| Juggling the Allotment, Willow, Worms and Composting Balls! |
| Main Image – Ducks on Gazen Salts Pond Thursday 03rd November. |
| Feeding time for the Gazen Salts Mallard Ducks. |
| Music Score –Deep Thoughts – Morning Light Music This post may contain affiliate links, please read the Disclaimer for more info. |
| Gazen Salts lovely but quite bleak and grey today. |
| First walk of the week or looking at my journal – l see that this morning’s walk was the first one since the 21st of October. How did that happen? How can today be the first photography walk for two weeks? I guess l shouldn’t be that surprised, not really. We have been busy for the last two or three weeks and are only slower because the weather is so dreadful! This last week especially, the heavens have opened up like they are declaring war on Sandwich! Today we have had tsunami-type rains, and we had those also on Tuesday. I had a clear day yesterday, but l was at Gazen Salts working in the building, which is coming along very nicely but very slowly too. I worked with seven toolboxes yesterday, sorting through maybe twenty thousand assorted nuts, bolts, screws and nails. That’s a fraction of what is still left to sort, but hey, got to start somewhere. We need to crack on with everything else on the gardening list. Tomorrow, if the meteorologists have the forecasts right, the weather will be sunnier again, like Wednesday. It’s another complete list – but it’ll be the first time we will have been able to get to the allotment to work on the grounds since l don’t know when. Perhaps twelve days. We have been up there when we have been dropping off stuff, but we didn’t stop to work on it. But tomorrow’s list is hectic as we need to concentrate on so much – Suze is working on thinning out and trimming down the raspberry bushes and clearing out the blackberry bush by the back entrance. Together we have to cut new sheets for the raised beds to replace the poorer quality sheets, peg those down to the soils, and then use the old sheets to mat the polytunnel area. I am working on compost and soil transfers. Setting up the new four box covers and then the actual boxes themselves. I will have to empty the main bin, transfer the contents to the four smaller units, and dress them in prep for four new hot composting batches to begin at the end of November. As well as then transfer all the vermicast and compost mixes to the new, now empty bin. All good fun – he says. That is already a lot of work there alone. We still have the shed to clean up, mulch the raised beds ready for winter resting, set up the tool caddy and the rainwater harvesting …… the list is endless. It’s excellent IF it’s not raining … BUT! Once we have tomorrow done, we can start to streamline Willow and transfer the plants no longer staying with her to the allotment … we need the darn rain to stop Falling! We could work in light rain, but not this continuously heavy-pounding stuff! However, despite everything, we are still on schedule’ish, so that’s okay, as it is manageable. It tires you out mentally more as you try to remember everything else you are doing, like the Gazen Salts ball and the responsibilities l have there too – quarter mastering the building, volunteer co-ordinator and merchandising the information board. I am not complaining, I’m not, just recognising how tired l am getting and needing the weather to slacken off a bit and to stop being so 2019ish! Other things are also going on internal to the Earthly Comforts blog, new series planned in are to yet to take effect, new publishing times and schedules being played with, plus a considerable design change for the blog and the Redbubble merchandise. These all take time. However, all that aside, Suze and l managed to grab a short walk this morning between the rain storms and decided to take a quick visit to … yep! Gazen Salts. The first time we have walked in there on a photography walk for almost five weeks! Because of the rain we have had here in Sandwich for the last ten days, it’s all starting to look grey and bleak … Oh well. The ducks were happy. |
| Bush grasses and ditch reeds aplenty! |
| River Stour Marina |
| Strand Street and Kings House |
Earthly Comforts 
You’ve become a full time farmer!
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Yep, fer sure Grace 🙂
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🙂 That is a great scenery, Rory.
The ducks look happy.
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Hey Renard, that is very true, the ducks are indeed very happy and that’s all that really matters 🙂
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Awesome photos Rory.
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Thanks Sadje :0
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🤩
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Your day looks so nice and peaceful even if the heavens opened up 👏
Is it chilly?
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The temperatures are also starting to drop. This morning as l type this response to you. I am wearing, socks, boxers, long johns, long john tee shirt, tee shirt, sweatshirt, joggers and l’ll wear an overshirt as well. But l will be outside in the allotment today.
Here when the temperature drops and especially if outside, we overdress to then underdress to overdress again.
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Ahhh layering yes – formally from NEW England, I am very familiar with layering lol
In Cali we dress for warm and hope for warm 😄🙏
But if you work outside yes layering
Inside an office you never know if will be hot or cold lol
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No, l can imagine in offices it might be tricky – but layering’s fun too 🙂
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When I used to work outside in the winter on golf course … I would layer massive… I would wear 5-6 pairs of pants and leggings … several shirts, cardigans and jackets 🧥
I’m thin so was always cold 🥶 … never a winter person
But come spring when my summer clothes were back – people be like “did you lose weight?”
No – just clothes 😄😄
In an office is hard to get everyone on same temp
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Did you lose wight? Hahaha – No just clothes, great line 🙂
I can relate l was the same when l used to run my business brokering outside – l was based on a courtyard styled farm on the open fens in Lincolnshire it used to get very cold and l was always outside.
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Yes MUST layer when working in cold 🥶
I have a heater and Doby likes to be right up next to it … I will have to buy him a sweater or something
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Bless him, he feels the cold, l can relate as can you 🙂
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Hahaha yes but he’s like a 90 year old with the heat lol
I will have to find some sort of indestructible jacket or sweater for him
He gets mad when I put clothing on him 😄😄😄
I only tried it out with that hilarious Halloween costume
But maybe a jacket he would like? I think he would eat a sweater lol
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