Seeds and around the garden in April

My tulips opened while I was away but they were still putting on a good show on my return, they are starting to die off now but have survived two bouts of very windy rainy weather so haven't done too bad considering.  I only put them in two planters, wish I'd done more now, the colours are so pretty together and the heads are huge, shame I can't remember what variety they are I ha ha.

The garden certain sprung into life in the two weeks I was away, everything had come on in leaps and bounds.  The shoots on my largest hosta were only about 4 inches tall when I left, and look at it now!  I'm amazed every year how quickly they grow.

I was very happy to see that the seeds I sowed and the plants I potted on before we went away had survived.

Above photo -  the promise of sprouts, cauliflower, beetroot, broad beans, tomatoes, calendula, cosmos, marigolds and sunflowers, among others.  

The marigolds and calendula are free plants, I collected seeds from the plants last year.

I've tried not to overwhelm myself with sowing this year, I've definitly got less than last year but It still feels like I have a lot.

My raspberries are spreading nicley so we should get lots more fruit this year.

Remember I said we had frogspawn?  Well unfortunatly It didn't survive.  We had a cold snap just after I noticed it and I think that must have killed it off, shame, I was looking forward to lots of little froggies.  We had two frogs in here last year, I haven't seen them yet but hopefully they will return.

Our garden generally looks it's best in Spring, so much colour going on.  It's not a neat uniformed garden by any means, in fact it's a bit overgrown in parts, but I quite like that, my sister would say chop everything down!  But I prefer that over-grown look, I think it looks more natural.  The majority of the shrubs were here when we moved in and were well established, to move any would be a lot of work, so we haven't bothered.  Anything I've put in has been planted around what was already here.

 It's might be haphazard and a bit wild looking but I like that and I've learned to live with the fact that I will never have perfectly manicured lawns and that the top grass will always need oversewing every year, (because somehow It always disapears in parts).  

 I like order and tidyness inside the house but I'm happy for the garden to look a bit overgrown.

What are you growing this year? and do you save seeds from the previous year?  It's the first time I've done it but It's something I will do again.

-X-

I went to a yarn show

 We were up early on Saturday to pack up the caravan, It had rained quite heavily on Friday afternoon and Mark wasn't looking forward to taking a wet awning down the next day, but luckily It was bright and sunny with a breeze, so by the time we had packed up our stuff the awning had dried out.

I left him to it at that point as I had decided to go to this years Sodbury Yarn Over in.  I haven't been to a yarn festival for a few years and this one is held in various buildings along the high street in a beautiful picturesque market town with the wonderful name of Chipping Sodbury.  

The event is quite small in comparison to some and as it was spread over different buildings it never felt too crowded.  I arrived just around lunchtime which was perfect in hindsight as a lot of people had either been and gone or had stopped for lunch.  In the Town Hall there were places you could have a sit down and somewhere to buy tea/coffee but all along the high street are various coffee shops, pubs and places to grab something to eat, so fighting to get a seat wasn't a problem, and of course It also meant that the towns shops and eateries benefitted from the extra visitors too.

I made a list and I think I did ok.

The shawl set was from Under the Olive Tree and wasn't on my list but when I saw the sample knitted up I fell in love with texture pattern and how the colours worked together.  I won't start it straight away, I think perhaps over the Summer as it's not a big project.  There is a yarn shop in the town, The Wool Cellar, which is owned by one of the organisers of the festival, and It's where I purchased the Stylecraft Re-create yarn.  I've been wanting to make another Salty Air Tee, I love the one I made last year and I've worn It lot.  I would have preferred cotton yarn but couldn't find anything I liked, the Re-create yarn isn't too woolly but I've gone out of my comfort zone with the green, it's not a colour I wear a lot, but I do like it ,so we'll see.

  I can recommend the festival If you don't have to travel too far.  It took me an hour to drive there and an hour and a half to get home).  If I had travelled more than that I don't really think It would have been worth it for the number of vendors that were there, but that's just my opinion, having said that, I really enjoyed my day, the town Is lovely, everything was within easy walking distance and there were some nice shops to mooch round too.

