Mallard Lodge

Rained today. Watered greenhouse. Got an email from the drainage board with information about dyke distance restrictions. Will talk more about this at a later date. Spent a couple of hours yesterday clearing the rough dead thatch from the other side of the dyke to give grass a better chance of taking. Only covered about 20 metres before the strimmer ran out of fuel, then I had to go somewhere. Decided that I'm going to attempt to attack the tougher reeds at the bottom of the dyke with a manual sickle as the strimmer probably won't work well under water and I'd require a brushcutter to get through them anyway. As a result of my efforts yesterday, I had a bit of a bad back today... mainly because I used muscles that I haven't used in years! Good exercise, but I do think that the drainage board should take better care of it since they're the one's making all the rules. On the Fens, the drainage board is God as if it weren't for them, we'd all be under water. Just like the original God in the bible, they write a complicated antiquated book of rules, expect you to follow it and expect dire consequences if it is not obeyed - and then abandon you. As you can tell, my faith in the Fen God is starting to falter, however I await the coming of the messianic digger with an open mind.

Removed old dead ground spreading conifer yesterday (Juniper Horizontalis) and all the grass and weeds that had grown up around it. Heavy job. Used the rotavator to get some of the stubborn weeds, howed around it, got rid of stubborn thistles growing through neighbouring plants and then re-planted a "Blue Carpet" Juniper in it's place. It's a little plant not more than 4 inches across, but should spread in no time.

Rearranged greenhouse yesterday also, to make the spa-bath users feel that they are not sitting in a working greenhouse - even though they are. All worked out for the best for all parties involved.