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Wordless Wednesday - defrosting crocus

March 15, 2017

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Product Review: Stihl RMA 339c Lawn Mower

Regular readers will know that I have reviewed a few products for Stihl from their domestic battery range. It was therefore a delight to be asked if I would review their new RMA 339c rechargeable lawnmower. I have not paid for this product but as ever my words and opinions are my own.
This is a handsome lawnmower. Stihl have until fairly recently made and sold lawnmowers under the trade name 'Viking', now they started branding them in the Stihl orange and white that we know and love.

This mower has a cutting width of 37cm. This is a good width for my lawns, not too small to mean it takes me a long time, but nippy enough that I can mow around things where I need to. It is quiet compared to non-rechargeable mowers and weighs in at 16 kg, which is quite light.

The first thing that made me like this mower was when I went to collect it.
It fitted in the boot. Admittedly the grass collection box has to sit on the passenger seat, but I had been worrying about how I would get it…

A book review in two parts: Monty Don's 'Down to Earth'

Part 1 - the launch

I was delighted to be invited to a book launch for Monty Don's new book 'Down to Earth' which is published today by Dorling Kindersley. I was very excited about going to the event which was held at Ham Yard Hotel in Soho in their roof garden.
First things first, before Monty arrived the roof garden had to be explored. It is truly charming and packed with wonderful things. For starters, there are bees,
and bug houses,
chillies
and aubergines. The garden was well laid out and beautifully maintained. It was a fine venue for launching a book about gardening.
We were treated to these rather wonderful cocktails with flowers in them. They tasted as good as they looked and made the event flow rather pleasantly.
Then Monty arrived, looking rather dapper. Monty introduced the book to us and gave a short talk about how it came to be. Monty explained it was the first book he had not been commissioned to write for many years and that once started, it almost…

Tree following October 2017 - getting chubby

Oh the joys of writing about an actual quince, after all these years of waiting: to not only have a quince, but then I get to watch it develop and ripen.

Well, I say ripen, here's the rub. People keep asking me when I will pick it, when will it be ripe? Well how would I know! It is my first! So I turned to the oracle (RHS website) which tells me that:

"Fruit are ready to harvest in October or Novemberwhen they have turned from a light yellow to a golden colour and are extremely aromatic. Only pick undamaged quinces, storing them in a cool, dry and dark place on shallow trays." RHS

This gave me comfort as I can see that the quince is now changing. At first I thought it had reached a stage and was not going to get any bigger.
But now, as I check in on it frequently, I can see that it is getting rather chubby. It is developing middle-aged spread and has what is best described as 'girth'.
It is definitely getting rounder.
Now when I do pick it, what am I going …

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Wordless Wednesday - defrosting crocus

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