New Boots, New Garden Incinerator, and Blackbirds With Moss Throwing Issues

I finally managed to buy some new boots. My old pair had gotten wet so many times, they were now smelling like rotting flesh. I decided to try them out by doing a bit of gardening.

Last week, we had a little bit of snow, but it wasn't around for too long. It's a shame because the snow covers a multitude of sins.

I continued to sweep the leaves and the moss up. It's an ongoing battle with the blackbirds that land on the roof as they throw the moss down on the ground. They are foraging for insects. There is a whole ecosystem up on the roof. I like blackbirds, but they're taking the piss now.

The spring flowers are beginning to make an appearance. We usually have wild bluebells growing here. It seems a little bit early for them to come through, though.

I noticed the firethorn shrub had taken a bit of a battering from the weather. It was tilting like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

It was raining, so as a temporary measure, I wrapped a tie around the strong ivy growing up the wall and used it to support the shrub.

I will probably put a stake in the ground if I can't find a better way to hold it up.

I recently purchased a garden incinerator. There's something quite cathartic about setting fire to rubbish. Burn baby, burn!

Living in an upstairs flat is difficult when it comes to watering the garden in the summer. I have to rely on the water butt. Living in the UK, it is always full during the winter. I place sticks in it as someone said they'd found a dead bird in their butt 🙄. The bird had flown in and got wet and couldn't get out. While I was reading up about it, the recommendation was to put sticks in the water butt to help birds get out. I don't want any dead birds on my watch. So far, so good.

My neighbour had a new television as a Christmas gift. I thought he'd put the cardboard box out in the communal garden for the recycling team to pick up. On a closer look, I realised he'd dumped his old television in the box as well. It's far too big to go in the dustbin so I'm presuming he thinks the fairies will come and take it away. It will probably be there forever and ever. It's a case of out of sight, out of mind. Never mind, I know a woman with a sledge hammer ...