December Bonus

Well I never expected to be picking mushrooms in mid December. I had pinies for breakfast yesterday and field mushies this morning. The 80ml of rain that fell over the weekend after starting Friday afternoon has been the best rain for the year.

Our fig tree fell over with the weight of the water in the gusty wind. The trunk broke away from the roots just below ground level. I'll miss it but it makes a bit of space for something else, maybe a small flower bed. The garden was becoming a little crowded with trees and shrubs.

I worked through the weekend picking beech and holly, dodging rain and showers. The cool weather for this time of year is a big advantage for my line of work, the foliage not wilting quickly, and therefore giving more time before it needs to be in water. I certainly don't miss the searing sun and hot wind we get some years pre Christmas. This year it's been a bit of a dream come true, this last month. Today's another big beech day then I'm hoping it'll start to scale down as the wholesaler's sheds should be near full.

Then, if we have some nice weather, I can get into a few gardening jobs, like remove the fig tree and mow our grass and that of a few others. And if I get time and the weather's good I'll have a look at the bees. I've supered them twice, mid October and mid November, so they're 4 deckers. I haven't seen a swarm this season, The rain and cool has probably contained them some. The messmate is not going to flower this year so I don't expect a big honey season, but this rain should make the blackberry and clover and other ground flora give a kick. I'd hope to extract some honey after Christmas or in the new year given some settled weather from now on.