When your brain goes walkabouts!

 

Ranunculous "Picotee" - isn't it beautiful? From Tam's birthday present to me last year.

I am trying to pull together thoughts and happenings over the past week, but woke at 5 a.m. this morning and my brain is still on the pillow!  

My new camera has arrived and I am like a kid with a new toy!  I just need an hour or two to sit down and get my head around what button does what. Billy - getting an SD card was the first thing I thought of once it arrived, and that should be here today.

The garden here is proving interesting this year.  Because I went round yanking up the rotting weed membrane, it has allowed (very) old seed to germinate and grow.  I have an inkling of how the garden was in the past.  On the bank I have masses of deep purpley-blue wild Aquilegias with huge clematis-type petals.  They appear elsewhere in the garden too but on the bank they look stunning.  Unfortunately I can see cross-pollination may happen and all my pretty colours will probably revert to this one! In a similar colour-way I have a hardy Geranium "Weeping Widow" which I had by the acre at Ynyswen.  Gosh it spread.  I bet they were glad to cover it over here!  Yet, it has survived in the soil here and blow me down, pots I brought from the old house also have it springing up.  Can't get away from it!  Also Foxgloves are everywhere in the Lavender bed, and I shall transplant most of them to the bottom triangle of paddock before they take over.

First flower on my Tree Paeony. It goes well with the yellow Potentilla beside it.

However, before I can crack on with the garden, I have a Big Job to do.  In fact, TWO Big Jobs, as having spoken to our carpenter/builder who is fitting the kitchen, Keith's workshop (which as you can see is an unholy mess, made worse since arriving here as he's not been able to get out there since last summer) needs to be greatly tidied to make space for two work benches to go in so our chap can assemble the units in there. I was going to clear it BUT I thought that was where we would be storing the flat pack kitchen . . .  So now my other Big Job is:

One end of the stable which has not been touched since our arrival, except to throw in useful boxes . . .  This photo was taken after many of the not-so-useful boxes had been flat-packed and taken for recycling at facility at the Co-op.  The banana boxes are needed for when we eventually have a new carpet laid in the Library, but moving the 100s of books and big heavy furniture which lives in there is daunting.  That is a whole family job, in summer - as all the furniture will have to go into the yard whilst the carpet is laid.

So today I have to go back in there and sort out all Keith's useful bits of wood in the end stall to make room for the flatpack kitchen to be put in the alley behind the stalls.  

Self-sown (from 20 years? ago) wild Aquilegias.

A lovely slow worm was sunbathing on the path yesterday.  I didn't know we had slow worms in the garden.  Unfortunately it must have been on the section of Primrose bank which I strimmed last week, as he was missing the end of his tail. I feel bad about that. I say it's a male as there was no obvious thin dorsal stripe which the females are meant to have.  Whilst I know they will "drop" the end of their tails if frightened/picked up, this looked a very even tail loss.  I will have to make lots of vibrations before I work up there again, or cut it with the shears (NOT ideal).

Red Campion on the bank.  I bought this as a garden plant last year from the Nursery that has a stand at Hay Market and also at Malvern.  It is Silene dioica, same as the wild plant.  I was heartened to see I have two or three small wild plants in the orchard too.  I need to get rid of the wild raspberries nestling up to it (relict plants again) and the constant encroaching GRASS!

The last couple of days Keith has decided he wants to try and do some woodwork again.  I was slightly perturbed, as I thought that the standing would exhaust him, but knew it would cheer him up to try. Day 1 - I found the right piece of wood for him, got the bench out, and various round tins for him to draw the pattern from.  He is making me a shelf to go in the kitchen.  (Though that will displace the Cecil Aldin horse print I have there currently, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that).

Yesterday, I got the work bench out for him, but imagine my absolute amazement when he walked - almost STRODE across the yard, using his walking stick.  I exaggerate a little, but compared with how he had been moving - I won't even call it walking as it was a shuffle at best.  My jaw hit the floor!  Together we cut out the first shelf support - and I had a lesson in using the Jig-saw. I went a bit off-piste with it but that was corrected when he took the sander to it.  OK, we were out there half an hour and he was tired and not walking very well after that BUT it is progress.  The only different thing is that about 10 weeks ago the GP told him to stop taking his daily dispersible Aspirin, as he had acid reflux.  She also gave him some Lansoprazole.  Anyway, for reasons best known to K, he decided to start with the Aspirin again and that was two days ago (well, 3 this morning).  He felt a little more energised too. We know he has circulation problems so perhaps these are accounting for some of the walking problems?  Having watched him just going downhill so rapidly, week on week since December, this is a positive.  I'm probably reading too much into it, but for whatever reason, he can walk better on occasion. We see the Neurologist next week, so will see what his thoughts are.

I am still hoping to get to Craig-y-Cilau nature reserve.  It's overcast/threatening rain today, but hoping it may clear up . . .