Now the garden's sorted

 My gardener came back to day to finish off with cutting the lawn(s), and also cut back all the undergrowth behind the greenhouse, so I can go in there and get roots out tomorrow, weather permitting.  I shall have to pay him a chunk, around £70, as he's been here 7 or 8 hours all told.

The orchard was done a couple of days back.  He is careful to cut round my wild flowers (mostly Comfrey in the foreground).

Behind the greenhouse.  A wild Tutsan growing by the beam.  I can see my Clematis has survived, despite lack of light, and neglect.  I gave it a good feed with Clematis food, and then did all the other ones too.  They need doing every 3 months.

The lawn wasn't too bad here, as he cut it right back about 3 weeks ago.

Bright sunlight on the patch left for the Fox and Cubs to bloom.

The long border, with lots of different Hardy Geraniums.  I spent half the afternoon dead heading roses, pulling out grass and weeds, and cutting back the Aquilegias before they seed everywhere.  I have enough now, but I have left the blue and white one (related to the dark William Guinness I have all over the place).  I shall save seed from that one and put some blue and white thread on the stem to remind me which one it is.

I spent a couple of hours this morning removing varnish from a box I had bought for £2, just to be a stand for china etc on my stall.  I used Meths and 0000 grade wire wool.  It was scratched and crappy looking before.  Inspired, I went back to the Pudding Basin stool and gave the seat a good wipe down with the same.  Hah.  Rather than remove it, I ended up with a gleaming seat, so think perhaps rather than ancient varnish it's polyurethene.  Ah well, looks tidy anyway and is ready to go and have an outing on Saturday.

Now I'm feeling really quite tired.  I have made a start on the Intuitive Daily Stitching, having pressed the French linen and drawn out lines across it 3" apart, and today added ones down.  I have embroidered 4 of the lines across.  Now I will do some of the down lines and see how it looks before starting on the designs.  In case you are interested, this is the link to her You Tube channel, and all the instructions.

I'm half way through another Kate Ellis book, The Bone Garden, which I got from the Library.   Very good.

Oh, and some VERY GOOD NEWS about Rosie, who is now running about like there was never a problem, and sleeping MUCH better at night now she is no longer in constant pain.  Her latest interest is Pirates, so I have ordered her a Pirate Book from you know where, as a little treat.

Synchronicity

 Well, I am knocked sideways today.  It seems it's often the 2nd dy after a full-on weekend when it all hits me.  I have had to naps on the sofa, and although I forced myself to do a short walk around the Groe, my heart wasn't in it.  I turned last night's stew into a curry tonight.  That will do 2 meals.

I bought some Bathsheba blooms in as it absolutely pelted down with rain yesterday afternoon.

So today I've not done much at all.  At least I only needed to water in the greenhouse, and can get to the compost area without wading through wet grass and umbellifers waist high.

I thought I would do some family history research before my FindMyPast membership finishes.  First Bovey Tracey, where my dad grew up, and then Frome, where they lived for a few years, and where my grandmother died in 1933, from Bowel Cancer.  I found the write up of her funeral, and I took photos of the entry, and then wrote it all down.  Then finally, was the date on which she died - today's date . . .  Think my mind was guided today.  Thinking of you gran, and wishing we had met.  

First proper rain in weeks and Ethical Shopping

 I am VERY glad to see it, though it's knocked all ideas of an afternoon walk on the head as it's really chucking it down.  A shame as my gardener was here today, and he spent the morning strimming the orchard and top of the bank, which he got done before the rain really set in.  The grasses in the orchard were waist high in places!  The lawn will have to wait.  I reckon the garden is sucking it up like a drowning man gasping for air.  One surprise was to find that I have Ox Eye Daisies coming up from the wildflower mix I sowed about 3 years back.  I was SO pleased to see them.  My gardener (doesn't that sound posh!) knows to leave any wild flowers he sees about the place and gave the lawn a really tentative and ragged cut last time as he had to avoid any Violets he saw in bloom in the grass.

Bathsheba, one of my David Austin "Thomas Hardy" roses.  I may try and pick some blooms before the rain ruins them.

Anyway, I have a beef casserole stewing in the oven.  Thought it was just the weather for that, and I'm about to go up and change the duvet cover and put the duvet back on the bed as I was a little chilly around 4 a.m. this morning with just a sheet and the thin hexagon patchwork quilt.  I was glad of cat bed-warmers.

American Pillar, a rambler which is now growing up into the branches of the beech tree above it.

I am not normally an ethical shopper, but having discovered that Brew Dog, who sell the Hazy Jane IPA I particularly like, were embroiled in buying up huge tracts of Scottish farmland for carbon offset - then losing just about every tree they planted in last years' draught.  You CANNOT lessen the damage you continue to do to the planet by planting trees, just for a "clear conscience".  You need to STOP what you are doing that ruins the planet.  Then Tam said, well Nestle are much much worse, and now I've read up on them a bit, believe me I shall never buy a Nestle product again.  Sending their representatives into hospitals in Africa and other third world countries, pretending to be nursing staff and advising mothers NOT to breastfeed but to use their formula milk instead, and then stealing their water supplies and selling it back as bottled water which they cannot afford to buy.  Can you imagine the scale of the infanticide that has caused from starvation and unhygenic water sources?  How do they sleep at night?  So, sorry Munchies, you are my favourite choccies but I won't be buying you any more, or any other product I see Nestle on the wrapping of.

Rhapsody in Blue, which Tam bought for me.

I know that D in Dorset will be SO pleased to see steady rain and grey skies, as like me, she cannot cope with heatwaves.  

I now have my new business cards and very smart they look.  `Not looking forward to having to do accounts again, figures not being my strong point, but hey-ho, it's on a very small scale.

P.S.  Nearly forgot.  I heard a bird screaming in distress this morning, and immediately thought that Pippi had grabbed a youngster, so ran out there shouting at her.  Not Pippi, but a blardy Carrion Crow with a just fledged/young Thrush and when I appeared he flew off with the screaming bird in his beak, hotly pursued by the parents.  It was awful.  Nature red in tooth and claw.  I can watch David Attenborough's programmes with their true life and death, as it is distanced, but to see something like that first hand is another matter.  

I also forgot to mention I went to the Library today to take back the two Kate Ellis books I'd read, found 4 more and ordered another 4, so that should keep me quiet for a bit.  

Ahem, this is very . . . determined . . . rain.  At this rate we'll have flooding!