garden update iii

loads more pics from our little haven, for which i make no apology! the garden is looking so beautiful just now that i want to capture every single moment of it, every time i open the door my heart just sings at the joy and beauty of our plant life. and the birds are in full song at the moment. it's like a little refuge from the hustle and bustle that exists outside our harmonious bubble :) and then there's the hayfever which is also in full swing - don't you think that gardeners should be exempt from hayfever?!

speedwell in the lawn
rosemary happy to be in the new herb garden
can't wait for that first taste of our new season potatoes!
potatoes ready for planting
every day i check for plums, perhaps i'm too impatient :)
the plum gage is slowwwwwly starting off
yaaaaaaaaaaay, two of the parsnip seeds have germinated
lovely narcissus


london pride about to flower
the lavender has really taken off after we trimmed them the other week
not too sure if this golden thyme is going to revive but it's in our new herb bed in the hope it will
the gladioli are keen to get going this year!
funnily enough i'm not so bothered about the dandelions in the lawn now that i know i can dye with them!
daff and narcissus still in bloom
we still haven't given our front lawn it's first cut (much to the annoyance of our bowling-lawn type loving neighbours!) as it's full of these lovely cuckoo flowers
this comfrey was intended as garden fertiliser, until i learned it can also be used in the dye pot!
our bargain cherry tree going from strength to strength, i check every day for the start of blossom!
when we moved in the californian poppies were about the only flower in the garden, these yellow ones first appeared last year
more californian poppies to come
orange californian poppies
border at the side of our path
an artichoke just starting to peek out from the soil

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our new stove

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fresh bread rolls - straight out of the oven, so warm that the butter melts

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a gift of jelly

garden update, part ii

pics from mar/apr ...

first set of seeds all tucked up in the greenhouse
strawberry plants coming on
dafflidill
our new comfrey which is going to feed our veg, thanks to m, a fellow freecycler
morning glory, sweet peas, parsnip and sea holly seeds chitting
dafflidill
mini iris and lilac cutting from nan's garden
mini iris
pots of herbs, garlic and bay trees

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blue skies

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goodies from the garden

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birdsong

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hawthorn leaves

garden update

so, as time is short - here's some more pics!

garden progress as of feb / mar ...

cutting from the swedish whitebeam that my brother planted in my nan's garden when he was about seven
strawberry plant grown from a tiny cutting taken from a plant sprouting from a wall on the way to work
this year's potato crop waiting to sprout
oregano, sweetpeas and honesty from seed
cutting taken from the lilac tree in my nan's garden
lavender and london pride just starting to grow again in the new border
our bargain dogwood shrub from lidl
another bargain from lidl, cherry tree just starting into leaf

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spring has arrived - lighter nights and warmer air :)))

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the first spring flowers in our garden

this is a belated post, these are pics i took back in feb, but this is the first chance i've had to download them and put them up here!

spring has sprung (finally!)

well, my little blog and my creative endeavours, along with a few other things have been much neglected recently. i put my lethargy down to the time of year - i'm with the animals on this one: it's dark; it's cold; hibernate!!! now that the lighter nights are here and the weather is improving i'm starting to feel a renewed enthusiasm so hopefully this means a return to creativity :)

easter monday trip to balvaird castle

tempted out by the spring sunshine we went to explore balvaird castle, so here's some pics of our day out. it was absolutely glorious, there was warmth in the sun, the birds were singing their little hearts out, we walked past swathes of coconut scented gorse and we had our first taste of hawthorn leaves this year - i thought they would have made a tasty addition to tonight's salad but m remained unconvinced!

it was such a great day, reminding us of the many great times we've had exploring and making us yearn for the adventures yet to come this year :)






this was my second historic scotland visit this year, the first was to
st andrew's cathedral while at stanza.

visit historic scotland's website here, if you live in scotland get yourself a yearly membership - you really won't regret it! and if you're just visiting awhile you can buy an explorer pass which lasts either 3 or 7 days.

textile directory newsletter

another great discovery from a recent newsletter was richard saja who is a new york based embroiderer. richard creates wonderful embroideries which he describes as “a cheeky and irreverent take on classic textile history.”

richard was recently featured in the new york times and has been awarded a searchlight fellowship by the american craft council, which allowed him to show his work at their annual show in baltimore in february. much deserved i say!

