We were at Hay again yesterday, and I defied the pollen (bad move, as it turned out) to go for a walk round the town. I got SO much pleasure just from strolling round with my camera, and as you can see, Hay was looking absolutely wonderful. You would think that the roses beat everything else hands down for sheer numbers, but no, it was masses and masses of Valerian which I kept seeing. Just lovely. Not much in the way of words, as I don't have ID's for the roses, so just enjoy.
I have had to confine myself to barracks now. I need this last course of steroids to actually work and so I have just popped out now and again to do a quick garden job, wearing a hat, and a mask (though the latter is suffocating.) K helped me water round earlier on, but I know he thinks that growing veg is a waste of time, and so everything would have just had a quick sprinkle when it needed a good soak.
I have been out briefly a few times, moving around a lovely old antique wholepiece hand-quilted Welsh quilt which I washed (again) first thing. When I bought it, it was absolutely filthy, but one hand wash in the bath still left a tide mark on the edge of the fabric, so I decided to take advantage of the weather and do it again. I dried it flat on an old duvet cover and it's now over the Betty Maid in the kitchen to dry out completely. It is lined with hedge-pick wool (and dates to about 1900 or so) and was For Best in its day (hence the wool lining). It will be going to the big Antiques Fair with me, and will hopefully attract a buyer.
3/4 of my peas in the planters haven't come up and I can only assume something has been in and eaten then so I have some more soaking and will sow those tomorrow. Keeping the tubs damp is the problem at the moment as it is so warm in the day, so they will have to have a good soaking and be kept moist. I still haven't sown my Mange Tout peas, but they will go in tomorrow too. I still need to make Elderflowr Handcream, so that is another job for the morning. I do feel better for having been indoors most of the day, but to be honest, I am absolutely exhausted as once again I spent most of last night wide awake. I slept between 12.30 and 1.30 a.m. and then had to come back downstairs, and came back up at 4.15. I fell asleep, but woke with a nightmare ten minutes later and only drowsed after that. I hope I do better tonight. I shall be glad when the pollen season is over, and hopefully it will be earlier this year due to the sun, as everything seems to have flowered briefly and then gorn to seed.
We had a stroll around the car boot sale first thing, and got a couple of things, but there wasn't much about and I didn't want to linger as it was hot and humid even at 7.30 and the pollen was low.
I hope you have all had a pleasant weekend.
Beautiful pictures of your stroll....thanks for taking us along.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it too Pat.
DeleteLovely photos of lovely flowers. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteJill - it was so lovely walking round, and the perfume of those roses . . .
DeleteFantastic roses BB. I love valerian too but so many folk consider it to be a weed.
ReplyDeleteAren't they lovely Pat? I love Valerian - the only weeds that annoy me are Hairy Bitter Cress (lots here), and Creeping Buttercup (ditto). I think Valerian always grows in old walls and so is an historic marker.
DeleteYour post today me so happy. I have always enjoyed the "English Garden" Everytime I visited the UK. Living in the desert, a lush green landscape plus flowers growing everywhere is heaven.
ReplyDeleteThe eighth photo looking down the alley or very tiny (?) street is beautiful but the one home has all the bins out. So sad.
cheers, parsnip
I am so pleased that this post gave you so much pleasure. I am about to follow it up with one about MY roses here, so I hope that will do the same.
DeleteSorry about the bins! I guess folk leave them up on the lane for ease of collection on bin day. That little corner of Hay is my favourite one - a little dead end narrow lane with cottages, which ends in a field and the footpath across to the Watergate in Hay. There is a cottage just past that white one called Idle Green Cottage, so perhaps thi area is Idle Green.
I love roses, but can't seem to grow them. Thanks for sharing all your pictures with us.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I guess roses need a warmer winter than you get Jackie. Mine tend to get block spot from our normally damp summers and they need feeding lots because the soil is poor.
DeleteOh my goodness, the roses and flowers are all beautiful. I was really struck by those little yellow star flowers. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI hope your pollen issue eases up soon.
Have a great week ~ FlowerLady
Hi Lorraine. The yellow flowers are Yellow Loosestrife and grow prolifically (a garden flower here, but some escape to the wild!) I am staying indoors much of the time and only venturing outside with a hat on and a mask (though that is SO hot to wear), to allow the steroids to kick in properly this time. All the farmers are cutting haylage/silage/hay right now, so hopefully the worst of the pollen sources will be cut soon and the remaining bits gone to seed.
DeleteA lovely set of images - the roses and valerian are so beautiful. We have some of that yellow flower in the garden I but haven't a clue what it is!
ReplyDeleteDo hope the pollen season is soon over for you.
It's Yellow Loosestrife RR, so now you know! I am hoping for a swift end to the pollen season too. I am really missing my walks - haven't done any walks round here since the pollen "bomb" in April. . .
DeleteLovely photos! I have never visited Hay, but it's on my list! My favourite rose is the climber, Albertine - the fragrance reminds me of being on a swing at home, as a child. Alongside was a fence covered in Albertine roses (which were judiciously sprayed with some noxious chemical for greenfly, as I remember!) ... the smell of the flowers was just beautiful. My own Albertine suffers with the dreaded black spot ..... do you have any tips or remedies to combat it?
ReplyDeleteHi Willow. I have Albertine on my front wall, but she's never really taken to the situation - probably too dry around the roots for her. Mine get black spot too - I bought something from the Garden Centre for it. Anti-fungal spray? I'll see if I can find it in the shed. No trouble with that at the moment as it's been SO dry. When I was planting 3 things today, the soil was dry as a bone a foot down!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though you have had lots of lovely heat and we have been stuck in winter, just an odd day of sunshine and warmth, then the cloud and chilly winds come back. Lincolnshire is on a warning, improve, or I move.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers - I particularly like the profusion of flowers in that tiny front garden, really lovely combination of stone, old metalwork and fabulous flowers. I hope you are feeling a lot better.
Your summer sounds like the one we normally get - I gave up on the garden completely last summer as there were scarcely any dry days to work out there! I even said I would settle for a paved yard when we moved, but one look at the Real Thing with the old townhouse in Usk changed my mind on that point!
ReplyDeleteWe have just had day after day of proper summer, and believe me, it was long overdue! Stormy clouds gathering now, but we do need a good soaking, and then I will let the sun return.
Thank you I am feeling better now (despite waking at 3 a.m. last night, and that was IT in the sleep department!) - peak flow rising again and I "think" the pollen is slightly less aggressively high. Wasn't that planting just divine - allowed to spread and sprawl and just gorgeous.