A Quick Round-up

 

Rosa Violette - a rambler tolerant of poor soils . . . just as well, as that's what we have here alright!  It was being over-shaded by the beech trees at the end of the pond, so Danny and I pulled down overhanging branches at the weekend and cut them back so it has a bit more light.  I need to get a tree surgeon in over the winter to cut them back harder.

Today Tam has the dentist in Llandeilo again - just 1/4 hour appt this time thank heavens - and so I will have Rosie to entertain.  I could have done without the hour's drive to Llandeilo though, as it's the worst thing for my sore foot.  I shall have to trial various shoes to see which ones offer most protection when driving.

I have just been mending a hole on the heel of my favourite (Seasalt) socks, which have black and white cats on.  I was minded of the only times I saw my mum sewing - threading a darning needle with whatever colour cotton that came to hand, to mend the shoulder strap on her vest.  Sewing was NOT one of her skills, yet her mother made all the childrens' clothes and was a very good seamstress.  I get a bit of that from her, though I prefer hand-stitching (embroidery and quilting) and obviously use the sewing machine for quilt-making.  The only clothes I've ever made myself were maternity nighties when I was pregnant with Tam. I won't count the sleeveless, collarless, everythingless blouse I made in Needlework at school which, by the time I'd eventually finished it, didn't even fit! This is what you get when you dishearten your pupil by making her unpick even her TACKING STITCHES time after time because they weren't neat enough!

I made a lovely Oaty loaf at the weekend.  Needless to say THAT didn't last long!  Fresh home made bread never does . . .

In the greenhouse, my cucumbers have FINALLY - we are in JULY - decided they might grow beyond one inch high and I potted them on yesterday.  When (IF?) they get a bit more vigorous I will put them in the top polytunnel. I don't know if it was the compost (think that didn't help - I have baby Hollyhocks with yellowing leaves) or the temperatures - cold at night and too hot some days or what.  NOT a good year for growing anything. However, some things are growing happily.  Here's a photo of the Cranesbills I planted along the top of the old mansion house wall last year:

(We will pretend that the tall grass behind it doesn't exist . . .)

I even got up onto the bank and cleared head-height nettles and Enchanters' Nightshade from around my DH rose Jude the Obscure, who loves it up there and has put out so many blooms this year.  I let the Hedge Woundwort stay to keep it company though. See photo below.

D. Nurse not due until Thursday now (back to twice a week instead of daily) so that's a positive.  

I need to cook tonight's meal after breakfast, as Tam & Rosie are staying the night and so I can't get to five minutes before I eat before deciding what it will be! and it would be nice if I could do a few more blocks of Gabby's quilt this morning.  I need to retrace the quilting pattern on the border for the applique centre quilt too as it's come through too faint.  It doesn't help that the fabric is almost the same colour as the marker pencil.  

Right, time to take the recycling and rubbish up the lane and get my prescription and Keith's newspaper in town.

Definitely a day to sit quietly and enjoy photos of the garden. . .

 The recent thunderstorms of course broke the pollen up into tiny pieces, so that it can get to the innermost bits of folks' lungs and if you are allergic to pollen, this is NOT good.  Yesterday I found life difficult and had to just sit down quietly after I thought I would be ok going in the shade and clawing out the moss and weeds with my trusty hoofpick.  As I had been doing this the evening before, I think perhaps it hadn't been a good move and so today I am inside, praying for the pollen to be over early this year - it's started  early anyway and there has been mention of the dreaded Pollen Bomb when everything produces pollen at once.   

A garden roundup anyway:

The wilderness which is the Bank.  Actually, with my plantings and stuff that has come up from previous times pre-membrane (which I am still removing on the right side of the bank), I now have a wonderful mix of 3 different colours of Comfrey, Ox-Eye Daisies, Buttercups, wild Raspberries (which generally get removed as they spread so), and it looks great.  The insects are so happy with it like that.

The Lupins are going over now but have put on a real show.  I have them all over the place.  Whatever colour you think you are picking, most of them seem to grow up purple!

The Lady of Shalott.

The stunning Lark Ascending.

Boscobel, surviving despite such a dry spell.

First tentative (and late) blooms from Roserie de L'Hay.  The smell of the start of summer at Ynyswen.

The Paul's Himalayan Musk in vey bright sunshine.  

Indigo, which has flowered and flowered.

My feral Foxgloves have just grown and grown and flowered non-stop.  They love this heat.

Still to come, my giant Mullein.

The back border, which has rambling roses either end, Tiny Monster cut-leaved Geranium in the middle and other Hardy Geraniums either side.  Needs something planting at the back and I will pop the Delphinium in that I bought recently (lilac).

