Eased Lockdown, 19.5.2020.

Been out with the camera for the first time since the Lock Down, we went down to Reddish Vale, where else did you say!, we were getting withdrawal symptoms.

So it was a packed lunch for me and Pepe into my Rucksack seat as the Cafe's are still closed.

So we could sit out in the sunshine on our own and not feel threatened by some of the inconsiderate people that didn't seem to realize or were not bothered by the social distancing.

In the community Garden, where we met a young lady photographer called Wendi-Anne, she hadn't seen much of the Vale so we walked round and showed her some of the places she hadn't been too, keeping our distance of course!.

We were lucky to see the new arrivals on the top mill pond, six new cygnets.

Was also luck to spot this Little Grebe and their nest with one egg in it.

I'm not asleep, got my eye on you!.

Mother and baby Coot

Won't be long kids, Dad is just seeing this cyclist off

The Mandarins have been having a bit of hanky panky too!, so hopefully will be having a few chicks there, usually they have about 12-14.

Beautiful aren't they, so colourful!.

Back home in the garden this blackbird enjoying a bit of pear.

Pigeons more into seed.

Plenty of starlings around 

My goldfinch families are doing well and hope to see some youngsters soon.

Enjoying the Sunflower seeds.

To keep busy and stop going round the bend did a bit of micro gardening.

Had bought this bowl a few years ago (£8) and planted it with mini cacti and I'd been a bit too mean with the watering, worried about over watering and I noticed that one of them had died, so I took it out and replanted another small one in its place.

The new one is the tall one on the left, so with a bit more fresh cactus compost and new chippings on top it was finished.

How do you do it CAREFULLY!.

 

Top view so you can see the others a bit better, they were all only about an inch tall when first done, out of mini packs of three for a couple of quid.

My clematis "Josephine" is doing well again this year. 

That center part keeps opening & opening.

Till you get it looking something like this!.

Hyde Road widening project is going well, suppose the lack of traffic has helped them, so at least the lock down as helped them.

Latest Jig saw done, one bought for me by my good friends Bob & his good lady Joyce.

Quite a hard one to do with a lot of similar colours, but it takes your mind off things doesn't it.

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Remember.



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Till the next time.

Lock down, 10.5.2020.

Well it's another lock down day, but getting more used to it now.

I'd said in the last post that the last lady in my garden to repaint was a big one and though it's made of resin it is still quite heavy, unless it's me getting weak in my old age!.

But I managed to give her a bath and after drying her off she didn't look too bad after about 10 years in the garden in all the weather we seem to get in the UK. A light rubbing down with some fine sandpaper in the garage to provide a key to the new paper and it was a careful climb up the stairs to the workroom, the last thing you need these days is a trip to A&E isn't it!.

It was a case of what colour I had available for this big girl!, and the only chance was some bronze but that was iffy, so it was two coats on her front for a good coverage and then round to the back and even managed two coats there!, amazing how far a bottle of acrylic paint will go.

Then afterwards it was another careful trip down the stairs and into the garage for a coat of acrylic gross varnish to seal the paint for another 10 years hopefully!.

So here she is a before and after look.

The ducks were glad to see her back, notice I made sure that I  hit the right key on the keyboard, one of my friends mentioning the ducks hit the wrong key for Ducks which was a bit of an embarrassment.(you work it out). 

Still waiting for the builders to open to get some more log rolls to replace that in the front there, also some sand and cement then I can get a grip of them weeds and re point the flagstones, its the bird seed!.

So a nice view again from the living room window

Sunday dinner today was a frozen dinner from Morrison's, quite nice but not a patch on my Daughter-in-laws Sunday dinners!. 

As I seem to spend a lot of my time in the Stockport area these days (before Lock down that is) I saw this on a web site and thought what a good idea, hope other councils might follow suit!.

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Bet there are a lot of fathers thinking this.

Well there you have it for another post, look in again soon.

Lock down, 6.5.2020.

Still on lock down, so it was more jobs in the garden whilst the weather was so good.

