Thursday, May 31, 2007

Global Domination.....


It had to happen at some point.

You can't run successful businesses without the odd thought of taking over the world - well today I had my first trans-Atlantic enquiry.

Though the power of Google, I was found by a lady in New York, USA who wants to give a gift of our gardening services to a close relative.

Initially, I didn't read the email too closely - general fatigue and years of "skim reading" only allow you to see certain parts that interest you - so I had mental visions of a flight to New York to do a site survey, leading to all sorts of ideas of how to get the equipment over there, or invest in a New York office etc.

Then I read it again - the recipient of the gift lives in Newbury, Berks.

I was a little disappointed not to go to NY, but nevertheless I would love to do this for the lady in question.

Anybody in South Africa who wants a bit of gardening - please just email me as I don't need too many excuses to go there!!

I am glad to see that all the money I spend on Google each month gets me found - nice one Google and of course my fantastic website as supplied by Webbuildpro

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Wasps - beware!


Today I spent the day at Bicton College near Exeter. Why I hear you ask?

As well as doing the normal garden maintenance, I also get involved in dealing with garden pests. I control everything from Deer, foxes and rabbits to rats, mice, moles and of course insects.

I attended a wasp control refresher course arranged by a supplier of mine lead by the British Pest Control Association.

Wasps are a total pain - sometimes quite literally. Nothing is more annoying than having wasps buzzing around you when sat outside. Some people are also allergic to the stings, including my wife Karen I might add who has a very nasty reaction to them - anaphalactic shock - and requires immediate medical attention.

I have always been fascinated by Wasps as they build incredible nests and fiercely guard their queen. There are 3 types of wasps:
  1. English Wasp

  2. German Wasp - easily recognised by the towels they carry to reserve prime sites!

  3. Hornet

Both the German Wasp and the Hornet are on the increase in the UK.
They are all dealt with in a similar way, but all have differing degrees of aggressiveness towards potential attacker - especially with insecticides. I have dealt with many nests over the years and have suffered quite a few stings - but Hornets still scare me witless.

Only last week, the wife and I were sat watching a film and I heard a scratching noise from the fire place. I got a torch and looked in - only to have a huge Hornet look right back at me. These things have bad attitude and I give no quarter to them - so a handy block of firewood dealt the killer blow.

Another time, we had one fly into the kitchen and literally dive bombed us - I had to hit it with a squash racket in mid flight to sort it - not nice!

Anyway, the good thing is we are at hand to deal with all your wasp and creepy crawlies - we are just a call away!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

High winds bring down more trees

The freak weather we suffered over the bank holiday brought a fair few trees down.

We had a call from a desperate customer who had a willow tree taken down across their drive and were asked if we could clear it.

Whilst we are totally stacked out with work, we will always try to fit in emergency jobs where ever possible, so from the customer placing the initial enquiry to actually completing the job was about 5 hours!

Is funny how when you ask the customer what size is the tree, they always say its not very big. When we arrived, this thing was huge. A willow is quite a handful as it has so many branches, but luckily they cut pretty easily and the chipper handles them very well.

Nobody really appreciates just how much wood is in a tree but we had a good 2.5 tonnes of wood and 5 cubic metres of wood chips to deal with - but a happy customer as well.

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera so no piccies this time......note to self - put camera in truck!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

For the love of a dog


I get some strange and unusual calls from time to time - last week there was one I have not had before.

I got a call from a really nice couple who had just moved into a beautiful farm cottage near Inkpen. Basically the problem was that they have a small Norfolk type terrier which has never been in the countryside as it has lived in London, which now had a huge garden and wood to run around in - with no fence.

When I went to look at this job, the rain was pouring down and both the customer and I got soaked walking round the site. We agreed that the best thing to do was a rabbit type fence around the back garden.

I must be getting soft because I agreed to work on the Bank Holiday Saturday as the dog could not live there without the fence. Having been without my dogs in the past when moving houses I know how this feels.

As it turned out, the fence was a nightmare to put up and it took all of Saturday plus Sunday morning - again working in the pouring rain, but we got it finished and Yogi now has a brilliant run - the enclosure is approx 180 square metres, and I have a delighted customer.

One really good thing was the bacon sarnies, cake and constant flow of tea - I wish all customers were like this!

The rest of the plans for the weekend were scuppered due to the awful weather - I was due to go salmon and sea trout fishing with my uncle and cousin in Devon, but instead me and the wife lit a big fire as it was so cold, crawled under the blankie and watched films all day - luckily the kids were at "sleepovers" so we had peace and quite all day.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Turf, Turf and more Turf


We have been flat out sorting out a customers "Jungle" over the last few days.


