Marty

Talking of missing photos (as I was an hour or so back in relation to Gary's "Happy Friday" post), I didn't actually take any of my garden work today. I spent a few hours outside, but the signs of progress are small at the moment. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I intend to clear away as much of the remaining growth inside the second shed as I can, and then I think I will leave that work for a while. The bulk of the overgrowth has now been removed, so I don't have to worry about disturbing/destroying any birds nests when I come back to do the final tidying up. Indeed, that could even be left now until the summer, when the days will be longer (and warmer). Instead I shall start work on cutting back and tidying up the boundary hedge in the upper garden that I mentioned a week or so back. The first part of that job will actually involve removing the ivy from the very end of the high rear boundary wall. You may remember that last year, when I was removing the bulk of the ivy on top of that wall, I stopped before I got to the final corner because a pair of robins had started to build a nest between the ivy and the wall. If I think on, I'll take a photo or two from outside my property showing what I shall be facing into, before I start any work. It may be interesting to be able to compare before and after ones.

And you, bro! But your usual picture didn't seem to load... Or... as @Valkyrie and @clochette (and maybe a few others) might say:

Greetings, young Albert!

Bonne chance, ma fée espiègle!

It's just after 12:30am here, so I'll be heading for my bed as soon as I have finished my cocoa. Good night, folks! For my parting shot tonight I'll leave you with the following, which came into my head earlier, when I couldn't actually make up my mind as to what to do with the two old sheds:

I just knew you'd pick up on the broken pot reference, bro!

Decisions, decisions....

In other news, Manchester United dropped two points in the Premier League yesterday, when they were held to a scoreless draw away to Arsenal, and have dropped to second place. Manchester City are currently in top spot, but United do have a game in hand. And Liverpool currently lie third. Whatever finally happens, it's always good to see the northern teams doing well.

lol ! Yet another friend has suggested making a hot tub in one of the sheds, and a sauna in the other... Now, there's a possibility (or two)!

That sounds like a good idea! Apart from the fact that we don't really get many days that are particularly suitable for barbecuing and al fresco dining...

A friend of mine also suggested making a barbecue area inside at least one of them.

That's certainly a possibility. The sheds do face south. However, they are quite close to the two story stone cottage, and that does tend to leave them in the shade for much of the day... I have been thinking of maybe reducing the walls of them down to around four or five feet high, filling them in to that depth, making steps up, and then erecting a lean-to greenhouse on top. That would lift the greenhouse up a little, to try and catch a bit more sunlight. Alternatively I could just make a raised bed inside them and grow shade loving plants. And then maybe grow clematis or something up the boundary wall... But the final decision can be left for a while longer yet.

I spent most of my outside work today removing the blocks from the doorway of the right hand of the two stone sheds, and then cutting away most of the growth inside it. Here's a view of the open doorway before I went in to cut away much of the growth from inside: . There turned out to be nothing of any real value inside the shed. Some rusty tin (which I think may have been the gutter to the shed originally), a broken clay plant pot that was probably around 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter at the top, and what looks to have been some sort of a wooden bench on the right. I've since cleared much of the branches from the inside, and it's looking as though the slates will definitely need to be removed to finish clearing what growth is above them. They're quite large slates, something around two and a half feet long and eighteen inches wide (75 by 45 cm). Hopefully I can salvage most of them intact, but I can see that a couple of them are already cracked. I still haven't decided what to do with these two sheds in the long run. I may finish up dismantling them altogether...

Looks worth watching.

Greetings, young Drew!

You going to let your mare out, bro? (And happy Sunday to you, as well! )

Greetings, Gary! And, yes, cold rice pudding is nice too. But I'd consider it more of a summer dessert than a winter one... One of the things we liked to put on our hot rice pudding when we were kids was a large dollop of jam. We'd then stir it into the pudding so that the whole thing took on a pinky-red colour. Yum! Not that we often had jam in the house, as it was an expensive item in those days. But mam would often make jam if we had managed to forage for wild fruits, like blackberries or damsons.

I always thought air conditioning blew air into the building. Although I suppose it has to suck it in from somewhere first... (And I'll say nothing about the fact that a comma might have prevented any possible ambiguity as to what Albert really meant in his reply.)

I didn't spot at first that you mentioned partaking of the Almighty Cod... Blessed be!

Greetings, young Albert!

Just a cold, miserable looking, overcast day here. Currently 2°C/36°F and not expected to get any warmer, with a risk of light snow overnight. If the day stays dry, I might get some work done in the garden...

I absolutely love baked rice pudding! I don't make it often enough these days. Hot from the oven it is a perfect dessert for these chilly winter days. ❤️ My Mam would often make it when I was a child. She'd sprinkle fresh grated nutmeg over the top. A 'skin' would form on the top of it, which would usually turn a burnt brown colour from the heat of the oven. Myself and my siblings would almost fight over the fact that one or another of us didn't get enough of that skin with our helping. It was also a fairly regular offering as dessert (or pudding as we called it in the north of England) with our school dinners. For some strange reason, a lot of the kids didn't like it. That didn't matter, though, as it meant I could go up for a second helping!

Well, if that's really what happened the other night, tell me this, young Timothy. Just what magic have you worked on your computer to enable it to leave reactions to other people's posts whilst you are sleeping?