September 2020

Tuesday 1st

 5 to 20 to 14°C. 10.01kWh 1.7kW max. Cold start followed by a sunny day and warmer now the wind has moved back to the west.

Took the fine netting off the top of the leek bed and gave it a good weed. Hopefully there won't be any leek moths about to lay eggs in them. Last year I left it till October and, althought there were no maggots in them, the shade from the netting caused them to not thicken up as much as we would have liked.

Pat pulled the first celery plant today; these have grown really well with all the rain we have had recently. We are still getting lots of blackberries and some of the grapes were big enough to pick.

Wednesday 2nd

10 to 15 to 16°C. 3.28kWh 1.3kW max. Started off quite bright with some sunshine in the morning but by midday it was dull with 5mm light rain or drizzle till early evening.

If I had know I would have done some gardening in the morning for a change.

Thursday 3rd

14 to 20 to 14°C. 7.48kWh 1.7kW max. A much better day with some hazy sunshine.

Back to trimming back shrubs and hedges. Pat did some shredding.

Friday 4th

 12 to 17 to 12°. 4.29kWh 800kW max. Cloudy. Feeling warmer with the wind from the west.

Picked another crateful of Bramley apples, making 5, and it still looks as if we haven't picked any at all. Also dug up the late potatoes Sarpo Axona. A very good yield of around 25kg from 1.5kg seed and they are one of the best keepers.

Saturday 5th

 10 t0 15 to 12°C. 6.35kWh 1.6kW max. Bright morning, cloudy afternoon.

Continued trimming and pruning

Sunday 6th

9 to 18 to 11°C. 6.42kWh 1.8kW max. Sunny intervals. Feeling warmer.

Monday 7th

 11 to 18 to 15°C. 2.98kWh 350W max. Cloudy but quite warm out of the wind

Tuesday 8th

12 to 22 to 18°C. 6.53kWh 1.6kW max. A very pleasant day with broken cloud with hazy sunshine.

Continued cutting back hedges and shrubs and removing the larger weeds from the less cultivated parts of the garden.

Wednesday 9th

15 to 18 to 10°C. 7.54kWh 1.6kW max. 1mm drizzly rain in the morning, clearing to hazy sunshine with a cold westerly wind. Clear tonight so could be quite cold by morning.

Thursday 10th

 11 to 17 to 12°C. 3.22kWh 500W max. Mainly cloudy

Friday 11th

12 to 17 to 12°C. 4.71kWh 600W max. Another mainly cloudy windy day

Saturday 12th

12 to 17 to 14°C. 8.84kWh 1.7kW max. Sunnier but still with that cold westerly wind.

Sunday 13th

 14 to 22 to 15°C. 8.64kWh 1.7kW max. Mainly sunny. Feeling warmer in the more southerly breeze.

A car went past us while on our bike ride at lunchtime. It windows were open and whatever scent the occupants were wearing literally took my breath away. How anybody, even people without my problems, can like living in that chemical fog and think it is normal amazes me. We were around 3 miles from home and I just about managed to cycle back, though considerably out of breath and with aching muscles in my legs. My peak flow when we got home was only 80 rather than the normal 650 to 700.

I still managed to do some work in the garden; tying in the chrysanthemums.

Monday 14th

12 to 26 to 15°C. 8.51kWh 1.7kW max. Misty start but soon cleared to a very warm sunny day.

Feeling better and cut back some more of the old shrubbery but only for a couple of hours, partly because of the heat.

Tuesday 15th

 12 to 27 to 16°C. 7.18kWh 1.5kW max. Another warm day but less sunny with thin clouds and even a few drops of rain in the afternoon

Wednesday 16th

10 to 18 to 14°C. 3.07kWh 600W max. Misty start with the unusual effect of condensing on the trees causing the ground underneath to be wet and the open spaces between them dry; the opposite to whatt happens when it rains. Remained cloudy for most of the day but still feeling warm as there was little wind.

Took advantage of the cooler still conditions to get the chainsaw out to cut down several large trees, arboreal weeds I call them, cherry, holly, hawthorn, laurel and field maple in the middle of the old shrubbery.

Thursday 17th

11 to 18 to 12°C. 7.14kWh 1.6kW max. Sunny but feeling colder as the wind moves round to the West.

Friday 18th

7 to 18 to 10°C. 7.40kWh 1.6kW max. Sunny but the wind is now NW and stronger.

Still clearing out the old shrubbery producing lots of material for the shredder.

Saturday 19th

 11 to 18 to 11°C. 7.98kWh 1.6kW max. Sunny with a cold northerly breeze.

Got asthma shortly after starting our bike ride before lunch and have not recovered enough to do anything more than help Pat gather the squashes in the polytunnel

Sunday 20th

9 to 17 to 11°C. 5.52kWh 1.4kW max. Sunny intervals with less wind than yesterday.

Woke up very short of breath in the middle of the night and not very well till late in the evening so only managed some potting on in the polytunnel.

Monday 21st

 7 to 20 to 13°C. 7.57kWh 1.6kW max. Sunny, feeling warmer as the wind has dropped

Still not very well after waking up twice in the night short of breath.

Tuesday 22nd

8 to 21 to 15°C. 7.77kWh 1.6kW max. The autumn equinox and this may be the last sunny day. Rain is forecast overnight and it will be much colder for the next few days.

Feeling better. I have ordered the seed potatoes and onion sets for next spring and some new strawberry plants. The old ones have lasted for over 15 years with regular taking of runners but they are producing smaller and fewer fruits.

Wednesday 23rd

 11 to 15 to 8°C. 2.06kWh 450W max. 9mm rain overnight and another 4mm into the morning. Remained dull but dry for the rest of the day.

I have finished moving the polyanthus into 1.5L pots.

Thursday 24th

 6 to 11 to 6°C. 7.39kWh 1.6kW max. 2mm of light rain overnight then sunny with a cold strong westerly wind.

Friday 25th

5 to 12 to 6°C. 8.25kWh 1.6kW max. Sunny all day but the northerly wind was so strong we couldn't go for a bike ride.

Saturday 26th

 3 to 10 to 7°C. 8.16kWh 1.6kW max. Cold start with steam rising from the hen-house roof and the compost heaps. Sunny all day but feeling cold in the strong northerly wind.

Went for our 'flu vaccination today. It was all very efficient at the surgery with a one way system, everyone wearing masks or visors and we were only inside for a couple of minutes. Even so I had an instantaneous reaction to whatever they were using to clean the premises before we got back to the car. My lung function dropped below 25% and I was very lethargic and dizzy. So another day when I can't do much in the garden.

Sunday 27th

4 to 11 to 6°C. 9.01kWh 1.6kW max. A very sunny day and feeling warmer as the wind has dropped.

Feeling a bit better. I have nearly finished potting on the violas.

Monday 28th

 2 to 18 to 13°C. 3.75kWh 600W max. Clear cold start but soon clouded over with a warm humid southerly breeze producing 2mm light rain late in the afternoon and early evening.

Tuesday 29th

 5 to 15 to 7°C. 5.53kWh 1.4kW max. Broken cloud with hazy sunshine and no wind. Feeling more humid as the day progressed.

Took advantage of the still dry conditions to repair to splits and tears in the polytunnel skin. The hardest part is getting the polythene clean so the tape will stick properly. White spirit with a scouring sponge removes the algae but it still takes a lot of rubbing.

Wednesday 30th

7 to 12 to 12°C. 900Wh 100W max. Started raining early in the morning and continued mainly light rain with a few heavier periods all day, clearing in the evening. A total of 13mm.