Chinese Pagoda at BIDDULPH GRANGE

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Making a comeback

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I have decide to continue writing as the Winter has been foul as regards the garden and weather. Maybe if I talk to myself here I can alleviate my frustration at not being able to do all my winter projects. In the last couple of days I decided to give up on trying to remove the damned buttercups and get on with more rewarding jobs; So everyday I aim to tackle the following:-    a) dig out for one flag (making a terrace)    b) put one barrow load of manure on new flower bed    c) Fill one plastic bag (large) with leaves    d) remove dead reeds in the gravel garden I really wanted to take some photos of the progress and of the emerging spring flowers which have renewed my faith in gardening but I can't find the s--ing camera. So this is from last year
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They say there is no free lunch but my god there is no free heating either here nor in the UK. I did appreciate gas central heating for many years but I do not have that option here. I am too far from the town gas supply. One option here are oil central heating. I cannot afford to install it and it is not cheap to run and the cost can rise astronomically without warning. Electric heating is easy and cheap to install and is quite flexible. But it is expensive. The third option is wood. This is my chosen option which is not ideal but it is the best of a bad bunch It is neither cheap nor easy to run. At 70 I have to first of all stack then carry 50cm heavy oak logs into the house every day. It is not cheap. 120 euros last year for 1 corde (3cubic metres) I use at least 4 cordes per year. The stove is very hungry and I keep it lit all night. The problem is that I have to supplement the wood burning stove with electric heaters. The annual electricty bill is about 600 euros s...
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