It is lovely and fresh out and a cool 11 deg. at the moment. I am hoping that the VERY worst of the pollen is fading a bit now. I managed a walk yesterday morning - not that far, and just in the town. I couldn't find anywhere to park (there was some very ignorant parking - a pick up truck taking up the middle portion of a parking space for two cars. That seems to happen regularly. People can be so inconsiderate). Anyway, I ended up at the side of the Groe, over by the school, and walked up into town that way to get the paper and my prescription. I had a lovely chat with the lady at the paper shop, and then wandered over to the Local History Society shop and had a natter in there. Then as I walked back, a good chat with the lady who has a collectables shop. Builth is such a friendly place.
I'd like some more of these Hardy Geraniums - this one is Black Beauty.
The Mullein, which has got LOTS of smaller flower spikes on to last for weeks. The top leaves are soft and felty, but the giant ones at the base are smoother.
OK, not sure what has happened here. I noticed these proto-buds??? in the centre of a spent flower on rosa Belle de Crecy. Perhaps I should not have dead-headed them but seen if they would carry on to bloom? Never seen this before.
Dahlia Gardenetta Peach. I got two of these last week.
A nameless Dahlia. It has gone in a planter which DID have Cosmos seedlings in, until they were nobbled by slugs on a recent wet night, and then Ghengis took to using it as a bed - hence the repurposed seed-stack shelf over a corner of this and an entire planter of what is left of another Cosmos planting. I should have started them off in trays in May.
I couldn't resist this pot of Pinks, which I had just the container for as the Oxalis which had been in it was another winter casualty.The cobbles - all done by hand, and obviously still a work in progress, but it has been let go for a long time and it goes two sides of the stable yard. The last people used chemicals to control the weeds, but that doesn't remove the soil in between the cobbles, and I would NEVER use poisons to control weeds.
It is very therapeutic working out here when it is cool (I have to work early or late, as in full sun it is punishing.) It is mindful work, I have spent hours pondering family history conundrums, or just thinking of the folk I have discovered, thinking of the past. That includes the recent past and I got to the bottom of the friendship breakdown, which seemed to begin when Keith got his diagnosis and I became a full time carer. A few of us were in a little chat group which started many many years ago now. As I got sympathy and attention, there became an obvious "edge" in Lost Friend's posts, which became worse and worse. As long as they got the attention and could be top dog, things were ok. Last week there was a climax and I'd had enough. There is a word for the condition, Narcissism. Looking at the symptoms, gosh, spot on . . . It is such a relief not to be walking on eggshells any longer.
Hope that those who want sunshine are enjoying it. I worry about our shared private water supply so won't say no to a bit more heavy rain. :)
What a job you have got weeding those cobbles and lovely to see them uncovered. They must be so old.
ReplyDeleteHope you get rain for your water supply soon
They're looking a lot tidier now. I have a burner wand I can zap any weeds with after this .
DeleteBB your cobbles look a lot of hard work, but will certainly be beautiful once finished. Love the flowers as well. Hopefully next year I will have flowers again and a bit more in the garden. Pollen counts have been very high here too. I do feel for you though, must be awful. Just take it steady. xx
ReplyDeleteIndeed they are but are worth doing. I have been lurking inside most of today as it is so humid. Shut doors when it smelt like a steaming hayfield outside (as hay was cut and carried a week or so ago).
DeleteGoogle "Fasciation" and see if it fits what has happened with that flower. You might not have to wait too long for some rain.
ReplyDeleteAh, could well be that. Frost damage might be to blame. We want some consistent rain - an hour here and there isn't enough . . .
DeleteWe hav eloads of Geraniums in our garden as ground cover, I ca't beleive how quick the grow and spread.
ReplyDeleteI visited andother Kilvert Church the other week and will post it this weekend
They make good ground cover. Oooh, looking out for the next Kilvert Church post Billy.
DeleteAre you spending a fortune on plants I wonder? They all look lovely, I had forgotten about pinks and then came across a painting of them this morning.
ReplyDeleteOnly a small one Thelma! The garden here was very plain and unlovely and needed colour and ROSES.
DeleteA friend is not truly a friend if you have to walk on eggshells for long any period of time. How much easier it is to be with like-minded people when you can say what you mean and not have to worry. The cobbles are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteTrue enough. I wish I could find someone round here who shared my interests a bit more but hey, I have made a couple of good and caring friends and have plenty online too.
DeleteThe cobbles are so beautiful and ancient looking.
ReplyDeleteSomeone got paid a pittance for putting them in - let alone going down to the river to collect them in the first place!
DeleteI adore pinks and have them in my garden in memory of my sweet natured Quaker grandfather. He had a beautiful garden and lined his flower beds with them. I too am in the throes of re-evaluating a friendship. It is unsettling. Sounds like you are over the hump of it and safely on the otherside.
ReplyDeleteGladly out the other side Susan. When someone can't bring themselves to visit you in your new home, for whatever reason, (and many other things besides) it's time to let that friendship go.
DeletePinks are something my mum always had in the garden too, along with Wallflowers, Nasturtiums, and Sweet Williams.
I make a spray up of 1 pint white vinegar, 1 cup washing up liquid and 1 cup of salt to use as a weedkiller, it works brilliantly. Enjoy reading your blog very much and had to start at the beginning when I found you.
ReplyDeleteHello Gill. Gosh, you have read a lot of posts then! I fear I don't o the researched ones very often these days, which is a shame as I did enjoy it, but the simpler everyday ones seemed to get more response. The vinegar mix would work on a smaller area but I am trying to remove soil and moss too, so there isn't a growing medium in the future.
