Pallet to Planter

Thought I'd have a little fun today. We all know if you want a big planter it will cost  quite a bit of money so why not make one. Well that is just what I did.

I got hold of a plastic pallet but a wooden one will work ok as well if you treat it to stop it rotting away to quick

The pallet I got hold of was one that you could fit sides on so I built it up like this

Above you can see that inside I lined it with weed membrane to hold in the soil & compost. If you used one that had wooden sides you need to treat it before adding the membrane.
In the corners I glued four square wooden battens then I screwed on lengths of deck board to the battens, (if you used all wood pallet and sides the battens are not needed) & the sides. The top was finished off with more battens

Add a bit of paint , plant something in there

and you end up with something like this. I might add I did the same with a disused water butt. You do not have to use deck board yo can use just plain rough sawen treated timber. There you go nice little project to keep you happy

Making a nest

The other week I could not beleve my eyes, a Great Tit was at a nesting box in my garden

A return with a beakful of nesting material

 Admitidly some of the stuff was too big for the hole

 But give him his due he kept trying

 Also noticed this fellow with his head in the feeder

 The another came along for a feed

As Far as I know the Great Tit is nesting in the box and on to of tha I have a Robin nesting in another  so I'm a happy bunny watching the birds in my garden

Tking part in Our World Tuesday

St Mary the Virgin Ashbury

This week the Church Explorer visits St Mary Ashbury a 13th century Norman church full of charm

Stripe of blue sky

The other day I spotted a rainbow over the village hall 

 By the time I got my camera and came back the rainbow had faded, you can just make it out

A little later I looked and saw a blue stripe between the dark and white clouds.

Happy Skywatch

Mating Swans

Normally I have an idea whet I am going to post on Our World Tuesday in advance then the night before I write up the blog but there are times I m out and get some photos that throw the whole lot in the air. Last week I was walking around a small lake at the Campsite we go to and noticed a pair of swans dipping there heads in the water and then preening, while doing this they mad odd mewing noises. The swans were not the only reason I was there so I wandered off to see what I had come to see which took around 15 min.

They were still swimming together

Dipping their heads in unison

The the male mounts

the female. I had witnessed a mating ritual 

Then they faces each other 

Making a heart.

I Began to wish I had taken some video. I felt Privileged to have witnesses such a thing

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday

St Nicholas Baulking

This week the Church Explorer takes you around a mile North of the last church and back in time with wall paintings and reminders of a time long past in St Nicholas Baulking

Sky at Blooms Cottage

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago after going for a short walk to check if any progress had been made on a building site. The sky looked perfect with the clouds over the cottage.

They looked good over the stations well. Happy Skywatch

Cholsey Rock

New Thatch

Walking along Station Road in Cholsey I noticed some scaffold around this thatched cottage, the owner told be it was having the ridge re-thatched.  A day or so later the thatcher had started

Lots of material falling off the roof

A few days later it looked finished and the chicken wire was being placed over the thatch

The front was nearly done

Days later it was finished and the scaffold gone

The chimney was finished off with mortar to inhibit water ingress

The whole roof looked much better and I'm told added another ten years to it's life

Taking part in Our world Tuesday

St Mary Uffington

This week the Church Explorer visits Uffington & St Mary's church which is know as the Cathedral of the Vale. It is unusual from its octagonal bell tower

February Flowers

Snow Moon

Back around the middle of February we had what was called a snow moon I went out when it was rising around 6.45 in the evening and got a couple of photos using a 400mm lens on my

 Canon EOS 70D

 Taking looking through a tree with the moon in the clouds

 Minute later at a different setting

Later still with a cloud haze

Happy Skywatch 

Ferry Lane

This week I'll take you to another part of the Thames Path at Cholsey Marsh, this is the other end of the place I showed a week or so ago. The Marsh has changed a lot over the years and is a far cry to what I remember as a kid.

This is Ferry lane of the end of it near the River Thames. Ferry lane used to be called Papist way

Looking over to the left you can see the Marsh, this has grown up over the years with trees and reeds. Cattle used to graze here and the places was cropped short then

The Thames Path Finger sign

Above the Thames Path that runs through the marsh



One of the information signs at the Marsh gate, there is another the opposite end

 The River Thames looking over towards Little Stoke

That is Ferry Lane on the Little stoke side. There was a ferry there that used to take people across. I heard storeys of my dad taking it across to a pub in South Stoke during the Second World War. The American forces also made a bridge across here before D Day no doubt as a practise for the real thing. If you click on the Link I put above you can see an old view taken in 1890 from the other side of the river

Left looking upstream from Ferry Lane

I'll leave you with this view of the Thames from Ferry Lane. I'll take you on a walk through the Mash another time.

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday