Another birthday has been enjoyed and I have been gifted plants, [ignore the shoe pile] lovely wooden candle holders and even more planters! A surprise gift was a new iphone from hubs. My canon camera recently died so he thought a more modern phone camera may be the answer. It certainly takes better pictures than …
Read more “Of birthdays, a rat, energy saving devices and a new phone”
Goodness, Christmas has come and gone in a blurr, as always. The time in between Christmas and New Year is always so relaxing by contrast. Daughter and Litl’urchin graced us with their presence and a vegan [except the salmon for hubs] feast was enjoyed. The dogs have decided to sulk during Christmas dinner and sit …
The garden renovation is slowly but surely getting there. “The Steps” to the left of the gates are finally finished. They are planted, turfed and the pond is now in. All the raised beds are weeded, covered with weed fabric control and finished with white stones. With luck, that area should be pretty low maintenance …
I can’t believe how quickly this year is flying by. One minute we were baking during a heatwave and a drought, now it’s slipped quietly into autumn with lots of rain, chilly winds and cool temperatures. Given how much time the front garden [new build] has taken up has resulted in the other gardens being …
The new build in the front garden is far from complete. You know how it goes….the builders have ground to a halt as they are waiting for the digger man to clear a mountain of soil from where hubs new shed will sit, and the digger man has gone AWOL for a few weeks. Still, …
Between the rescue, caring for our adorable Littl’urchin [always a pleasure] and frantically digging up and repotting the remaining plants from the front garden and having a social life has resulted in life being a little busy of late. We’ve been trying to weed/prune and cover all the borders that will remain in the front …
I always plant three crops of potatoes in succession as seen above, now my third crop is coming up, despite Buddy sitting on it. I seem to have potatoes in barrels and pots everywhere this year, along with onions, but I always think a gal can never have too many potatoes or onions. Last year’s …
We haven’t had a drop of rain in weeks now and if it doesn’t rain soon I’ll have to get the hose-pipe out, a job I loathe as my hose is riddled with holes and watering all three gardens takes about four hours! Honesty has self seeded all over the gardens this year, purple in …
I’ve decided to attempt to grow shiitake mushrooms on logs. If they take, and it’s a big if for a newbie like me, I should get two flushes a year for five or six years. Initially, hardwood logs must be cut from healthy trees and cured for a period between two and six weeks. The …
Read more “Growing mushrooms on logs, new succulents and cactus and a pretty scary spider.”
I’ve never seen so many ladybirds as I have this year, up to twenty at a time can be found hiding under leaves on individual shrubs and bushes. Now that hubs has been clearing leaves, the wrought iron birds are actually visible again. Spring flowers are popping up across the gardens… and cherry blossom is …