DeleteHardy Geraniums are a garden ‘must’ for me. I just bought ‘Rozanne’, a popular, blue variety and ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’, a pink Geranium which is good for attracting pollinators.
ReplyDeleteI love your cobbles as they add character even though they must be a devil to clean. I wouldn’t use chemicals, either!
Sometimes,you just have to accept that friendships have gone past their sell by dates and it’s time to move on! Narcissistic people are best avoided; they add nothing to the quality of your life. Far better to be amongst like minded people…here for instance! 😁
Rozanne looks beautiful and I wonder if Ingwersen's Variety is the one I have here with apple-scented leaves?
DeleteThat particular friendship had been going downhill for a good while. Whilst no-one is perfect, least of all me, I was feeling more and more uncomfortable with her attitude. Indeed, I have good friends through my blog and I don't control the comments, unlike another Narcissistic person whose blog I follow, much in the way of a rabbit caught in headlights! A sort of awful fascination as to what she might say next!
Mullein grew as a roadside and meadow plant in Vermont with a common name of 'Adam's Flannel.' I've seen a few such plants at the edge of the wooded ravine here, but it gets mowed before blossoming. I've seen cultivated varieties in shades of peach and rose offered in nursery catalogs but have never gown one.
ReplyDeleteI googled info on the strange extra buds in the roses--apparently a late frost or cold damp weather is the culprit.
Several of my roses objected to the spell of cold weather when flower buds were forming.
Love that name of Adam's Flannel! The cultivated varieties sound so pretty. Nearest I have is the Verbascum, and not enough of those! I will see if they are available here, out of interest.
DeleteFrost causing the roses to do that weird extra buds thing makes sense - December saw intense frosts, when us gardeners lost lots of plants.
What a lot of work to clean up those weeds around the cobblestones.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Indeed, but it is a rewarding challenge and I am actually enjoying it! Last year I couldn't cope with the garden at all - had to hide inside as it was SO hot. This year I am able to be out there most days (despite the pollen) and I am not carrying the guilt of seeing it go to wrack and ruin.
DeleteFriendships do sometimes run their course. I've am ashamed to admit that I haven't much patience for support groups. There is always, always someone in it like your friend. They are there for the sympathy. I attended a cancer support group for a while, and really, most of the people were very nice. But there was one person, one very dramatic woman who had cancer, went into remission and had been cancer free for many years. But every meeting she was there, and every meeting, she detailed the horrors of her treatment and her scars and her struggle to accept herself. And she'd always wind up with, "I think of cancer every single day of my life." At first, I was sympathetic, because it was the same for me. I was newly out of treatment and afraid of what the future held. But every meeting, the story got repeated almost word for word, and it always wound up with the same sentence. "I think of cancer every single day of my life." I felt as if I was there to learn how to incorporate that experience into growth. I wanted to move through the fear, not wallow in it. Some people do not.
ReplyDeleteThis was a group of friends who had met on another forum and made their own one, which diminished down the years as the ex-friend fell out with them! - over the course of about 20 years. That woman who'd had cancer obviously had difficulties processing it and was still scared - as if repeating that each time would somehow prevent it returning?
DeleteI know, and I felt like a very poor excuse for a human being. In the end, maybe she needed to repeat it and be consoled. In the end, I needed to move beyond it. I'd like to think that I am a sympathetic soul but perhaps I am not.
DeleteI think your cobbles look beautiful even in their slightly grassy state but I can see that they will look stunning once fully cleared. Little and often is the way to go. Gorgeous dahlias too. My Bishop’s children dahlias (sown from seed in 2018) come back every year and are just starting to pop open in the kitchen garden. I like the single ‘bishop’ dahlias best as they are beloved of bees. I only have four cosmos xanthos surviving from a whole packet of seed, but they are now growing strongly. Yesterday at the farmers market I bought two new salvias from the nurseryman, one called Jezebel and the other Joy. Salvias are dependably floriferous on my sandy soil and apparently emit a compound that helps keep roses healthy. It has been hot here but with a refreshing breeze and not too humid thankfully. I have been enjoying watching Ascot in the cool sitting room in the afternoons. Feet up, glass of water to hand, wearing a cool dress, the scent of jasmine wafting in through open windows, trying not to nod off! - it has been bliss during a busy week. We even talked about going to Goodwood, not the poshest enclosure but the one where you can access the parade ring and see the horses. We used to go every year with the children and it was good fun and we usually made a profit! S was a star yesterday and while I was out early at the farmers market followed by working in the bookshop he mowed the front grass for the first time this year as it was on the verge of collapse and threatening to seed everywhere and then he had a cycle. Have a lovely Sunday BB and take it easy if it’s hot today. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteI learn so much about plants by reading your posts Sarah. Not come across Bishop's Children dahlias before - I agree, the bees love the simple ones best. Only 3 of my Cosmos Xanthus survived predations of the slugs and squashing by Ghengis, who thought that planter was just his size!
ReplyDeleteSalvias are always reliable. Despite the intense December frosts, my Salvia nachtvlinder has survived and just started flowering.
We too have been watching Ascot and Keith had a few winners :) I've not been racing since I used to live near Salisbury racecourse, but it was Silver Ring for me. A lovely basic course and no top hat and tails needed!
Gosh, S deserves a medal for mowing such a well grown "lawn" and in this heat. Keith has been struggling with the heat (and NOT drinking enough AGAIN). He is his own worst enemy. Trying to help his very painful neck by making sit up straighter, so watch this space.