The last few weeks have been unbroken sunshine and unusually warm, but Sunday took it to a new level. It dawned hot and sunny with 30 degrees promised by the forecasters. The good breeze that has mitigated the heat the last few days was still around but somewhat reduced so it was a very Mediterranean feel to the morning in Sussex.
Helen was up early to walk, so seeing as I was awake anyway I was at Rais for 9.30 to try and get some digging done before it got too hot. The stumps in the gully behind the yardarm that were the last ones cut back this year are rampant in regrowth now making them quite difficult to dig, due to all the new shoots. The digging has been quite slow the last few weeks because of the heat and there are still around 15 stumps to get out so I decided to try the weedkiller, sprayed on the leaves, in an attempt to kill them off. The packaging did say do not use in drought conditions so we will see how well it works, hopefully will at least slow them done a bit!
Spraying done I dug three stumps from the gully, but it was way too hot for digging, even in the shade of the gully so I called it a day after only half an hour. there were a lot of insects around but very few horseflies this week which was a relief. I was pretty well covered in deet and with long trousers and sleeves but they were noticeably absent compared to last week. Maybe it was too hot for them, or maybe it really is Ant who attracts them!!
Next up was the fire. A pretty big pile of bracken and bramble brash and rohdie roots has accumulated over the last month or so and I had been meaning to burn it for the last couple of weeks. It was bone dry, and the dry weather cannot last for ever, so on the fire it went.
It was without doubt the easiest fire I have ever lit, after only 1 min it was going well and only took 40 mins to burn the lot. It was all very dry and even though the wayleave is still looking very green I was conscious it has not rained for a while so I was very careful to load the fire up gradually and make sure it did not spread.
Tracey arrived about midday, just as I finished the burning pile and Finn scared the life out of me for good measure when he appeared just before her. I was sitting on a stump at the edge of the wayleave watching the fire burn down and heard what I thought a deer behind me only to turn and find a black dog charging towards me to say hello! It was quite a surprise. I haven't seen Tracey for a few weeks so it was nice to sit in the yardarm, have a good chat and chill out a bit.
After a bit of lunch I wrapped another plank on the yardarm deck with chicken wire, with Tracey's help, and we had a bit of a wander up by the hive thinking about summer holiday jobs. We checked out the tree that lost all it's bark a few weeks ago and on one side it looks healthy with good leaves and the bark seeming to start to look like bark again but on the other it looks quite ill with leaves curled up and dying so we're not sure it is going to make it. I think it is a Hornbeam? or maybe a Sweet Chestnut but most likely a Hornbeam judging by a Google of the leaves.
We did a bit of bracken clearing by the Hive and it was apparent that I was too slow to save a couple of the Oak and Holly saplings from being someones lunch. I need to try and protect them as soon as I see them from now on. Just as we finished that, at about 4, Flee arrived and I left shortly afterwards to go and watch the F1
Update on the oak saplings from our garden.The hot weather has been a trial and both were badly burned by the sun and are looking quite poorly right now. they have been moved to a shadier spot so fingers crossed they will recover!
