Drizzle drizzle

It has been one of those boring, unproductive days.  It started badly when I tried to set off for a day's teaching in Ennis, but the van refused to start.  The engine turned over, but there was no ignition.  I tried the usual tricks like moving the van while in gear so that the starter motor would move round a touch.  The cold-start did nothing either. I vainly poked about under the bonnet, removed and reinstated fuses and wiggled relays. All to no avail.

For much of the rest of the day, we had our faces in front of our laptops writing to Galway County Council in support of the Farmers' Market application for a road closure, amongst other things, and trying to find somewhere to stay in the Algarve for a few days next month. This did our head in.

There were a few distractions while this went on...Feeding cats and kittens, a bit of lunch, further attempts at van-starting and texts to and from James, our mechanic.

Better not open a bottle, eh?

To get some air and try to stimulate this distracted orb, I went up onto the roof to tweak the satellite dish and went out to the tunnels to see what new germinations had taken place.

This provided the only good news of the day.

Germination has been slow this year.  Admittedly, we had the fiasco of the faulty soil-warming cables to set us back, but even once that was noticed and dealt with, things seem to be moving slowly.  However, I am able to report that at this stage, some nineteen days after sowing began, there as been some germination in 27 out of the 48 varieties of chilli, eleven tomato varieties, the Round Romanov red cabbage after less than 4 days.  I forgot to mention the carrots.  There is movement there too.  I only hope what I see is real carrot and not the false, carrotty weed that prevails in the middle tunnel.

Yesterday I made a start at rejuvenating the bushes inside the fruit cage.  There were four blackcurrant and three redcurrant bushes inside, taking up too much room.  Brambles had insinuated themselves into the cage as well and convolvulus was doing its best to choke whatever it could.  I took out two of the blackcurrants and one of the redcurrant bushes.  I found a few new plants where the parents' branches had made contact with the leaf  and old reed mulch and rooted.  I intended to do more work there today, opening up the bushes to let more light in, but it was not to be.  Next available fruit days fall next weekend.