Billy Young's Blog - Posts Tagged "apples"

It has been slow at work this week. Mind I have only been working a three day week given that I had a long weekend last week. Still the three days I have been have been long ones. I suppose it is to be expected after five days relaxing.
There was a meeting at work this week with some unhappy news at least for some. Our holidays have been changed to accommodate changes to the business. It’s a way of saying that due to expected increases to orders later in the year they want us to take three weeks holiday in the summer and give up our holiday in October. I’m alright with it because if it secures that I keep working then all is good. Some of my work-mates don’t like the idea and voiced their dissatisfaction at the changes. I understand why they feel like that as it means that after the September weekend we wouldn’t have another day off until Christmas. That combined with the dark mornings will make it a very wearying few months. Still as I said if it’s good for the company then it can only be good for me in the scheme of things.
My strawberries will need weeding again tomorrow. It will give me a chance to check to see how the fruits are developing. None are ready yet that mush I know but I have seen some growing out of the flowers already, casting their petals as they do. I’ll also see how my apple and gooseberries are doing. The gooseberries were looking good the other day when I was having a look. It will be a few weeks though till their ready for picking but they are starting to fatten up nicely. Though this year isn’t as good as last year’s crop in the amount on the bush, sadly. I think that is due to the colder spring that we had though it doesn’t seem to have affected the apples as much. I’m looking forward to a good crop come autumn.

It’s Micky’s engagement party tomorrow night and the whole family is invited. Calum is taking some of his friends which gave Tammy a reason to try to get out of it. I put my foot down though as Micky is a good family friend. It is also good for us as a family to go out for a bit even if we don’t stay to long.
Calum’s project, the desk, is a little closer to being completed. Sadly we need a drill as mine has decided it stop functioning on the one day we needed it on Sunday. Getting a replacement isn’t going to be cheap. I looked at the prices online and was shocked into stunned silence. I have small rechargeable one but unfortunately the drill bit I need doesn’t fit. I’ll have to look around and see if I can pick one up second hand from the pawn shops when I get time to go down town. When that shall be I’m not sure. Until then the desk shall have to wait unless I can come up with a solution to drill the holes to fix the supports to the wall. As the desk will be for his computer and other things I need it secured firmly so it can take the weight.
I will be spraying my apple tree this weekend for Scab Apple, a fungus infection. I noticed that some of the fruit that was ripening had split open last weekend. After some online searching I found what was wrong. The wet summer is to blame so Magz went to the garden centre at the bottom of town, the only place that stocked what I needed. I’ll need to spray the tree once a week till the end of season with Systhane Fungus Fighter to deal with the problem. I had thought that the tell-tale black marks on the fruit was nothing more than Sooty Blotch or something like that as I saw that on apples as a kid. Sadly I had to get something a little more troublesome. Well at least I can deal with it now. My cooking apple tree isn’t touched so I shall still get a crop from it. Plenty of apple pie then.

I’m glad it’s the weekend. I did a couple of hour’s overtime yesterday. Though it was only two hours it felt longer. It is amazing how much two hours can leave you tired the following day. The extra money will be handy next week. Magz can put it towards some Christmas shopping. Yes we are starting to think about the season of good will even though autumn has barely shown its colour on the trees so far. It is heading towards the end of September though and before you know it the family celebration season will be here. So it is good to start getting things ready or get some of the smaller things in. Well it is something she enjoys, shopping that is.
I need to cut my grass again. Even though it has been cooler over the past week, especially at night, it has jumped up. Hopefully it will be the last cut of the year but somehow I doubt it. It will also give me the chance for a general tidy up. It can be a right pain the amount of wind tossed rubbish ends up finding its way into a garden. There are also more berries to pick and my apples to check for the hundredth time this week. That pie has been taunting me as I watch the apples filling out. What can I say?

