Wednesday 29 March 2023

Round the Corner, Fig Tree ... and No Wages

 


I was asked about my shed and where was it in my little garden ... well it's round the corner.  So I thought I would show you it as it is now.

Also around the corner of the annexe, next to the shed is the first raised bed that we put in place.   Last year I had salad crops and courgettes in there, oh and two cucumber plants too that didn't do that well, but we got a few fruits each from them, so it was good to experiment.  Later in the Summer I put the leeks in there and we used them one by one over winter as and when we needed them.  I was supposed to be putting some garlic in the left-hand side last October ... but I forgot!!

So it has just had bamboo canes scattered willy-nilly over the top to discourage Ginger from landing on the soil.  I wouldn't mind while it was empty but he carries on doing it with plants in place if I let him over winter.

Anyway he has his own pussycat shelf to make getting up to and off the fence a much easier and less thudding experience for his old bones.  The gloriously shaggy greenery in the little plant pot next to the planter is what's left of the snowdrops.  Once they have chance to dry out a bit and the leaves dry off, they will go back into the shed to over-Summer ready for next year.

Something that we moved for this year is the Fig tree.

It used to be sat on a paving stone on the corner of the pebbly area of the garden where it annoyingly intersected the washing line, and as it got so big last year it was taking up quite a bit of drying space we decided on Sunday to relocate it to the white wall of the main house.  

Hopefully this will also mean that the lovely morning sun we get in this corner of the garden will aid in us actually getting some ripe figs ... well for Alan to get some ripe figs, I really do not like figs at all, although I love the leaves of the fig tree and the mass of greenery it brings to the garden.


I was reading Sooze's blog post yesterday morning where she was talking about the financial things she had to do, and it reminded me that I had yet to pay my Council Tax.  So before it went out of my head again I went online and paid it in full for the year.  I had forgotten that you could pay it with your credit card, it was only when the options popped up that I remembered that this is how I did it last year.  It means some more M&S vouchers, not many but enough to make it worth me paying it this way ... and then of course I pay off the credit card bill in full as soon as it lands in my inbox.

I do like to pay as many things up front for the year as I can, I just hate having direct debits etc, drip feeding out of my bank account, although of course I can see that it does work for some people. This one off style of payment just works better for me.  The first year you do it is obviously very hard but then you are on a roll and get used to having the money in your savings until it is needed.  

Which reminds me I need to have a word with the accounts department and see why I haven't received my wages yet ... and until I do they will not be getting a cup of tea!!  

The accounts department of our company (along with many other tasks) = Alan.  😄 


Sue xx



28 comments:

  1. I do the same in terms of paying up front and them paying off the credit card as quickly as I can over the month. Your garden space sounds like it holds a lot despite being small.

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    1. Yes, paying the cards off as soon as the bill comes in means that I haven't paid any interest on the card in the last five or so years, but I have benefited by using the card in both vouchers and by my credit score being exceptionally high. We did plan it quite well for such a small space and having that little extra space at the end of the annexe really helps.

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  2. I don't like figs either, I just don't see the attraction at all, beats me why some people love them so much! Glad I reminded you to pay your C/Tax haha.

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    1. I think it must be the texture of the fruit itself for me, because I can eat a fig flavoured chutney or jam, I just cannot bit into a fig at all, and they look repellent. It was a good reminder, and it's nice to know it's out of the way for another year. :-)

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  3. I've almost always done direct debits/monthly payments but this year, as those bills roll in, I will be looking at it all much more carefully, I think. xx

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    1. I hope Alan is shaking in his shoes. :-) x

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    2. Sometimes it can work out cheaper to do the whole direct debit thing, but I think after years of not being able to meet my bills back in the day, I actually prefer to know that I am clear for the year ahead.

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  4. I hope you got your cup of tea!

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    1. He got his cup of tea and I got my coffee, he had paid the wages it turned out ... but set it up for payment on 30th instead of immediately.

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  5. We have just had our fig tree removed as we were told the roots could damage the house and it was a major task it had been in that spot for four years and the roots were long and massive. We were told by our poor gardener they should always be planted tubs unless you have a very large garden. We took his advice but you have more experience than us.

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    1. Yes, the roots of a Fig can do enormous damage to walls and foundations. When we rented the 1930's bungalow in Pangbourne it had a beautiful and very big Fig tree growing right against the side of the main wall, I often wondered what it was like beneath ground level. They don't do as well in tubs, but your property is so much safer if your garden is small.

