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| Kubota RTV in its parking space. |
What a relief! A couple of days ago, the heatwave broke. Yet, although it's cooler, we are having strange weather for these parts. Sunny, with passing showers, humid with thunderstorms in the afternoon, including lightning which has been so rare here. More like NJ than Eire.
I'll take it. I was finally able to weed all over and to work in the polytunnel. Hurray!
I have become a saviour of scores of butterflies that get caught in the polytunnel and can't find their way out. Such gentle creatures. Some don't even want to fly off right away.
Ghost keeps me company like a puppy. She is so cute and so entertaining. She helps with the weeding but doesn't like when I steal her favourite grasses. She whacks me gently and tries to hold down the grass so I can't take it away.
Everything is far behind this year. The grapes are minuscule. I'll need to thin them out as there are too many clusters. I left all the leaves for shade in the heat. But maybe as they grow, I'll have to trim back some leaves.
In the polytunnel, we have installed an automatic watering system with soaker hose and smart timer. I found the smart timer in Lidl for €25, later on sale for €20 so I bought a second one. Programmable with an app, the frustrating setup (which requires a 'Zigbee compatible gateway' but only mentions it on the box in tiny type) took hours and got nowhere on the first try. Once I learned that a Zigbee compatible gateway is basically an IoT gadget available through Amazon for ~€20, I ordered one and had it delivered in two days with free Prime shipping. Then it was easy. We have it coming on for 10 minutes every 4 hours starting at 7 am. We'll be able to use the second one on the other side of the tunnel or out in the garden.
We hired a 'gardener' for the rest of the garden who will come once a week to trim bushes, strim edges, mow the lawn, blow leaves and trim up trees. Basically, he'll do the tidying up while we concentrate on the planting and management of the vineyard and orchard. That will make a huge difference. He's very neat.
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| I am loving this 'room' |
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| Beans and courgettes have come up in record time |
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| Soaker hose in place and a few things planted. |
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| Self-heal has created a carpet of purple on the promenade |
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| Half the floor is complete. |
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| The smart timer |
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Wildflower plugs in all the disturbed ground
and a hydrangea in front |
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| Wildflowers and another hydrangea in front |
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| Back doors now open all the way. |
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| New shelving in place. |