more details about richard's exibition in vermont, from may 17th to october 25th, 2009 here.

and you can visit richard's blog here.

here's a detail from one of richard's 'birdmen' cushions which i think is fantastic :)

loose threads by kay haskins

if you are in or around manchester any time between 4th april and 1st may, pop along to the turnpike gallery (civic square, leigh, greater manchester) to see 'loose threads' by kay. the gallery is open mon to fri 10am to 6pm and saturday 9.30am to 3.30pm and admission is free.

the exhibition is based around an installation kay produced while at university. kay explains, “the piece consists of two drawers that have been lined and filled with handcrafted treasures to represent two very different generations, mine and my grandparents. the installation depicts the debate surrounding alzheimer’s disease and the loss of memory.”

alongside this will be a selection of kay’s handcrafted treasures, which are all available for purchase. items available include brooches, door hangers, gift tags and purses.

for more information, here's the link to the textile directory article.

and you can find kay's blog here.

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thanks to a post by donna clement i learnt what a petroglyph is and also discovered cryptobiotic crust - every day's a learning day :)

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leisure by w. h. davies

what is this life if, full of care,
we have no time to stand and stare?
no time to stand beneath the boughs,
and stare as long as sheep and cows:

no time to see, when woods we pass,
where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

no time to see, in broad daylight,
streams full of stars, like skies at night:

no time to turn at Beauty's glance,
and watch her feet, how they can dance:

no time to wait till her mouth can
enrich that smile her eyes began?

a poor life this if, full of care,
we have no time to stand and stare.

with love for my nan

tomorrow it's a year since my lovely nan passed away, i miss my nan more than i can express with words and think of her every day, it's hard to imagine that i've lived a whole year without my nan, but then i look in the mirror and see her smiling back at me.

how to choose the words to tell you about our nan? we can tell you where and when our nan was born, that she had one sister and three brothers. that, at the age of 14, nan went into service and at the age of 18 she joined the ATS, where she was to meet our grandad.

these are some of the happenings from our nan’s life but we would like to share with you our nan, as we remember her.

all of us have so many of our own precious memories but did you know that our nan could tickle a trout? it was quite easy apparently! sundays at nan’s house meant roast dinner with all the trimmings – her roast spuds were THE best, and her apple courting cake really was legendary. nan always had to make extra for us, some for now and some for later.

although nanny never had much, what she did have was always shared. nan’s door was always open and everyone was always welcome through it. anyone who befriended one of the family became one of the family and everyone who came into nan’s home always went away with a full tummy.

nan was always there for us, to listen to us ... to give us advice. but no matter what happened in our lives, no matter what choices we made, nan never judged or criticised. nanny was happy if we were happy and was always so proud of even the smallest achievement.

i do mean this in the nicest way, but if you knew my nan i won’t need to tell you that nan had her stubborn and contrary moments! when nan would tell you about her day, or something that had happened, we would pretend to tell her off, saying ‘nan, you can be so contrary sometimes’. she would look at you, the biggest smile would light up her face and she would say ‘yes, but i am lovely with it!’. and she really was, and that would get her off the hook so many times. nan had such a sense of humour and boy, did she have a wicked laugh!

did you know that nan had a jar of magic cream in her cupboard? when we were little and had bumped or grazed ourselves, nanny’s magic cream would make an appearance and with a little dab of cream whatever hurt had ailed us would be cured. it wasn’t until we were quite a bit older that one of us asked what nanny’s magic cream had been ... it was a tub of nivea! and the magic ingredient ... the one that stopped the pain and the tears ... that was love.

nan shared her love of nature with us, even the shortest walk would have nan passing on the names of flowers, plants and trees and she loved to watch the birds feeding in her garden, the antics of the squirrels trying to steal the bird’s food would have her in stitches.

nan also passed on strength, determination, so much love, the importance of loved ones and i hope, a little of that contrariness! we just hope that we can be as ‘lovely with it’ too!

for every memory we commit to paper, we remember another dozen that we haven’t mentioned here. what a lovely legacy though ... a lifetime of love, laughter and happy memories.

with all of our love, good night nanny, God bless and don’t let those bed bugs bite!