The Ingenious Mr Fairchild, who needs a support, so I may just go to the garden centre today . . .

I need to tweak this border (move the two red geums for starters) but it's come together nicely this year.

Well, I can report that as long as I don't move much, my breathing's ok today (in fact my peak flow is good, because I'm on my full dose of inhaler medication) so I shall have to lurk inside as much as I can.  Keep cool everyone.

June jottings from the garden

 

Cheating here, as this was the sun rising on Monday morning - 31st May - rather than June, but it's a nice photo and it's staying!  This is looking out from our bathroom window across to Llanelwedd with the quarry and buildings hidden beneath the mist.  Note the wonkey Monkey Puzzle tree above the tree canopy heading down the valley.

I had a rearranging of my kitchen cupboard decorations and down came two copper jugs (from stock, now polished up and back into stock) and in their place, the two new-to-me costrels.  The one on the right is the one that would have hung from the wagon.  On the left is my cherished Verwood pottery "Owl"- also for carrying beer or cider to the fields.  Verwood is on the Hampshire/Dorset border of the New Forest.

A quickly cobbled-together cushion for the Lloyd Loom chair- it is wonkey because the circular cushion pad I ordered was too high and not wide enough (though it measured the proper width) so I have saved that and cut the corners off another old cushion pad and covered that instead.  It's just for sitting on out in the garden anyway.

Ghengis - "Oooh, you bought me CATNIP!!"  That was an error . . .

Yellow Flag irises in the Pond.

Looking up the garden - our beeches by the pond are the ordinary green ones, but there's a fabulous Copper beech on the furthest part of our triangle of land.  The Rhododendrons are the common purple colour - apparently they are not good for bees - being toxic - but Bumblebees are ok feeding from them.

This deep pink Rhodedendron is on land belonging to the Big House (right by the gate to the property) but we can enjoy it just the same.

The btm of the Bumblebee!!

These Foxgloves were ones I purchased back in March and planted on the bank and they have just burst into flower.

Clematis montana wilsonii

Stuff in small pots needing to be planted, and another blue planter of Sage which is going to be transferred elsewhere.

The huge Buddha was here when we bought the house.  The previous owner may come and take it away she said, but I'm not holding my breath.  Anyway, Alfie is doing his own Buddha impression.

Sorry, not much of a post tonight.  I have been sleeping very badly, and been to see the Asthma Nurse today (change to stronger antihistamines which I hope will help me reduce my inhaler intake).  Worried by being told that the inhaled steroids can also cause Type 2 Diabetes (increase risk by about 32%) so let's hope we can get this sorted.  Keith also saw the GP about his health problems, and needs blood tests etc so we are both feeling just a little more mortal tonight!

The Garden in June - Part II

WHAT a wet day this has been!  I can't say we didn't need the rain, relying on spring water as we do, but we have had about 12 hours of it and didn't have a chance to go and load the car for the planned car boot sale tomorrow.  Mind you, they will be awfully soggy underfoot so perhaps it's just as well we're not going.

It wasn't raining quite so heavily first thing and I managed a walk up the hill, watching about 20 Swallows swooping low over the hillside and when I neared home, several Blackbirds, Wagtails and Goldfinches were busy in our newly-shorn paddock.

Anyway, we had a visit from Middle Daughter, who put my mind at rest sorting out BT and McAfee for me, as I had problems with both companies so I elected her to speak on my behalf.  She brought a tasty lunch too, though it made sticking to my diet very hard.  Tomorrow I will have to Do Better!

Those were the good bits.  The bad bit is the Sky Box has decided to give up the ghost, and we phoned to cancel our subscription.  They obviously don't want to lose us as they are sending an engineer out tomorrow . . .

Anyway, the rest of the garden photos now follow:

The gorgeous deep gold rose by the gate which flowers all summer long.

This was a self-rooted baby just a couple of years ago - it's the one I call "Gelli Aur"as that's the estate it came from locally, but it's actually a Banksia rose, with a lovely perfume.

My lovely yellow Scabious has survived another winter.  Its Lain name sounds like something out of Game of Thrones:  Tatrian cephalaria. . . .  The light was just right for this photo . . .

I am not as good as remembering my Clematii as I am my David Austin roses, but this beauty is climbing up the cooking apple tree.  Like most of them it would have come from Morrisons supermarket and cost about £1.50 - you have to wait for them to grow but they reward you.

Paul's Himalayan Musk starting to put on a show.

A very fuzzy photo of my new Digiplexus foxglove.

Above and below: both David Austin roses but I've forgotten their names and it's far too wet to go out and check their labels tonight!