A visit to a friend

I had a phone call from a friend from my Uni days recently.  I was shocked to hear that she had stage 4 pancreatic cancer (which had spread to her stomach).  I arranged to go and see her yesterday, and drove up into the foothills of the Cambrian mountains.  It was a beautiful day, and spring was at its best.  Beech trees, roots entangled in the stone banks and walls beside the lane, were fresh with lime green leaves.

I kept driving and driving, hoping my memory served me correctly as my friend had normally come to visit me, and the lane got narrower and narrower.

It was good to see my friend again.  Everything is out in the open, she knows she will die, but is still planning her garden (which is a magical place) and I stayed several hours, whilst we talked about everything under the sun. We laughed as well as talking of sadder things.  It made me realize that we never know what is round the corner, and we must live life to the full and never waste a day.

I wish I had taken photos of her magical garden.  Imagine mossy tumbledown stone walls, masses of knee high Forget-me-nots, beautiful Rhododendrons, Clematis, many many plants in pots, just putting out leaves, a tangle of Adjuga, deepest purple, overgrown ponds, and wildlife everywhere.

On the way home, I stopped to get a pic of these sheep on Llanllwni mountain.  They come in positive and negative colours - white over black, or black over white!  They are Badger Face Welsh Mountain sheep.

The wee one on his own.  The usual Welsh Mountain sheep often have a splodge of tan on the back of the back and around the tail, and sometimes on the legs.  This little chap has a bit of everything!

I stopped to take photos along our valley on the way home.  It's that time of year when everywhere is a hundred shades of green . . .

Photos from a recent walk

I took myself up the hill for a walk this week, to stretch my legs and my lungs.  The Hawthorn is now in bloom - "May" my mum always called it, and forbade me to bring any into the house as it was "unlucky".  Now in the hedgerows, its elegant arching branches are bedecked in all their splendour, and sway in the breeze.

The Ash trees are a LONG way behind the Oak trees this year and so I am hopeful of a good summer.  They do say that a cold spring often heralds a hot summer.  "Oak before Ash, nought but a splash; Ash before Oak, you're in for a soak" . . .

I was good and decided to carry on walking up the 2nd - much steeper - part of our hill.  As you can see, I made it to the top and was able to draw breath and look back at Black Mountain.

The hedgerow banks are full of wild flowers - here mostly Red Campion and what my mum called "Shirtbuttons", which are Greater Stitchwort.

Another view of the edge of Black Mountain from a field gateway.

Spangles of more hedgerow flowers - Bluebells, Stitchwort, Red Campions, Cow Parsley and young ferns.

Wild Aquilegias (Columbines, Granny's Bonnets) growing outside our field gate.  We have about a dozen plants which have survived the annual scalping of the bank by the Council . . .

As I came through our gateway, here is the Honeysuckle I planted about 4 years ago.  It has such pretty colouring.

I am resting today as I'm very tired after a different medication for my asthma has kept me awake at night.  Meanwhile, I shall let the wild flowers be a balm to my soul.

Normal service will now be resumed

Profuse apologies for not having posted in so long, but life has been flat-out, foot-to-the-floor HECTIC here. We have been working very hard on the house and garden, to get them looking as good as possible for the new estate agent's photos.  The garden is still a work in progress, and there are still bits I need to sort in the house, but it's presentable now.

I have, I know, overdone things rather and I am down to an energy-less crawl these past few days.  We had a day off on Saturday to go up to the Antiques Fair at Builth Wells.  No photos as I forgot the camera, but it's the usual sort of scenes you get from me at antiques fairs!  We had a lovely - if tiring - day, and then threw all caution to the wind and did a long day at the car boot sale yesterday - up at 5 a.m. and not home until nearly 3 p.m.  It was worth it, but getting up this morning to repeat the experience wasn't, and we returned home without setting up (it was SO windy and bitterly cold) and I fell into my bed and slept for a couple of hours.

This afternoon I managed half an hour in the garden, setting a few seeds and planting the plants I got from the boot sale and from Morrisons at the end of last week.  Here are some photos of the garden and various plants etc (sorry for the lack of words):

I seem to be spending quite a bit on plants at Morrisons recently, but gosh the savings - £1 and £2 per plant (perennials and climbers and shrubs).

A Clematis Montana rubens I planted last year.

Some of the cowslips about the place.

This is the dark-leaved Jacob's Ladder  I bought at Malvern recently.  The flowers are more purpley than this photo shows.  I got some seeds for it from eBay this week, so will grow lots more - it's lovely.

Another (established) Clematis.  I've bought some more recently and put them in up on the bank which I cleared recently (behind the rockery).

The cheat's garden!  I took out the biggest weeds, ripped out all the spent Celendines and covered the lot with Muck Heap no. 2!!!

