about JohnH
Sorted, fit. Current activities are photography, hiking, motorbiking, trail biking, music, geology/geoscience, dinner-at-home, travel and more.
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And now... a band saw, to control the vigorous Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) that have filled the gaps, as I guess a previous gardener intended, but have grown out of scale. That leaves space for a Bay tree (Laurus nobilis) sapling that Terry has cultivated in Brighton. There’s one thriving in Fitz Park arboretum nearby so I’m not expecting a problem once the sapling is planted out and established.
The wild flowers of No Mow May being long gone, this is the first cut of the year of my Keswick “meadow”. My new Flymo is a larger electric hover with a 35cm blade rather than the 24cm of the one that’s pretty much worn out already: this isn’t a suburban lawn patch. The new mower has a roller at the front to assist the hover.
Three cheers for Wally Broscene!
Cup Final Saturday having come around again reminds me of strawberries and cream at the LWT television outside broadcasts at the old Wembley Stadium that we did all through the Eighties. Location caterers being one of the unsung heroes of location production, getting on site before the main crew call and being ready with a hot breakfast for all, even if it was Boxing Day at West Ham football ground. I remember several by name: Broscene was always a favourite, Lewis & Clark had their fans too. It can’t have been easy, cooking by gas and before the days of ubiquitous microwave cookers.
Wally Broscene pulled the stops out for the FA Cup Final, in particular he featured strawberries and cream on his menu. I used to hold off buying strawberries until after then so it was a bigger treat. Of course it was a WOSCMB and we worked through meal breaks but carrying coffee (or strawberries and cream) for crew mates never did anyone’s prospects any harm.
A brief break in the heavy rain of this “January Cyclonic Westerly” weather gave me the opportunity to plant a mixed pack of 101 bulbs in my garden in Keswick. Very much the on-yer-knees style of gardening. The specialist bulb trowel is essential to insert the bulbs at the recommended depth of 10-15 cm, both for proper development and to avoid the predations of the Lake District fauna. The tulips (top photo) will be Tulipa von Eijk, red.
Sports walk along the Thames Path upstream from Hammersmith Bridge to buy fresh bread from the bakery in Barnes, both pleasures I discovered during the lockdowns. Disappointingly, the heavy rain didn’t turn up as forecast, so not as “interesting” as it could have been: as a cross-county runner I enjoyed the feel of rain falling my shoulders whilst running. The bread’s good though.
- The freedom of the cross-country runner - Lake District National Park
- London Corporate Challenge: Battersea Park