It will be a short weekend for me this week. I agreed to overtime for tomorrow earlier in the week. I was hoping it would be cancelled but sadly it wasn’t. Looking on the brighter side it is only half a day so it should go by quick. It isn’t the work rather it is the getting up a little earlier than I like on a Saturday that makes me wish I wasn’t doing it. Still it is more to put towards the end of year spend.
I think my corn might be ready for picking ready for Sunday dinner. I’ll check it tomorrow after work though I shall leave picking it till Sunday. That will ensure it is at its freshest. I’ve never grown sweet corn before so I’m hoping I have gotten the timing just right. What I have read online said to wait till the silks turn brown. I worked out that was the strands that came from the top of the developing husks. The only thing is the ones that appeared on my plants about two to three weeks ago have vanished. I’m not sure what that might mean. I suppose I will find out on Sunday. Magz will need to have the butter ready, hehehe.
The apples are still swelling on the tree. I checked them on Wednesday by give some of them a tug to see if they wished to come off. They didn’t so I left them to mature for another week and then I shall give them another test. I think it could be another couple of weeks or more though before I get that pie from Magz.

No overtime this weekend so I’m looking forward to my two days off. I’ll get the extra I worked last weekend on my wages next week which is something. Magz will put it to getting some of the smaller gifts I imagine. With my kids now getting to that awkward age to buy for, we’ll probably chicken out picking something for them and just give them the money so they can spend it as they wish. Though saying that it will be Magz that makes the final decision on what happens. She seems to know the wants of Calum and Tammy than me. Is that just me or is it because she’s the house parent? I think the latter. I say that because when the kids were younger Magz and my roles were reversed. She had the job leaving it up to me to deal with the smelly nappies. Sometimes I miss those times then I remember how exhausting it was running after two children. I feel for the parents of larger families.
I picked more tomatoes on Sunday with more to pick tomorrow. There is more blueberries as well and the apples to check again. The branches are weighed down with the swollen fruit which are a lovely red. They look almost good enough to eat straight off of the tree. Though I know that wouldn’t be wise as cooking apples aren’t the sweetest. I don’t think that I will be getting any pumpkins this year. The ones that I planted haven’t done so well. With the awful summer and the slugs they suffered. They did try to produce fruit repeatedly. They are also flowering again but the colder nights have come in now so I don’t see them producing anything. I did have my corn though which was delicious though a little on the young side. Well it is the first time I have tried to grow corn.

Magz found a real bargain in the charity shops this week. She picked up a Black and Decker drill for five ninety-nine. Just the thing for Calum’s project of building a desk in his room to get finished. Now we can drill the holes to fix the supports to the wall. As you might remember that we had already cut all the wood as well as the old kitchen worktop some weeks back. Unfortunately it was after planning then cutting everything that we found that our drill had given up the ghost. Since then we’ve been on the look out for one going cheap. Now thanks to Magz eagle eye we have one. Of course now I need to get Calum to clean his room all over again. It took me weeks to get him to do it last time. Let’s hope that the wait for his desk to be completed will motivate him to be quick off of the mark this time round.
Good news on my apples too. Again it was Magz that spotted one had fallen from the tree during the week. I was at work so found out she had decided to pick them all. There had been a frost during the week so I think that may have encouraged the tree to finally give up its fruit. Sadly Magz is still to make the pies, maybe this weekend. I hope she remembered the custard, hehehe.

After contacting XFX over my graphics card I got an email. Though it was short it did admit that my card had failed but since then I have heard nothing. They didn't say if they were replacing the defective product so I have contacted them again asking when and now await their response. It has been over a month now and I was hopeful that I would have had this problem resolved by now. Sadly I am still in limbo. You would have thought that any company would have been more than happy to replace a faulty product to save themselves from any bad publicity. That should be even more important given the fact that modern communications allow customers more of a voice. I doubt I will need to resort to twitter in the hope of getting them to take me more seriously. I think I have been more than patient so far.
I'm on holiday till next Wednesday so today was a lazy day sitting around doing nothing. I haven't even checked on my garden. I know my potatoes still haven't begun to grow and I am now thinking that I won't have any luck with them this year. It seems that most of my efforts this year have been wasted after last weeks bird raid. Even though I replanted as soon as I discovered the disaster I haven't noticed anything growing in the tubs. Yes I know give it time but with the long winter I'm eager to see my vegetables up and growing. I have netting over most things including my cherry trees. Maybe this year Magz will get to enjoy some home grown cherries. My cooking apples are doing well though there aren't many eating apples. I think that is due to the fungal infection from last year, which reminds me that I may need to spray it again so it may give more fruit next year. If the weather dries up over the next few days I might get the chance