I first saw this job back in December. The customer's family wanted to give their mum a large lawn area where a veg patch once stood. It's been pretty neglected over the years and had grown into the "before" picture you see above.

After a few hours digging out the biggest dandelion and thistles I think I have ever come across, we rotovated and leveled the area in preparation to turf. As with all surfaces, preparation is the key to getting a great lawn and unfortunately this takes time to get it right. I think the results are obvious when its done properly

I have started using a new turf provider who is proving to be most reliable - he actually turns up when I want him rather than waiting around or simply just dumping the turf and running. I am using Rolawn turf as I have tried many different types over the years and Rolawn is about the best you can get - a little pricey in comparison with the "meadow turf" providers, but a whole lot better.

What you get is a uniform turf, fully fertilised and weed free with a rich soil backing, making the new lawn take more quickly and giving it a head start.

My advice to customers is pay a little more and get a better job - you only want to do this job once. It's like painting your windows - a horrid task but you use the best paint not stuff you got cheap down the market!

We also did another turf job as well this week. We cleared this unused area of old shrubs a few weeks ago and the customer decided to rotovate the area himself - not a problem for us. He did a pretty good job, but paid a hefty price for doing it himself - he put his back out and spent hours (and many £'s) getting it fixed at the osteopath ......also it screwed up his golf swing for days too!

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Wedding Blog by Neale James


I hadn't realised, but Neale and Sam James of Breathe Pictures , our mates who came with us to South Africa for our wedding and did the wedding photography for us has been writing a blow by blow story of our visit to SA.
When I do get a moment to sit down and have some "me time", I check out all the people I know who are writing blogs, but because its so busy I hadn't been there for a while - what a nice surprise.
I am not sure how Neale finds the time - he has just taken over the breakfast show for Radio station Reading 107FM which is very funny - its just a shame we have such difficulty picking it up in Newbury - well worth a listen to. I am sure they have caller ID on the phone line to the studio as I can never get through - perhaps not a bad thing as I am sure we would get into trouble......I still owe you mate....revenge will come!

Go and look at Neale's Blog - he writes well and has a few sneak pictures - they are still working on our wedding album but I have seen a few pictures and they are superb.

Other blogs to visit are:
Nigel Morgan - Mr PR - always current news and stories
Richard Hayman - Madagascan Gin Palace - has re-started after a while
If you are a regular to my blog, let me know other sites worth a read

Saturday, May 19, 2007

New addition to the family

Picture: Ginger the tortoise

Gosh I can hear you say, they have only just got married!

Well let me tell you, two kids are more than enough - our house seems like a hotel with multiple kids drifting in and out at all times of day and night as the new thing is "sleepovers" - an excuse to get out of chores and homework as well as eating everything in the cupboard.

We have however had the patter of tiny feet this week - the arrival of Fred and Ginger.

My wife has always been on about two animals - giraffes and tortoises. Whilst I would love to have a giraffe, she had to make do with tortoises for her birthday as a suprise.

When I was a kid, me and my brother had a tortoise each. These things just walked around the garden and ate everything, then we would stuff them in the airing cupboard over winter and that was that.

What a different story today. I arranged for the little blighters to arrive after our Italian trip, but before then we were sent an extensive owners manual with loads of do's and dont's - frankly it scared me to death (and Karen too!).

I bought them from a really helpful company The Tortoise Shop who talked me through the original purchase and have provided phone "support" already to a panicking new mother!

I decided to get two tortoises as I am a great believer in not having a single animal as I am sure they loose their will to survive and have a better quality of life etc.

When they arrived, Karen and her mate Donna of WhyNot Jewellery were worse than two kids - I have never seen anything like it. I was left to build the enclosure and get the lights etc set up while they sat and "warmed them up" - the poor things were sent by TNT and spent the night in a box on a van!

Once placed in their enclosure, they sprang to life and literally ran around, and they started eating, and eating ,and eating.....in fact they only stop eating to bury themselves and sleep (a bit like the kids really).

They are very cute and each one has a little personality developing - well as much a personality as you can expect from a tortoise.

Our dog walks have now taken a different turn - we now go out armed with carrier bags and foraging equipment to ensure a ready supply of their favourite munchies....are we mental or what?

By the way, they love dandelions!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Gardens have gone mental

Picture: Small hedge planted at a nursery school in Reading to add colour and clean up a mud patch

With the brilliant weather over the last 6 weeks, it is inevitable that the rain must come - and didn't it!

In the winter, we expect bad weather and plan jobs where it doesn't matter if it rains, you just get on with it - but in the summer it's a nightmare. You cannot cut grass in heavy rain. You cannot re-point patios or treat decking.

I have had more rain - offs this last week than all over the winter. We have part finished jobs waiting for sunshine and grass is growing like wild fire - as I look out of my window, my grass will take the best part of the morning to sort.

