I woke up relatively early today and after answering emails and messages I headed down stairs for a little toast feast with avocado and garlic mushrooms. The I loaded up the washing machine with heavily mudded trousers and the like, set it to a hardcore wash setting and made sure the drum was not overloaded. Then I painted the other side of the shelves I has started yesterday, Sanja had – unsurprisingly – confirmed that they would be
“cooler” black, so I cut them to size and then painted them all.
With the planks drying nicely on the steps I set off in to town. Starting yesterday Kaufland I had spotted were offering rice, almond and oat milk at 6.99 a litre, approx 90p which is the cheapest I have seen it ever in Croatia. They also have pumpkin oil, vegan schnitzels, avocados and the evil Pringles on offer too so a special journey was justified. Well it was because I invested in 60 litres of milks! Sadly Kaufland had either made a mistake or a dirty trick as the catalogue showed almond milk as being discounted when in fact it was soja milk. Still going in to town also gives me the excuse to buy a potato burek or two. 🙂
Back at the ranch, I put out the laundry, made a snack and then got on with shelf construction. Life is complete.
I was out in the ex-field the other day when the wind started coming on strong and I noticed that some of the trees we planted a year or so ago we really taking a beating and bending way past what looked healthy to me! Given that one of the wild saplings had broken in the wind a few days before I decided it might be a good idea to give some of the more vulnerable young trees some serious support. I always worry about the method of fastening a support to a young plant, what to use that will not injure the plant. My latest ploy is strips of old sock tied around the plant and then that soft and flexible fixture tied securely to a stake. I knew there was a reason to hang on to my old holy sox!Another two year old sapling with new sock enabled support.A whole bunch of potato plants with some of that pesky Ambrosia plant sneaking up between.This “Conifere Mix” is my second “pine” type tree and I chose it just cos I like the look of it. It required a special PH4 acidity compost but I will bring it some pine needles from the woods later to help it feel at home. In future years the tree will drop its own leaves and they will keep the soil at the right acidity.Sanja requested a Munky Puzzle tree, not I presume because she wants to climb up in it as she wishes to do with the others or because it was so damn expensive! Her inner animal is the monkey and like this tree she can be a little puzzling, so it is indeed perfect! Situated just in front of her favourite bench this will stand out wonderfully if it grows to its full height.The last tree I will plant this year – probably – I have named “Jen‘s tree” because Jen has been my blogs most vocal supporter and she suggested I should plant a pomegranate tree as she had seen one growing when she was over here. So here it is a Šipak for Jen !The new fruit bush zone of the orchard now consists of a Rubus Ideus of the Polana variety, otherwise known as a red raspberry.The new fruit bush zone with raspberries and blackberries.
Today starts here…..
I may be a bit weird – it has been said before – but I can’t help but feel a tingle of anticipation when I see some virgin pieces of wood all ripe and ready for erecting something from. – usually shelves! These pre-sanded bonded boards are not real planks, or good quality but they are perfect for a bit of depression beating shelf construction, oh yeah!Shelves become a ‘work in progress’ as I take a break when the sun went in to go out and plant the cherry tomato plants I bought in the morning. Spot my Makita still going strong – a genuinely sexy power tool.Freshly planted Cherry tomato plants, bought in the Karlovac market this morning, 4 plants for about £1.20. I have some tomato plants I am growing from seed but these are my back ups!And there we go, excitement over, shelves erect and now I have to sort out what will live on them and what will hide in the cupboards!