Some where, round about

 it has been windy. And cold. Foliage has been shredded and early flowers frosted.  It's not been a pretty sight. Flowering currants took a particularly bad hit.  The celandines and dandelions have kept the bees and butterflies ok but they have had their moments, queuing for the nectar is a thing! As is working in the garden and having the butterflies right up close by and the bees happily brushing against my hands. Odd. But quite lovely... Springtime has showed just how much plastic clutter there is in the garden, from the very necessary pond liner to random buckets and pots left about the place. Now. There IS method in the madness...when the pots Are Full Of Plants, but the ones i saw today were more of the " Oh That's where those two buckets went to" thing. Brassica germination has happened! Overwintered cauliflowers are out with feverfew interplaneted. I'm hoping their scent might deter the dreaded cabbage white. The cabbages are being raised in pots , will be...

September round up here, so i can look back and objectively see what has been going on. Because if I rely on my memory.......! Today we are still in September but  the Very Last of our courgette plants were pulled up. And what have I learned? Why, to germinate earlier and that any gifted Must be sheltered in this garden!  Will we grow again? For sure.   Well this was interesting!  Corn  grown in buckets plus very late to germinate and plant out but in spite of everything I have got to see how these plants grow! That's a very immature husk of corn right there and there are others as well. So, although i won't be getting  proper ears of corn to eat.....i might very well have enough corn silk to make a tincture. Kale and goodness me doesn't it just keep going!  We WILL be growing these next year, they Do require more direct light in the early stages than these darlings had and I think this is Not the correct place for them. But overall? Overall massi...

Only my courgettes would like to know! They think that they are in with a chance, so there is a mad panic to flower and produce their fruit. All the while I am hanging around mostly looking hopeful and whispering words of encouragement.  But after that thunderstorm...... Lovely long green courgettes from that top one and smaller yellow courgettes from the second. And here we have one just about making it over the coldframe edge. Timing has been out this year. Who knew that Growing Veg was going to be something that I'd be doing? No I.......for certain! Lockdown started, compost had not been bought, seeds ditto........then hubby found Garden Magazines with seeds on the front. The rest is history & grubby hands. This? Well a little too late in the day celery seeds arrived. So they have been germinated, raised ( after confusing me by looking similar to coriander) and are now potted up for finishing in the greenhouse. Self blanching, so worth a try, . Having made the decision to bu...

So this is where I've been hanging out, with the plants and especially the calabrese whose germination rate has been amazing and whose leaves I am shamelessly in love with.  Plants just keep growing, irrespective of pandemic problems or society's pain. As long as they get some daylight and water + have their roots planted in something suitable, they are happy. Chard, Fordhook Giant to be precise. This will most certainly be grown again, whatever life throws at it this plant storms through. Stands there and takes it. One plant was eaten (don't plant them near shrubs....) but Still new leaves were being sent up every day! Amazing. Requires next to no attention while growing and tastes fab. It's been a while since I have planted peas, but these main crop are doing fine. No peas as yet, but the half that we crop for pea shoots are super crunchy. Most of the rest are planted up in the top corner of our garden, an area currently defended by an irate blue tit whos...

Early afternoon..... in early June. It has rained and blown all day. Have scampered across to the studio twice and nearly been blown over each time! Hopefully all the veg are OK? Certainly the size of our  kindling pile for this winter will be increasing, tomorrow maybe the weather will have blown itself out so I can pick my way around with a container and clear the garden a bit. For now though I am left with my thoughts, a large pile of assorted blue fabric pieces and plenty of time. Everything that can be machine sewn has Been machine sewn and all that  I am left with are numerous trailing ends to hand sew into place. The process of slowly ( oh sooo slowly at times!) clearing, sorting, relocating or repurposing has started again. Lockdown has meant that my shopping bag is abandoned and the afore mentioned sorting process has brought to light precious cushions made with the same fabric. Clearing a bedroom cupboard brought to light enough bits and pieces of...

Officially I am a techno phobe Is that the correct word? I m no good at tech anyway! Goodness Penninegilly finds me on Instagram, should this blog go the way of many others. So. May time and gracious everything has ramped up a gear! The garden has exploded into colour and creaking life, stems shooting heavenward and leaves waving towards the sun. Winds whistle round the garden  and the sun shines in odd places. But enough odd places for everything to be perfectly pleasant for most of the time. I m not out and about, dodgy lungs have put paid to That. So I am at perfect liberty to spend all of my days outside. And that is exactly what I am doing! When all this is either over or we have moved in an otherwise improbable manner into a more sociable situation,  I shall Miss this time. So for now For me I am making the very most of it And one day I might work out how this place works, coz blowed if I can work out how to upload images an...

So here we have our companion; happy, relaxed and not looking In The Least like a dog who had been off his feet and seriously out for the count during most of one very long recent night. . He's thirteen years old and has managed to make the massive final retirement relocation north of the border. . It's a perfect situation for him here... beach about a mile away, decent footpath just up the back and a garden than he can hide and seek in. The village has apparently helpfully has laid on new footpaths for his enjoyment as well. Nearby beaches are being slowly explored and he loves them all. So that's him. Us? We're just relieved to live Here....and no longer in the suburbs of a large city. . It's quite shocking to reach that point in our lives when we are retired, either for age or health reasons. But given the previous  raising of children, usual employment and endless voluntary work....now....we are not apologising for Retiring, with a capital R. . And ...