised as a Heritage plum for the last few years, so again, fame at last!
Re: Spring is nearly here!
And though the shadow of a sigh
May tremble through the story,
For 'happy summer days' gone by,
And vanished summer glory----
It shall not touch with breath of bale
The pleasance of our fairy-tale.
'Through the Looking-Glass' Lewis Carroll 1872
I was taken by this poetry as a child when my elder sister, sadly now no longer with us, read the stories out to me and I have held them dear to me ever since just fascinated by the complexity and absurdity of the Reverend's stories and poems.
Pond clearing duties prevail these dark days of November as the leaves drift off the trees in ever increasing numbers and choke my filter on the koi pond, this is one big disadvantage of having a very large woods at the bottom of my garden!
Surprise for me this year so far is not one frog found hibernating in bottom of Nexus, the wildlife pond must be working at attracting them away as I have found a couple in there just recently when clearing leaves out along with three or four newts. There was a thin coating of ice on the pond surface for the first time on Saturday morning after a hard nights frost that persisted all day in the shade and only melted last night about 4.30pm when it clouded over and slightly warmed up.
Just hope Australia don't keep up this winning streak next Saturday, after stuffing us convincingly at cricket in the first Test match yesterday. They meet us in the Millenium Stadium for the Autumn International Rugby Union series and I think Wales need to up their game considerably to beat The Wallabies. I saw them play Argentina in Cardiff last Saturday and while Argentina were poor Wales were unconvincing and again against Tonga on Friday night they just did not perform well which makes me think on their present form that they will struggle to beat Australia. Ok they were resting some key players against Tonga for the Aus game but that aside they were lacking sparkle cohesion and ambition
May tremble through the story,
For 'happy summer days' gone by,
And vanished summer glory----
It shall not touch with breath of bale
The pleasance of our fairy-tale.
'Through the Looking-Glass' Lewis Carroll 1872
I was taken by this poetry as a child when my elder sister, sadly now no longer with us, read the stories out to me and I have held them dear to me ever since just fascinated by the complexity and absurdity of the Reverend's stories and poems.
Pond clearing duties prevail these dark days of November as the leaves drift off the trees in ever increasing numbers and choke my filter on the koi pond, this is one big disadvantage of having a very large woods at the bottom of my garden!
Surprise for me this year so far is not one frog found hibernating in bottom of Nexus, the wildlife pond must be working at attracting them away as I have found a couple in there just recently when clearing leaves out along with three or four newts. There was a thin coating of ice on the pond surface for the first time on Saturday morning after a hard nights frost that persisted all day in the shade and only melted last night about 4.30pm when it clouded over and slightly warmed up.
Just hope Australia don't keep up this winning streak next Saturday, after stuffing us convincingly at cricket in the first Test match yesterday. They meet us in the Millenium Stadium for the Autumn International Rugby Union series and I think Wales need to up their game considerably to beat The Wallabies. I saw them play Argentina in Cardiff last Saturday and while Argentina were poor Wales were unconvincing and again against Tonga on Friday night they just did not perform well which makes me think on their present form that they will struggle to beat Australia. Ok they were resting some key players against Tonga for the Aus game but that aside they were lacking sparkle cohesion and ambition
Re: Spring is nearly here!
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome rathes outgrabe.
"Beware the Jaberwock my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird,and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
Just three weeks to the shortest day December the 21st then it starts to get progressively lighter each day, I'm always glad to see November out as its got to be the most miserable month of the calender year with its predictably gloomy drizzly wet and windy weather.
When you think about it New Years Day should be really be celebrated on the 21st of December as its logically the astrological start of a new season as the earth moves into a new phase from the Winter Solstice but try to win over that arguement with the Church Establishment! who conveniently superimposed Christian (Christmas) celebrations over Pagan. It was originally the Scandinavian Pagan's fire festival of Yule practiced in Britain by the Celts when they gathered Yule logs to have a bonfire to celebrate the return of the light or sun after the longest night, makes sense really!
The Celtic Wiccan's or witches celebrated the return of the Sun, not the Son!
Still do today apparently in a Druidic Coven around Fflint.
