Think I’m going to have to have a word with my neighbour about his rose!
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You inspired me, I’ve just cut back two wild roses. 10 cm remaining of them, let’s see how they come back next year.
Another civilization project:
The wisteria grew out of hand completely and I want it back to a safer size so that if a heavy storm arrives in autumn the roof survives it …
And the painter needs some space to do his work.
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Neighbouring gardens are funny things.
I have far more stuff on the borders than my neighbours and some things are definitely encroaching on their sides but difficult to attack/prune back from my side.
One neighbour wanted me to cut back a very tall silver birch when he got someone to cut his cherry tree (probably seeded from ours which is on the way out). I agreed to use the same gardening chap when he visited but his cherry tree has now become massive blocking lots of sunlight in the morning and my silver birch which is right at the end of the garden is shorter but the 'pollarding has made it incredibly bushier and denser than it used to be - odd as pollarding 10 years prior to that didn’t.
I often suggest I cut certain large things back but neighbours say they like the shade, whereas other times they complain about seemingly quite trivial things on our side. Odd really.
I guess all we can do is just raise matters and respond politely to reach mutually acceptable results.
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I spent an hour talking with our neighbours yesterday, need access via their drive way, to install air con, no problem.
Today, totally unrelated they are cutting back a bay tree that is getting tall, but it shades their small conservatory…….but possibly dark in winter, east facing. I would have just pruned it….but
In the UK you are legally entitled to cut back anything overhanging your land right back to your boundary; no need to ask your neighbour.
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Quite, I was going to mention that however a bit of friendly discussion doesn’t go amiss.
Some years ago a neighbour trimmed some overgrowing hedge and chucked the cuttings over the wall onto our side - they are legally required I believe to return the stuff unless you don’t want it but it was a little annoying as it would have potentially and unexpectedly crushed flowers/plants growing on our side of the wall. Naturally if the owner of the nuisance can’t accept it being cut back just do it, but such things can lead to silly annoyances.
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With a wild rose you need to get back to the base. Light pruning only makes it worse.
Lovely , my tomatoes were rubbish , my chillies less so
These were just a soupçon , it was a very good year
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Spent yesterday and two hours this morning harvesting our olives. I reckon there is somewhere between 15 and 20kg. So off now to the olive pressing cooperative to deposit the olives. Going rate is 1litre extra virgin olive oil for 10kg of olives.
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Well what a schoolboy error. The olive pressing plant does not open until October. They have kept the olives but think (and I agree) that is unlikely the picked olives will be suitable for pressing in early October. How embarrassing 
In my defence, I picked them now as we have to go to the UK this weekend for almost three weeks. I thought that the olives would have fallen off or gone off, if left on the trees.
All that effort wasted. However I have learned a lesson. Roll on next years crop.
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I’ve just checked my grove and I found this one.
If you bring your 20kg over with you to the UK and find a pressing plant to process them, can we meet up and I’ll add my one in, then we go halves on the oil? Does that sound a good plan?
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Ha ha. What is that wet stuff all over your olive and the leaves? 
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At my old place in the UK with an orchard. I made cider each year from the delicious Michelin apple. I bought the masher and press online.
I can understand why you might want to support the local cooperative but with all the stuff you can buy online these days I am surprised with the quantity of olives you haven’t invested in your own press.
This one does a hot or cold press.
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Now that is an interesting birthday gift!
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Thanks for the suggestion. Clearly it will never be a cost effective solution, however the idea of our own olive oil is appealing. I will give this some thought over the next year.
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You have to wonder what you’re getting for £149.99 but like making cider I am sure there are some good sites online with associated kit.
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Or I good go the old fashioned way and try to find to large flat stones for cold milling. They would have been used extensively in the farming areas. We plan to spend time later this year visiting the more agricultural areas of central Portugal, so I will keep an eye out for this. Also visit the small hardware stores in the farming areas. They are always have interesting stuff. The most common being small brass stills to turn your berries into fire water.
I’ve done all that - been on pretty much every back road and byway in Portugal. In late October I’m driving down to Spain and making a detour to stay at one of my favourite places Freixo de Espada à Cinta.
Everyone raves about Lisbon and Porto but the best city for me is Braga and I quite like Chaves.
In the alantejo you have Evora which is well worth a visit.
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