This morning, after baking a rather nice apple and banana cake, I decided to do some research on old pieces of stock (pre-Covid) and finally found out what the brass "Temple Toy" was - rather than being anything to do with the loathed Leopold II of Belgium, is apparently a dohkra (lost wax casting method) Indian Singhadwara lion, connected to the Lion Gateway of the Jagannatha Temple at Puri. It would be early 20th C.
Tam and Rosie popped over this morning and after lunch we 3 went to Llysdinam Garden Open Day. I bought a White Phlox and a White Foxglove. Rosie had my first homegrown strawberry of the season and then kept toddling back to the greenhouse, in the hope that some others had ripened whilst her back was turned :) She settled for the first wild strawberries instead, mouth open like a little bird.
Tomorrow I have Malvern so need to do a ham and tomato roll for that. I am just cooking a pasta sauce for tea - onions, mixed peppers, mushrooms, courgettes and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Enough for a big portion to freeze too.
Thankyou all for the ID of the Ischneumon Wasp. I saw it had an ovipositor but wasn't sure what manner of beastie it was, never having seen one quite that long (the wasp measured a couple of inches from stem to stern). I gently moved it outside on a plant marker so it didn't perish in there overnight.
I have decided to go with Lizzy D's plan of a separate barrel loop for the bow. Can't be faffed with doing the book instructions.
My gardener has cut the orchard and the other triangle, and a rough bit on the bank, and did the lawn whilst we were out today. Looks much better now.
My pink and yellow Aquilegia which I bought with me from Ynyswen, is flourishing and there are even some babies about the place now.
Some of the "wild" Aquilegias which came up when I removed the ancient membrane. There are some pink ones this year too.
Hopefully some Llysdinam garden photos tomorrow.