First it was finish of the back gate which was looking a bit worse for wear.

What was on the plinth on the left did you say?. 

It was this lady that my wife had painted but it was a bit worse for wear so it was taken indoor to the work shop.

And there she is a bit brighter and a new coloured dress on.

I'd repainted this lady last week which as you can see was a bit faded.

That's a lot better isn't it.

Time for a rest and a brew with the lad, he was 11 last week and I'd bought him a new bed before the lock down luckily.

Another part of the garden was this Clematis which was circled with log rounds which were rotting away, they only say they are good for 10 years and it must be well over that.

The big lady is the next painting job on the list.

So with Pepe supervising, whipped out the log rolls and the weeds and as we can't get any new stuff it was a case of surrounding the plant with stones, it looks good enough to me so will forget the new log rolls!.

The clematis is "Josephine" by the way which I think is one of the best Clematis there is. 

The new Rainbows I'd made earlier in the week were put up, the new one is the bit smaller but you have to use what you have in stock whilst on lock down haven't you. still I got two out of the one piece so there is another one on the other side of the garden.

The plywood on the old one was splitting and it's not repairable, but can use the CD's again so not all wasted.

As you might see this rainbow is slightly smaller that the other one so it's only 7 CD's on whereas the other one has 8!.

"All this work is tiring me out" says Pepe.

An earlier project was this Auxillery Fire service vehicle or you might know it as a Green Goddess,

I was a leading fireman in the AFS but was shucked out when I joined the Ambulance service, you couldn't be in both and seeing the fire service was volunteering it was a no brainer!.

Was bought at the same time as my Tug Boat in the picture below and I got a good discount off for buying the two together, I do love a bargain!.
Will have to try and get some bedding plants to go in it, looks better with some succulents in it.

Both quite heavy as they are made of concrete.

So there you have it for another week in Lock down, running out of materials now, but still got the Big lady to go at, hope the paint doesn't run out!.

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Lock down, 28.4.2020.

Another day in Lock Down so keeping busy and doing more jobs round the house so when we can go out again we will be able to do with a clear conscience knowing all the jobs done at home.

Went to Morrison's for the weekly shop and found that if I went at 11-30 there was only 3 in front of me and by the time I'd walked down the barrier lane that it was my turn to go in the store!.

On the way home I called at the McDonalds Car part, yes I know they are closed but the car park over looks the Hyde Road widening project and I got this phone picture of the progress without anyone near to me.

All the shuttering in place and it looks like they are adding the concrete topping whilst the digger is still removing the ground that is going to be the wider road way.

Then it was home to pick up Pepe and have a walk round the deserted

Debdale Park and just got home before the showers.

Back indoors I finished another two jigsaws seen here.

Had done one of these in the past, but the observant will see this one is the night edition.

 There is a light underneath that changes colour as you can see here.

This one was a bit on the dark side, I'd bought it by mistake from Amazon but instead of sending it back thought it would be a challenge, and it didn't disappoint me, it was!.

In the garage I've made a couple of Rainbows that I've made in the past, see below, but after about 10 years the plywood has started to split,

As you can see when the light hits it, the colours change with the light when you walk past it.

So I'd bought some more ply months ago to replace it.

These are a bit smaller because the wood I'd bought was smaller, so the rainbows are smaller though still eye catching.

Another job in progress is the back garden gate, took off the cladding on the outside I'd put on originally and took off the mirror frame so I can repair that, it makes the garden look bigger, can't go much further with this job until the shops open to buy some green fencing sealer.

That lady looks like she could do will a bit of attention too at some stage. 

Pepe nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed himself in the mirror frame, and was barking like mad at himself, what a plonker!, he can't normally see himself when it's on the gate.

Was his birthday as well so perhaps he thought I'd bought him another dog!.

11 years old, that's 77 years in our years isn't it?. 

He's looking a lot more like the Long Haired Chihuahua he should be, with the groomer shut down same as a lot of other shops

Two old codgers together hey.

Another day done, but a bit better with a trip out.

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