SILLY SATURDAY - DECLUTTERING THE GREENHOUSE

We were hoping to do a Treasure Hunt today because we could see that there were a lot of the little bags left over, filled with chocolates, from Mr. HCB’s birthday party on Thursday, and you know who would  be snaffling them if they hang about for too long - yes, Mrs. HChocoholicB!

However, that changed when we heard Mr. HCB saying that he would be clearing out and rearranging his greenhouse today - well who doesn’t like getting “down and dirty”?  We love it, especially Hoggy, so we decided to forego the Treasure Hunt and help Mr. HCB.  Quite honestly, we don’t know how he gets so much stuff into his greenhouse, he had at least six bags of compost and so many pots they will last him for the next twenty years or more!  We took the opportunity of gathering around his chrysanthemums and then Mrs. HCB took our photograph.  Hoggy could only manage to climb up onto the watering can, but we made sure he was in the shot too.

Mrs. HCB said she would help with moving the stuff out, which she did, and of course, we helped as  much as we could.  This will save Mr. HCB going up and down the step, and once it was all out, then came the job of sweeping out the greenhouse, which we all helped with.  It was a really dusty job, and it looks lovely and clean now - but we don’t think it won’t stay that way for long.  

The next job was to put up some green netting at the windows to shield the new tomato plants from the strong sun and it will save Mr. HCB having to paint that awful greenhouse shading all over the windows.  In fact, Mrs. HCB was pleased, because it will save Mr. HCB getting up on a ladder to reach the roof - and at their age, they have to be careful and sensible - not something that comes easily, especially when you have been used to doing those sort of jobs all your life!

Mr. and Mrs. HCB stopped to have a cup of coffee, but they were chatting all the time about the various plants and seeds and we could see and hear how much they love their garden.  Mr. HCB is really pleased because he took lots of cuttings of his salvias last autumn, which was a good thing because the ones in the garden have been hit very hard by the recent frosts.

Mrs. HCB helped to put some of the stuff back in the greenhouse, but then as Mr. HCB was taking a long time to decide where it should all go, she thought it would be better to leave him to it, which she did.  He also needed to check the bottoms of all the pots because there were a lot of slug trails everywhere and if you are a gardener, then the last thing you need is slugs - and especially not in the greenhouse, eating all your tender plants.

We are all now back indoors now and enjoying a well-earned rest.  Mrs. HCB has some jobs to do and we know that Mr. HCB will be happy to be out in the garden all day.  We hope that Admirer would be pleased to hear that we have been helping Mr. and Mrs. HCB, which is not really silly - because we all need to be kind and help one another in life, as I’m sure you will all agree.  Have a lovely weekend and we hope the sun shines on you wherever you live.

Love from

JH Ted and friends xx 

P.S.  We will all be thinking of the Queen and her family today as they attend the funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh - and no doubt we will watch in on television, along with millions of others all round the world.  We are sure he will have a good send-off.