Digging and green soup

Good morning. 

A mini garden makeover yesterday. I have four raised beds at the bottom of the garden. Built by me, with second hand bricks. I used to grow veg, but with the slug problem I decided to plant them out with a variety of non edible greenery. 

They need a bit of re arranging, due to some of the plants looking scruffy. So I attacked this bed to dig out the dead leaves and twigs and pull up the roots. The plan was to move some of the plants from pots and transplant them here. Can't leave it like this, the cats will think it is a new litter box. By this time my back was getting a bit sore so I needed a quicker solution to fill the space. 

 Cue fanfare. 👸👩💁😻🙋 The crew that put a new roof on the house left me with six tiles. Perfect, I can use them to cover up the soil for now, and arrange a few pots on top. I might transplant the plants at a later date, or then I might not. It looks pretty much ok to me. A quick solution. 

Then I made a pan of soup. Chop up some broccoli, some leek, top with spinach. Add garlic granules, and some chutney. Stir in a spoonful of yogurt. 

On the gas hob for a few minutes, smash to smithereens with the stick blender. Eat straight out of the pan, with a slice of bread. Very tasty it was too. 

Did you see that mass invasion which is going on somewhere between Morocco and Spain I think. Good grief, that looks scary. I have to say that I think they won't stop at Spain. Destination UK, land of milk and honey and lots of freebies. 

Sunny today. Maybe I will go out. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Hall Farm - The Gardens

I think this has been the hottest day so far this weekend. I have been out to the Lincolnshire Showground for the Disabled Dog Walk, led by Tammie and Pumpkin the Wheelie Westie. It was chuffing brilliant. Lots of pictures to come here on the blog for that in the next day or two. 

Back to yesterday at Hall Farm Gardens. at Harpswell. Not the village, but across the fields at the farm. 

You can have a game of chess if you like. All set up and ready to go. 

Rustic features are left in situ. 

There are gravelly paths to meander through. Lots of varieties of plants and trees for the avid gardener to discover. 

This is a wrought iron gate which is weathered and blends in with the surrounding foliage. 

See if you can spot the sculptures. You can't miss this giant dragon. 

Plants of every description skillfully positioned to compliment those around it. 

Follow me around the garden.

I will split the Hall Farm into three posts, so come back for the Lake and the Workshops. 

Here is a link to their web site if you want to check out their opening times. 

Enjoy your Bank Holiday Monday. Toodle pip.   ilona

At the Gardeners Market

The sun was shining yesterday at the Gardeners Market. It brought the shoppers out. I went to look at the metal flowers. I have three of them and wanted to add some more to the collection. I was only going to buy one, but decided to splash out and get two. My birthday present from me to me. 

Now which colours shall I get? 

It was lovely to browse the stalls and chat with people. I haven't seen Michael and Helen, my arty friends, for ages. There was such a lot of news to catch up on. Helen was selling her home made preserves. Here they are in their studio. Blimey, this photo is from 10 years ago. 

My collection of metal flowers. I love them. 

This morning I went to Crafty Club. As is the tradition when someone has a birthday, presents and cards are given. They gave me a solar garden ornament, which is now lit up on the table in the back garden. It looks very pretty.   

This afternoon I did a couple of hours litter picking. I carried on where I left off on Friday. Still plenty to go at. I don't think I can manage to move that mattress. 

I wont be going down there. Looks a bit too isolated for me. 

Another double deck load. Two red bags and some glass bottles. 

Two from today added to two from Friday. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Busy Sunday

It's been a fairly productive day today. I am making more pet beds, nine out of one double bed duvet. They will be ready soon. I will take three or four to coffee morning as I know someone who is waiting for one maybe two. I was watching and listening to an interview while sewing, multitasking you see. Neil Oliver gave the interview, it's called Fear no evil. It's on Rumble. Watch it here if you are interested. 

After a hearty cooked late breakfast I went a walk. One of my regular five mile routes. The sun was out. It was lovely. I must get out more, been neglecting it just lately. 

Hey, do you like my new socks. I found them at a charity shop. They are supposed to be for wellies, but I think they are too nice to be hidden inside boots. I shall wear them with a skirt and trainers.  

I took a few pics around the garden. The mushrooms are back again. I'm not sure whether it's best to leave them alone and let them rot, or scoop them out and bin them. If left they go black and mushy and look horrible. 

Still got a few flowers in the raised beds. 

And the pots are looking nice. Forgot to take a photo of the soft pots, remember those. They are doing well and seem to be growing normally. 

A view of the walk when I set off. A bit overcast but the sun came out late afternoon. I made a walk and talk video, I'll get that uploaded tomorrow. 

And the view of the sun going down behind the clouds at the end of the walk. 

I've just watched a video which explains what is going on with the wars at the moment. It is not as straight forward as you might think. As with Ukraine/Russia, there are a lot of twists and turns. I am not going to get into conversations about wars, but after listening to this it all makes sense to me. 

Mayze is still outside. It's still warm out there and she likes to lie on the table. I'll go and get her in. The hedgehogs are still coming. One of them is quite small so I hope they are eating as much as they can to prepare for winter. 

Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Walled garden.

Hiya, me again. I've got a few posts in the pipeline now, it will take me a few days to catch up. This is a video I recorded on Thursday when I went to Normanby. For garden lovers take a look at the walled garden. It looks great right now, but when I go in the winter it is pretty bleak and empty, but that's the same for most gardens anyway. I recommend a summer visit for this garden. 

I think we have a lull between showers here today, so an opportunity to take Billy dog for a walk. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

Enjoying the garden in the sunshine.

Yesterday was mostly sunny. I made this catch up video in the garden because my yoootooob subscribers like to see what is growing. 

I made another video of the garden later on. Come back and see the difference. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Flower Power

Good morning. Dropping my bag of dog poo in the wheelie bin at the church gate the other day I spotted a couple of Christmas wreaths that had been thrown away. That's a shame I thought. So I rescued them and took them apart. 

I thought the wire circles could have been used again, my friend makes wreaths with fabric scraps. Sadly they weren't suitable for her because they were rusty. Not to worry. I planted the plastic flowers, with some of the greenery, into this pot to fill it out a bit. There is a plant in there which has lost it's leaves. I don't know if it will thrive and sprout some more leaves as the weather warms up. I will give it a chance before I declare it dead. 

Someone else's rubbish has added a bit of colour to my garden. 

It's going to be a mishmash weather day today. A bit of everything. I will get my house jobs done first, then maybe go out later. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona
 

Garden paradise.

As it is so very hot outside, I am delaying my walk until later when hopefully it will have cooled down. In the meantime I popped round to my friends garden, with the camera, to get some photo's of the magnificent display of flowers they have there. They spend a lot of time tending to their garden, and the effort is well worth it. They have a gorgeous setting to relax in. Come and have a look. 

This is not a real rose. It is made of metal with a long spike. 

The photo's don't do it justice. The colours are far more vibrant in real life. They might have turned out better if it wasn't bright sunshine. 

It's a long garden with a pond at the bottom end, and a private little corner for repotting. 

One of their cats, relaxing in the shade. They have several cats. 

And this is the surprise. A wasps nest in a tree. How amazing is that.  

I don't know much about wasps so I have been looking it up. They chew up wood and mix it with spit to build the nest. They build it around the branch of a tree so it is suspended. If they are not a nuisance and not causing problems they can be left alone. They will desert the nest at the end of the summer. They are good for the garden, eating  aphids and insects. There is a lot of information here. If you click on a picture a slide show will come up. 

It is now time for me to make a meal. I am thinking 7pm would be a good time for a walk. Maybe later. Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona