Garden Photos Sunday April 5, 2009 Sue Guiney

Not much to report today. Still working on the garden of course. Yesterday the builders surprised us by turning up on a Saturday and doing some more roof. We pottered about - I dug over more of the soft fruit plot but the last bit is really stony and hard going. Jim planted all sorts of goodies in the first plot. As the day wore on, Jim didn't feel well and he went inside and lay down. I carried on and decided to 'prune' the row of fuchsia bushes at the top of the car park. They have got huge and now overhang the parking area. I ended up with a mountain of rubbish on the parking area but left that until today. I was too tired to tackle it and went inside to see how Jim was. He had retired to bed. I woke him at 9.30pm to see if he wanted anything and he got up again. Turkey sandwich with hot stuffing for me for dinner and the rest of the crumble. Delicious. I ran out of steam about 1pm and went to bed and finished my book. More of that later. Jim came back to bed about 6am!

Today's been an ok day but a bit windy. Jim's still not himself and he's not a good 'ill' person. Makes him grumpy! I went outside and cleared away the huge heap of fuchsia bush from the parking place and pulled it up to the allotment for sorting - keeping any larger pieces for Stanley and putting the rest to burn on the bonfire. I snipped and chopped and sorted, then Jim came out to say dinner was ready. Turkey rissoles today and they were super, with roast potatoes, sweet corn and parsnips. Turkey stew tomorrow??

In the afternoon we'd watched Jim's great nephew Sam play Rugby League on tv in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup. They thrashed the opposition in the first half then went to sleep in the 2nd and ended up losing by 2 points. It was so frustrating. Sam plays for Bradford Bulls and his older brother Luke plays for Leeds Rhinos. Leeds were also playing and sadly also lost by a few points. Not a good day for the Burgess boys. During breaks we collected wood from the orchard as we're running a bit short. I didn't watch the Leeds game but Jim did.

After dinner this evening I watched most of a tv programme on 'the art of oratory', as inspired by Barack Obama. It was interesting and featured all the 'biggies', Kennedy, lots of Obama of course, Lincoln, Martin Luther King and some of our own. William Hague as an 11 year old at the Conservative Conference, Neil Kinnock at the labour party conference where he told the old labour it's time they woke up and stopped ruining the party and some of them walked out. Jim was standing as an MP for Worthing at that time and was there, but we couldn't see him!

At 9pm was a film called Five Minutes of Heaven, featuring James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson. These two star as complete juxtapositions on the Protestant / Catholic divide in Northern Ireland - this movie, which was shot in a mere four weeks, tackles the very big and contemporary subject of conflict resolution. Neeson plays the killer; Nesbitt plays the brother of the man he killed. Both are looking for the same thing, and for once it's not revenge. With a script by Guy Hibbert (Omagh) and Direction by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) this film would surely turn out to be a great piece of art.

Fine performances were delivered by both Neeson and Nesbitt, two actors who have really come into their own in recent years. The whole piece is a true master class in film making and acting. If you get the chance to catch it when it comes on again, it's well worth it.

I have a few photos from the garden and a couple from inside for you today: Yesterday BlackJack discovered a bumble bee, which Buster immediately 'took over' Buster's face was a picture. Enlarge the photo and you can see the bee























At this point the bee is behind that little tuft of grass! Jim then picked it up and it flew off

















The magnolia stellata is looking beautiful











More Tulips













































































Those gorgeous primula juliae 'Wanda' in the evening sunshine











These early daffodils are now just curling their outer petals









A close up of one of the contorted willows












I was taken by the gorgeous lime green of these rose leaves, in fact if you look carefully there's a bud coming










Sandy and BlackJack looking so content on Buster's chair!











Finally, the cottage and front lawns and parking area from the allotment, where I was cutting the fuchsia bushes.




NOW DON'T MISS MY BLOG TOMORROW

I am honoured to be part of The Virtual Tour to promote Sue Guiney's book, Tangled Roots. The tour began on Sunday 22nd March and the 'programme' is below:



So.....the tour began on:
Sunday, 22 March DJ Kirkby will be announcing the tour and doing a give-away http://djkirkby.blogspot.com

Jamieson Wolf (who will be doing a little something every day this week) http://jamiesonwolf.blogspot.com

Wednesday, 25 March Jennie Beattie http://tea-stains.blogspot.com

Thursday, 26 March Trixie http://trixieonthehunt.wordpress.com/

Monday, 30 March Tim Atkinson http://thedotterel.blogspot.com

Thursday, 2 April Tania Hershman http://titaniawrites.blogspot.com

In April, before Easter Elizabeth Baines http://elizabethbaines.blogspot.com

And now there's ME Gina Deen, you know the rest or you wouldn't be here!

There will be questions for Sue and her always interesting answers and a review by me. Don't miss it.