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome rathes outgrabe.
"Beware the Jaberwock my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird,and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
Just three weeks to the shortest day December the 21st then it starts to get progressively lighter each day, I'm always glad to see November out as its got to be the most miserable month of the calender year with its predictably gloomy drizzly wet and windy weather.
When you think about it New Years Day should be really be celebrated on the 21st of December as its logically the astrological start of a new season as the earth moves into a new phase from the Winter Solstice but try to win over that arguement with the Church Establishment! who conveniently superimposed Christian (Christmas) celebrations over Pagan. It was originally the Scandinavian Pagan's fire festival of Yule practiced in Britain by the Celts when they gathered Yule logs to have a bonfire to celebrate the return of the light or sun after the longest night, makes sense really!
The Celtic Wiccan's or witches celebrated the return of the Sun, not the Son!
Still do today apparently in a Druidic Coven around Fflint.
Re: Spring is nearly here!
The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd,because it was
The middle of the night.
Plagued with blanket weed again this last few weeks so decided to take advantage of mild dry weather of late and get rid of it all this morning.
Early start and I pulled as much as I could off edges of pond with net and brush and also removed the last of the waterlilly leaves.
Masses of leaves have fallen in pond over last week and caught up in blanket weed so that was an incentive to clear it all as I have had to clean Nexus more than usual and as a result water level dropped quite a bit.
After removing as much blanket weed physically as I could and putting it in compost bins, I dosed pond with Cloverleaf Blanket Answer. This is the best blanket weed remover I know of as it works every time for me and usually lasts for between 4 and 6 months depending on time of year that you dose.
Water stays cloudy for a couple of days then suddenly clears and this is when you really have to monitor your filter closely as it clogs very quickly with dead weed.
I brush the sides and bottom very vigorously to dislodge dead weed and put the airstone on, this speeds up the cleansing process, this is done a week after treatment and I then flush the filter out and replace lost water from flushing.
I dose new tapwater with Thiosulphate to neutralise chlorine, I also spray water in through fine nozzle spray as this also helps dissipate chlorine.
This makes a better environment for my fish to overwinter in as there is a lot less vegetable matter to break down if things freeze over as they did three years ago when I could (and did!) stand on the ice on my pond.
I have certainly improved things since as I have fully enclosed my filter to make sure it runs through the coldest of winter weather, fitted a heater and have the facility to completely bypass my veg filter with return flow and have insulated the return piping, in short it won't freeze up solid again for 6 weeks as it did three years ago!
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd,because it was
The middle of the night.
Plagued with blanket weed again this last few weeks so decided to take advantage of mild dry weather of late and get rid of it all this morning.
Early start and I pulled as much as I could off edges of pond with net and brush and also removed the last of the waterlilly leaves.
Masses of leaves have fallen in pond over last week and caught up in blanket weed so that was an incentive to clear it all as I have had to clean Nexus more than usual and as a result water level dropped quite a bit.
After removing as much blanket weed physically as I could and putting it in compost bins, I dosed pond with Cloverleaf Blanket Answer. This is the best blanket weed remover I know of as it works every time for me and usually lasts for between 4 and 6 months depending on time of year that you dose.
Water stays cloudy for a couple of days then suddenly clears and this is when you really have to monitor your filter closely as it clogs very quickly with dead weed.
I brush the sides and bottom very vigorously to dislodge dead weed and put the airstone on, this speeds up the cleansing process, this is done a week after treatment and I then flush the filter out and replace lost water from flushing.
I dose new tapwater with Thiosulphate to neutralise chlorine, I also spray water in through fine nozzle spray as this also helps dissipate chlorine.
This makes a better environment for my fish to overwinter in as there is a lot less vegetable matter to break down if things freeze over as they did three years ago when I could (and did!) stand on the ice on my pond.
I have certainly improved things since as I have fully enclosed my filter to make sure it runs through the coldest of winter weather, fitted a heater and have the facility to completely bypass my veg filter with return flow and have insulated the return piping, in short it won't freeze up solid again for 6 weeks as it did three years ago!
Re: Spring is nearly here!