When I got home Mark had unpacked all our things and put everything away and had made a start on some of the washing, (see there was a method to my madness, as my mum used to say. ha ha)

Yesterday was spent getting up to date with the rest of the washing and getting the garden tidied and the grass cut, the weather was good again so we were able to get everything done.

-X-

Sunshine, storms and narrow roads

 I've got another day before before I head home.  Mark will come here from work tomorrow and we will pack up on Saturday morning, the caravan stays on this site so It shouldn't take too long.  I've enjoyed my break, a change of scenery and some quiet time was just what I needed.  I've gone out a couple times but mostly stayed close to the van and been for walks.

Eastnor Castle is a short drive away but unfortunately It's only open certain days and the next available date was in May, that was disappointing but I did walk through the deer park which is part of their land and popular with dog walkers.  The main pathway is hardstanding so suitable for all and the views are lovely.

Unfortunately I didn't see any deer, and as you can see it was rather overcast and rather windy up there.  You can wander of the designated pathway across the fields but the weather put me off and after an hour I headed back to the car.  There is a café at the bottom with a covered picnic area where I enjoyed a coffee and my book for a while.

I decided to drive up to Eastnor Castle on the way back and double check the opening times, the lane is narrow and on the way back down there was an old steam engine which had stopped and was having trouble starting again, after waiting ten minutes or so I decided to turn around and see where the lane took me.

I didn't encounter another vehicle on this narrow road but there were pheasants aplenty.

And a ford!  I haven't seen a ford in years

There were a few houses dotted along the way, even the side view of this one is cute,

I visited Ledbury the day before and the weather was completely different

Yesterday started off bright and sunny but a rain storm was due in the afternoon, and boy did it come down, we even had thunder and lightening right overhead for a good half hour.

 And then just like that It all cleared and the blue sky returned and I had a walk into Upton to stretch my legs.

You'd hardly believe it was the same day!

-x-

Taking a break

 This is our first break away in our caravan this year, we arrived on Good Friday, I'm staying for two weeks but Mark has gone back to work this morning and will be back on Friday for the Weekend.  Storm Dave was due to arrive on Saturday so we didn't put the awning up until it had passed on Sunday, it was still a bit breezy but nothing like Saturday night.  The wind was quite bad on Saturday night, in the caravan it felt similar to turbulence you experience on an airplane at times, but we were safe enough and there was no damage on the campsite.

Home for the next two weeks

Unusual for a Bank Holiday the weather was warm and sunny so we visited Croome Court, a national Trust property a short drive away. 

It was nice to see a Great White Egret on the river, there were a couple of swans too hiding in the reeds.

More of the house open now than it was the last time we came, but the highlight of Croome Court are the stunning grounds designed by Capability Browne.  They are said to be one of his first designs and remained one of his favourites, he visited the Earl of Coventry often.

We did walk some of the grounds but the purpose of our visit this time was to see the Walled Gardens.  These were still closed last time we came and the Easter Weekend is their first opening of the year.  Back in the day these gardens would have grown the produce to feed the household but it was neglected for almost fifty years, fallen brickwork and overgrown structures all had to be dug out and repaired so it's taken a number of years to get it to where it is now.  There are information boards as you walk around telling you about the work that was done.  There is an extra charge of £7 to see the Walled Gardens but It was worth it and I daresay the money goes to the work that they will carry on doing in the future.

As I said Mark has gone to work this morning so I've had a nice relaxing day on my own, the weather has been hot and sunny again and after a walk into and around town I've spent the time knitting, with a little afternoon nap thrown in, ha ha.

I won't be on my own for the next couple days though, Bonnie and Jacob have just arrived, they are playing outside at the moment but have already decided the sleeping arrangements!

-X-

End of March

 Here we are at the end of another month already.  It's been a busy March, last week was especially busy and I didn't have a lot of time to sit and knit, but I did finish another pair of socks earlier in the week for Mark.

These were knitted in Drops Fable Print yarn which has been in my stash for more years than I can remember.  I think I kept passing up on it because of the colour, but actually I think It knitted up just fine and the yarn was actually nicer to knit with than I anticipated.