Anyway, we have been very busy - we have actually been planting hedges and fencing as well as the normal grass cutting etc. Hedges also have gone a bit mental and we have done a few trims too - one particularly bad one over at Peasemore which was just a jungle - now tamed of course.

As to other jobs coming up, we are flat out on turfing and this rain has been good for that so I cant really complain - but I so hate wearing waterproofs when its so humid - its like having your own personal sauna all day.
Bit short on pictures as I keep forgetting to take the camera - note to self - put camera in the car!
Interestingly, at the job pictured above, we found a whole colony of Stag Beetles in a rotten tree trunk - I have not seen one since I was a kid - we left them well alone as it was a pleasure to see them. Funnily, my helper ran a mile as he thought things like that were in horror movies only!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

A visit to Italy

Picture: Tony and Nat Boneventura - Picture by Karen Chapple

A very good friend of ours - Tony Bonventura and his fiancee Natalie - invited us to their wedding in Italy last weekend, so off we went.

I have never flown with a low cost airline before and I must admit it was a different experience. We fly from Stansted on Ryanair - or should I say RiotAir!

I am not a lover of flying, I hate crowds and I hate being treated like cattle, which is exactly how you feel at Standsted. A smile cost nothing, but the staff of RiotAir must be charged per smile as I have never seen such a grumpy lot in my life.

We had the flights booked for us by Sarah Godwin of Travel Councillors and she booked us one "priority ticket" - this concept allows you to board the plane first and grab a good seat - I had no idea that you didn't get a seat allocated.

As we were delay on the M25, and had stood in a queue for 40 mins getting checked in by the grumpy team, we just had to run to get to the gate. Then the scrum started - I got dragged through the priority lane, leaving poor Karen to cope on her own!

I got a good seat - then the trouble started - I reserved a seat for my wife, which apparently isn't allowed, so I had to fend off everybody who wanted to sit there - mostly very grumpy Italians who didn't speak English. A few seats in front of me, some guy was having a massive argument with the stewardess, whose customer care was from the Fawlty Towers training school, told the customer "If you don't like it just get off!" - simply amazing.

Poor Karen was the last person on on the plane and had literally been kicked about in the queue - I say the last person but somebody was refused entry to the plane as he squared up to the Steward.......there has to be a better way!

Anyway, the wedding was fantastic - even if a little long - a full Catholic wedding in Italian.....just under 2 hours, but at least I caught up on some sleep...!

The reception was just unbelievable - a 10 course meal - after 6 courses I wanted to throw up so I could eat more...just amazing.

The flight back was even more chaotic and disorganised - and on arrival at Stansted we had to queue once more to get into passport control - over 45 mins - apparently this is a new system to speed up your transit through customs - guys, let me tell you it isn't working!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Charity Clay Shoot

Picture: Rodney(foreground), Paul (on the stand)and Louis at my worse stand - note the trap in the distance....

Saturday 5th May - I was invited to a charity clay pigeon shooting day by my uncle. Now I don't do much clay shooting, however its all for charity so why not go and have a few bangs.

As always, when the family get together, it ends up in fierce competition. My Uncle Rodney (a VERY competent shot who takes on the high birds of Devon every year), my cousin Paul (also a very keen shot) and his son Louis (just started shooting but is following in the family footsteps) and I decided to have a few practice shots before going for the main round.

Well quite frankly, I was embarrassed at missing so many clays - much to the amusement of my family members of course! Luckily we all shot pretty badly, but I had one stand in particular which was a nightmare - I just clipped one out of ten - lots of mickey taking etc.....

Once we got down to the real thing, the old competitive spirit settled down (or maybe a few beers took the nerves away?) but I soon took the lead in our group - with Paul constantly trying to un-nerve me of course. One thing I have learnt over the years is not to buckle under pressure - in fact I respond to the challenge of pressure.

Needless to say, despite Paul changing the order of shooting cards on the last stand, which happened to be my worse stand on practice, I stepped upto the mark with one clay between us - and shot 7 out of 8. Paul by now had realised that I had won, lost the plot and missed most of the last stand.

Rodney had a bad day too - this is probably the worst I have ever seen him shoot, Louis also didn't do so good - he had a worse score.

After the shooting was done, it was down to some serious drinking - which I openly admit to being defeated by the Rosiers!

The charity auction was strategically timed to coincide with large volumes of alcohol consumption - this proved a very expensive afternoon for me as I bought a very nice case of wine and a days shooting with the family in Devon next January.....I don't know how I can explain this to the wife - or the bank manager for that matter!

I am not sure the final total raised, but it was well into the thousands - so a great day out and all for a good local cause - Thanks to everybody involved.