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  6. We pay our council tax by Direct Debit simply because it works for us. The massive hit of paying for a year upfront would deplete our savings too much. We have DD's for rent, broadband etc as well so we organised it so that they all come out of the account on 1st of every month. That way we know what we have left for other things.
    Lovely fig tree...
    I hope Alan got his finger out and paid you!

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    1. Yes, it's best to pay things and sort out finances they way it works best for each and every one of us. The first year of getting ahead is the only tough one, from then on you are watching your savings grow throughout the year ready for the next payments and earning interest on it again.

      Yes, I have been paid and he's in my good books again ... he should know better than to worry the boss!!

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  7. We do the DD thing too but I can see the advantages of paying the major bills annually.
    Figs are weird aren't they- love or hate - a bit gritty!
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. Gritty, and just as you say weird, I would never bite into one again ... yuk!!

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  8. We/Tim does most of our billpaying on line. He does not like direct deposit at all. He'd rather sit down with a stack of bills. He has entered all of our regular bills on a bank site. He simply goes to the site, and clicks on each payee, and how much to pay them. It's an extra step, but the man likes to be the manager of his money. If he has a question about a bill, he can get it sorted before he pays it, instead of arguing to get the money returned to his account.

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    1. Yes Alan likes to sit at the computer and pay all his bills that way too, and like Tim is always quick to pick up the phone if something doesn't look right. Alan has now paid his Council Tax up front ... and my wages, so he can relax again.

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  9. My fig has survived this winter better than last, I'm not expecting mature figs for another year or two -if ever - as I wasn't able to put it against a sunny wall like I did at Clay Cottage

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    1. I think Alan got about two figs off it last year and then although it fruited well, they have all fallen off. We are hoping the sunshine bouncing off the white wall will help it to absorb more heat and do a bit better this year. To be honest I am just looking forward to it having those beautiful big leaves on it again, I don't care about the fruit.

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  10. You have reminded me to pay my Council Tax. I could pay the whole lot but I won't. I don't have a credit card, I will pay at the Post Office with cash, over the ten months. The man who brings his Post Office to our church three mornings a week gets a small payment for every transaction he makes. We need him to keep coming.

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    1. I think only if I was supporting something like a visiting Post Office would I make monthly payments. It's so sad that we are losing so many of our traditional and very necessary services. You definintely need to keep him coming.

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  11. I've been saying for years that we must plant a fig tree - you've just given me the kick up the proverbial I need to hunt one down and get it planted. I absolutely love figs (Jon deosn 't - all the more for me!) xxx

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    1. Do it, and plant it in a large pot up against a wall that gets lots of sunshine, you will have figs before you know it.

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  12. We could pay our bill all at once we do this with insurances and a few others and I agree it is satisfying - but often where interest free direct debit monthly payments are offered then I prefer to hang on to my money for as long as possible (I do come from Yorkshire after all!) The other incentive is in an interest paying account the more money you keep in there the more interest you gain.
    Now a question for you - with your limited veggie beds how do you rotate the planting? - I find it difficult with my four small planting boxes as I only grow potatoes, courgettes, outdoor tomatoes and salad things. Potatoes cannot be planted in same place twice and I read cannot be followed by courgettes and tomatoes or vice versa so last year's salad planting is the only box I can plant any of the others in and that would be a tight squeeze. Not sure that this has made any sense hopefully you will catch my drift!!

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    1. Once you get over the first year hump of changing to this way, you do get to see the interest accruing on the money you are saving for the following year. That is enough for me, I like the peace of mind of knowing I do not owe anything and the money is there if I need it throughout the year.

      With these limited beds and having a mixture of all sorts of vegetables in each one I do not have the problem of having to rotate. It's a no dig system, and as long as I put some peas or beans into each of the beds every year or so I am happy with the quality of the soil.
      Although I do try to move the courgettes along into the next section each year and I never put potatoes into the beds. They were in 'bags for life' the first year we were here and then the large black pots last year. This year I will probably only grow one or two pots of potatoes and they might go at the front of the lodge to save space at the back. My tomatoes, which were in the small planter last year will be in pots this year in my new mini-greenhouse so that they ripen a bit earlier.

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  13. Your garden looks pretty, now we just need some nice hot weather don't we? The shed looks so neat in that spot.

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    1. It's just at it's bare bones state at the minute, once we get some sunshine it will start to look even nicer ... hopefully. The shed was very hard to get in that spot. The handyman that made it for me built it on the patio and then Alan had to help him get it into the corner. It seemed a very strange way to do it!

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  14. We also pay things off in full for the year. I know people who pay monthly and actually pay way more over the course of the year.

    Looking forward to seeing if you get many figs on your tree.

    God bless.

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