Jim, the man in charge of the retort and who trained me on them, was off this week ill. That left me in his place all week. It isn't the first time that I have been the top man at the retort. Last year I was also head retort man for a week but then things were a little harder as I was less experienced at the job. Things didn't go all smoothly though. I did have one small mishap when I under cooked one batch of haggis by ten minutes. That require the whole lot to be re-cooked for the full time so it wasn't too bad. It was a simple mistake in entering the wrong programme number into the control panel. Such an easy error though it could have been costly and one to watch I don't do again. Other than that everything was fine though it did mean a lot of unpaid overtime. I might be able to take some of those hours back this coming week as Thursday is to be a cleaning day. That is because next weekend is a long weekend with Friday and the following Monday off. You can hear me cheer. Anyways the head supervisor says that I could possibly get half of Thursday off. It sounds good. I wait and see if I get it.
Rain is expected over the weekend which will limit any time in the garden. Sunday might offer some drier conditions so we'll see if I can get some weeding done around the strawberries. I was out looking over the plants when I got home today and noticed that the corn is coming along nicely yet I am not sure if I shall see anything from them. The stalks are starting to flower but it might be too late in the season. Something for me to keep an eye on. I will also need to spray my apple tree with the return of the wetter weather. I have only one eating apple on my tree this year but the cooking one is well laden with fruit and they are looking a good size already with over a month more till picking season. Yum lots of apple crumble and custard to look forwards to.

Jim has been in dispute about how much time is owed to him. His wages were short when he was off on the sick and after querying it when he got back was told he owed them five hours. He believes that they actually owe him four hours so until he gets it sorted he is refusing to do overtime. I don't blame him though I'd also be pretty peeved if it were me.
Luckily the head supervisor has been happy to do it for him which has meant that I only had to cover the retort a couple of days this week. Today was one of them so I have another hour due me. Tuesday is supposed to be a cleaning day so I have asked for that day off to take some of my many hours back. I'm now up to eighteen and a quarter hours to take so I don't see why I shouldn't get the day off. I'll have to wait till Monday to find out as the have to ask the boss.
My potatoes are starting to yellow so I might pull them this weekend. Sunday is meant to be a dry if windy day but tomorrow is to be wet. So Sunday looks like the day to see if I have a better crop than last year. At the same time I have noticed my sweet corn is showing signs of maturing. I t will be another four week or so before they are ready. Lets hope it doesn't get to cold as autumn takes hold.
My cooking apples are looking big. Not the largest cooking apples I have ever seen but they are already greater in size than in previous years. Magz has also noticed and is looking forward to using them in some baking. I'll enjoy the eating, hehehe. I just have to be patient a few more weeks for them.

I got my day off on Tuesday and this weekend is a long one. Yes Today as well as Monday off so it has been a very short week for me at work. Unfortunately My daughter Tammy has share her cold with me. To be truthful though there have been one or two people at work with the sniffles so I may have caught from them. Of course though I'll still windup my daughter. Well you have to don't you? It is one of those things that comes with family life. Tammy for her part joked back that she was only doing what comes naturally to her, sharing. I had to laugh.
I didn't pull the potatoes last week but decided to leave them for a few more weeks as they still looked like they had a bit more time in them yet. I did pick my apples to day as well as more blueberries and tomatoes. I still have a lot more blueberries to pick. The tomatoes though are beginning to die off as autumn has brought cooler weather over the past week or two. Add to that the lengthening nights, you get the picture.
Still it doesn't stop the grass growing does it. Yes I did get the front clipped on Tuesday but Magz had a washing out the back. Tomorrow is to be a good day so it will give me the chance to get the rear grass tidied up before the expected stormy weather arrives Sunday.
I know it makes little sense to get the garden in order just for it to be wrecked by storms we know are coming. Still there is little we can do about the gales that are on there way. I can at least shave the grass so it is easier to re-order once the bad weather has run its course.