Forgot to mention last Koi Club meeting of the year folks tomorrow (Wed 4th Dec) night at Farmers Arms Waen for the fish judgement night with coffee and mince pies.
Be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phil
Be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phil
Re: Spring is nearly here!
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Very good warm friendly evening was had by all at the social meet on Wednesday night with hot mince pies and coffee for all.
The few Grow and Show Shiro Utsuri koi that survived to be photographed were judged by all present and koi pic no 4 was winner who gets a framed photograph of his koi, don't think you will get it for Christmas though ?
Yours truly won the coffee maker as top prize in raffle but I already have several so I've donated it back to club funds and Dave to put in the raffle for next years (Feb) meeting I think.
I couldn't have had a more socially different evening when Cyn and I attended the A.G.M of the NEWlife meeting the evening before.
We only joined earlier on this year as we wanted to do more to help the local newt population and NEWlife or the North East Wales wildlife society who run and manage the local Nature Reserve amphibian ponds near our house (amongst others).
We turned up prompt for 6.0pm start in Mold of our first meeting as new members and quite unbelievably sat for two hours during course of A.G.M and in all that time, nobody introduced us to them or themselves to us or greeted us as new members in any way or even spoke to us except to confirm to Secretary doing roll call at start of A.G.M that we had turned up.
At 8.00pm formal A.G.M finished and they started serving coffee and mince pies, oh good we thought, this is were they socialise and introduce themselves and show some friendliness, guess what! no chance, the ignoramus's were just as anti-social and went off into their own little huddles.
Cyn and I tried to engage several times in polite conversation but frustrated at the lack of response, gave up and voted with our feet and quietly left, I'm sure nobody noticed us leave.
Our first visit was also our last.
I was so angry that I emailed NEWlife when I returned home that night stating my disatisfaction at the unfriendly meeting and received a reply from the Secretary asking how could they put it right as, quote, 'your membership is really important to us' ! this email was from the very same NEWlife Secretary at the meeting in Mold !
Beat that for hypocrisy
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Very good warm friendly evening was had by all at the social meet on Wednesday night with hot mince pies and coffee for all.
The few Grow and Show Shiro Utsuri koi that survived to be photographed were judged by all present and koi pic no 4 was winner who gets a framed photograph of his koi, don't think you will get it for Christmas though ?
Yours truly won the coffee maker as top prize in raffle but I already have several so I've donated it back to club funds and Dave to put in the raffle for next years (Feb) meeting I think.
I couldn't have had a more socially different evening when Cyn and I attended the A.G.M of the NEWlife meeting the evening before.
We only joined earlier on this year as we wanted to do more to help the local newt population and NEWlife or the North East Wales wildlife society who run and manage the local Nature Reserve amphibian ponds near our house (amongst others).
We turned up prompt for 6.0pm start in Mold of our first meeting as new members and quite unbelievably sat for two hours during course of A.G.M and in all that time, nobody introduced us to them or themselves to us or greeted us as new members in any way or even spoke to us except to confirm to Secretary doing roll call at start of A.G.M that we had turned up.
At 8.00pm formal A.G.M finished and they started serving coffee and mince pies, oh good we thought, this is were they socialise and introduce themselves and show some friendliness, guess what! no chance, the ignoramus's were just as anti-social and went off into their own little huddles.
Cyn and I tried to engage several times in polite conversation but frustrated at the lack of response, gave up and voted with our feet and quietly left, I'm sure nobody noticed us leave.
Our first visit was also our last.
I was so angry that I emailed NEWlife when I returned home that night stating my disatisfaction at the unfriendly meeting and received a reply from the Secretary asking how could they put it right as, quote, 'your membership is really important to us' ! this email was from the very same NEWlife Secretary at the meeting in Mold !
Beat that for hypocrisy
Re: Spring is nearly here!
Here is the winning G&S 34 cm Shiro Utsuri from Wednesday night's judging courtesy of Colin. The proud owner of winning koi is Ray Halsall and the supplier of the koi in May 2012 was Cuttlebrook Koi Farm. Congratulations Ray on a nice fish.
- Shiro_Utsuri_G&S_Winner.jpg (44.5 KiB) Viewed 35501 times