These will go in my box of socks along with the others finished this year.

My daughter, Joanne has an addition to their family, this is Neville.

Isn't he adorable!  I do have a soft spot for black cats.

Bonnie and Jacob have wanted another pet ever since they lost Pickle, (Bonnies hamster), last year.

They both love animals and I know that Bonnie would love a dachshund, or sausage dog as we call them, she's talked about having one since she was a toddler, but with Joanne working full time it just wouldn't be fair, so they agreed on a cat.

They collected him on Saturday and he seems to have settled in really well, he loves to curl up by them and have a fuss, Jacob is very taken with him, I know Neville  will be very loved and spoilt.

The clocks went forward at the weekend here in the UK, I know I'm in the minority here, but I really don't like the lighter nights, I must have  SAD but in a different season because I prefer the darker nights.

Oh well only another seven months to go and It'll be dark nights again 😄

-X-

Garden (again), and proud nanna moment

 I've been trying to make the most of the sunshine, the seeds I sowed are coming on a treat, and It'll be time to start some more in a couple weeks.  I want to stagger them this year as I got a bit overwhelmed with so many last year.

We got our free spring seeds for the allotment this weekend, I think there are more seeds that I will plant this year, I've never tried chard though, not sure It would be something I'd eat, and I don't know if I'll bother with peas again, but other than that I think there is a great selection

I've tidied the two small raised beds in my garden, topped up the soil and put netting over one in readiness.  I'll be planting all the salad stuff at home this year, It'll be easier to pick as I need it.

Out of the three raspberries I planted last year only one survived, but I'm happy to see that there are more shoots appearing this year.

I'll plant my salad stuff in this one.

The grass still hasn't been cut, the top of the garden where these beds are is still a bit spongy and will probably need re-seeding again.  The other lawn has faired better but I'll still hold off cutting for now.

Other things are coming to life, the hostas are growing rapidly

The camellia is full of flowers

We also have a couple of forsythia doing well and the peris is just about to flower.

Inside, my amaryllis has all four of it's flowers open.  

This was one I bought after Christmas to replace the one Stevie bought me which didn't grow.  The one she got me was one of the more expensive ones, this is a cheap one from B&M.

Both Bonnie and Jacob completed swimming badges last week.  

Jacob achieved his 25 metres certificate, he also got star of the week at school, so a good week for him

Bonnie had to swim as many meters as possible and did absolutely amazing.  She completed 600 metres, that's 24 lengths of the pool, and she did it in 27 minutes.

The swimming instructor had already told Joanne that she could be a competitive swimmer.

So proud of them both ❤️

-X-

Spring is springing

I love to see these daffodils dancing just outside my kitchen window, It's such a cheery thing to see when you open the blind of a morning.

 And the view from outside is just as lovely, yellow is such a happy colour, especially with all the grey days we've been having.

We have seen the sun a little more this last week though and it's been nice to get outside and make the most of it. 

On Wednesday I looked through my seed tin and made the most of the sunshine to sew a few seeds, again, I seem to have a lot of yellow going on.  My cosmos didn't do too well last year, I had a very poor show of flowers so I've tried a different variety this time hoping they'll do better.

 

I bought pepper, cauliflower and lettuce plants from the garden centre this week which I need to transfer to some pots to grow on a bit before planting out.  I'll keep the peppers in the greenhouse this time, the lettuce I'll plant up in the raised bed we have in the garden and the cauli will go to the allotment.

And look what's in my little wildlife pond.

 We have frogspawn 😀 

I haven't checked it for a couple day's but fingers crossed we will get some little froglets :-)

I hope everyone in the UK enjoyed Mothers day yesterday, I was gifted some lovely thoughtful presents and Joanne cooked a fantastic Sunday lunch which I enjoyed all the more because It's not very often I get a meal cooked for me 😁  Later we went to Stevie's to help move and arrange some furniture they had bought.  The weather like today ended up rainy and windy, but the sunshine is due to reappear later in the week and hopefully I can get a bit more sorted in the garden.

-X-