There were so many celendines around the apple tree - now put to bed until next spring.

The slightly boggy corner where there is a gigantic boulder buried - one which never made it to being incorporated in the house structure.

All the bulbs have now gone over so I have replanted with Geraniums and small hardy Fuschias.

Ferns unfurling by the pond.

Area by the rockery and planned (and abandoned) cascade now all tidied up and some clematis have been planted across the back where we've put a windbreak-type barrier up for privacy.

My little plastic greenhouse and the new polytunnel at the top end of the yard garden, full of seeds in trays and strawberry plants.

Lastly, the bed in the middle of the yard has been weeded and I've bunged some Nicotiana in the top corner, and spread a few Nigella seeds about.

An early bedtime is calling me again.  Hopefully I shall be able to get up to date with people's blogs now.

Easter Monday at Malvern Fleamarket

We were up at 4 a.m. yesterday morning to go to the huge Bank Holiday Fleamarket at Malvern.  The weather was on our side and it was warm and sunny for most of the day.  This is the road just the other side of Trecastle.

Misty grey mountains.

Sunrise near Brecon.

There were hundreds of stalls there, but I have to say it was more like a gigantic car boot sale yesterday - lots of house clearance stalls outside, and some were asking absolutely ridiculous prices for stuff.  We didn't buy a great deal . . .  When I say "house clearance" I don't mean the lovely things that Vicky gets up in Anglesey, or the things she and her husband have given time and skill to improve, but the boxes of damaged china, rusty old tools, and stuff you would think twice about crossing the road to dump!  All for sale at ridiculous prices.

A corner of a pretty applique modern quilt.

A little corner of Victorian mourning clothes . . .

The usual taxidermy was there.  Some are becoming old friends almost . . .

Poor little chap didn't have much of a life and then ended up with a tummy full of sawdust.

I'd have loved the horse picture when I was a child.

Hard to believe that this poor dolly was once a little girl's pride and joy.  I hope she gets the TLC she need.

A general view.  As you can see, lovely blue skies.  It took us 6 hours to walk round and our legs were glad to rest once we got back to the car.

Today is a catch-up day . . .

Gardening

I have been very busy in the garden. Here are the main vegetables I intend to grow this year.

Above and below, a more detailed photo.

The onions, parsnips and carrots I have several packets of, as a friend had been given lots and so I benefitted too.

Just a few flowers to be going on with.  The sweet peas are late, I know, but currently in soak and will be planted in little pots today.

On Tuesday we had a big bonfire of the brash from the Ash tree which we felled last year.  It looked very untidy up that end of the yard, and we had plans for it . . .

As I said  . . . untidy!  When I say I spend 8 hours gardening a day, it is more THIS sort of (clearance) gardening than a little light weeding sort of gardening!

My OH putting sand over the ashes of the bonfire, which has killed off most of the weeds below it.  We have a plan you see!  The path by the Rhubarb was about 75% COVERED in grass and other opportunistic weeds.  I weeded it this week and put down several barrowloads of fresh chippings over the old layer.  The pathway membrane goes on for about 3 feet beyond the end of the chippings.

As I ripped the grass/weeds/soil combo away, the membrane saw daylight again for the first time in about 6 or 7 years . . .

Cleared, for my . . .

polytunnel.  My OH figured it was best up here as then I had the use of my entire veg plot for planting beans, peas, brassicas, carrots etc, and I could have my cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, chillis etc in pots in here.  Oh and strawberries, as I had about 50 feral plants around the place, so they are all potted up and hopefully will thrive in here (and the birds won't get them this year.) I know - it looks a bit drunk - I think I didn't straighten the cover up after we'd carried it (already made up) from lower down the yard where we had tethered it overnight.

Meanwhile, Theo was having his version of "meals on wheels" !! in the hallway . . .

Meanwhile, I am re-reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which is such an inspirational book and is the code by which I try to abide, although financially it is not always possible to afford meat which is locally sourced and from a named farm.

This is an excellent book a friend sent me for my birthday one year.  I can recommend it heartily to any breadmakers out there.

This is the recipe I am trying - for Italian Pugliese bread.  Hmmm.  Slight problems with the "biga" starter, but I shall report back.  I made the mistake of putting it in the sun to rise yesterday, and the sun was so hot it put a skin on the "biga".  It was meant to rise for 8 to 10 hours (guess who started it at lunchtime . . .) and in the end I was SO tired I left it overnight.  I will see if I can make an edible loaf with it today, despite the overnight abandonment!

Anyway, I don't feel in a gardening mood this morning as I have not a jot of energy, so it is going to be bread and then a couple of Apple Gingerbread cakes, one for the freezer and one for now.