More Rain, More Flowers, Monday, 6th July 09

Weather

It's rained most of today on and off. It's also dropped a bit chilly this evening and I'm sitting here in my hoody as it's warm. One flash of lightening turned off the electricity for a moment too.

Builders

The builders have been today and have put all the window sills on and covered them up ready for plastering the sun room. We had a big discussion about our gutters. There is some sort of problem with the line of the roof and guttering! I don't understand it but they keep putting it off.

Garden Work

I did get out into the garden at teatime. The sky cleared and it seemed quite mild. I had made a small rockery by our gate as the wall there had fallen down. This was last year. That section of garden from then on is very weedy and overgrown and the grass at the edge encroaches on the parking area. I decided to dig out the grass as necessary and make an edging to the bed with stone. This is how far I have got:


Please click on the photo to enlarge it. I am mattocking out the grass and putting the stone edge along until I get to Jim's car, on the left of the photo. It's much neater and tidier and I'll be able to plant some rockery plants at the front, to hang over the stones. I've already planted a golden marjorum which had seeded itself in the parking area, a dangerous choice. The photo is a bit dull, as the weather was!

I found 2 new poppies in flower today, they are beautiful:



I do hope they spread lots of seeds. We also have some of the red 'common' poppies out, but the rain squished the flowers that were out.

The sweet peas are continuing to flower:
You can see all the raindrops of the flowers.
I planted all these wild flower that Jim had grown from seed on a new rockery behind the sleeping shed, not very long ago. Now look at the weeds that have grown there! Another job to do.
A striking marigold with curled under petals (and a fly)

Another marigold, another fly!!

We'll be making up the blackcurrant jelly tomorrow so watch out for that. If there's a break in the rain I have to dead head the roses and weed that rockery. Plus lots of other jobs. I have to make my 'J' for the ABC of ATCs. Any suggestions anyone??

The Sun Shines so it's Gardening Time. 20.5.09

Gardening

In spite of a rainy start, this afternoon the sun shone. It was really warm, too and I had to go and change my thick gardening trousers for a thinner pair. These are in worse condition than the others and have rips on both knees. More patches!

Jim has left me again, off to the UK for a meeting on Friday and to visit family, so there could well be one or two Poppy photos in the next day or so. He has just rung me and sounded a bit fed up. However, before he left, he gave me instructions on what I could plant from the cold frame. I did quite a bit of work before the planting. The grass around the edge of the front lawns was long, so I tidied that up. Part of the front rockery was really weedy so I cleared that, put some potting compost in it and planted some 'garden flowers'. Jim has sown them from seed so we're not sure what they are. It'll be a fun surprise.

Then I moved over to the 'semi-wild' bed which is just by the path up to the vegetables. It has lots of primula in it and primroses, loads of aquilegia and other odd bits and bobs. I weeded first then planted some of the 'wild flowers', also sown by Jim. I can recognise that some of them are poppies but I'm not sure about the rest. More surprises.

The path up to the veg plot had very long grass either side of it, I mean, about a foot long. So I managed to find a pair of shears and cut it all down. It looks so much better. I did take the odd photo of course:



They look a bit thin and scraggy but should firm up now they've been planted out.











The grassy path on the right is the one up to the vegetable patch











The grass on both sides was as long as that shown here on the right! That has gone now, as has the pile of builder's rubble. I'll take another photo tomorrow if it's fine.






I also did quite a bit of work on the compost heaps. They have become very weedy on the outside, so I pulled all those out and the honesty, which has finished, so now we have a lot of ready compost to put on the beds. Compost we can actually get at!

I came in at 10pm eventually! A quick dinner (yesterday's leftovers) and here I am. The back survived today but I might have a soak in the bath before bed to ease it a little.

ATCs

I received 2 ATCs from Cris, Artist in Oregon this morning. They are lovely, as you can see:



If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it and see the details.






It's so exciting to look in our post box and see what goodies have arrived from all around the world.

Builders

The builders have been working for the past 3 days. They are about to render the outside of the extension and the guttering man is also supposed to be coming tomorrow and the electrician on Friday.



Joe is putting wood around the windows and doors in readiness for the rendering - look at that lovely hawthorn on the right.







Flowers

With the sun shining, I took some photos of the flowers and I hope you enjoy them:



This little rockery plant spreads like mad and is covered in tiny blue flowers











rhododendron. This really doesn't like our soil and the leaves have yellowed, but the flowers are still gorgeous. This is the first to open










The dark sambucus 'Queen of the Night' is growing daily. The lupins have flowers coming too. The pale, circular leaves at the front are on The Judas Tree










talking of the Judas tree, this pea like flower is almost out. Maybe I will get to see one after all
















Jim recently bought this bottle brush shrub. We have one in the UK and it's gorgeous
















This is our medlar tree. It has strange fruit and you are supposed to leave it until it goes soft before you eat it. You can also make medlar jelly. This year it is covered in flowers












Medlar flower

























I love the glossy leaves of the pittisporum. The green ones will turn purple later in the year











The pink azalea is still flowering












This is a wild strawberry and came originally from an old school friend of mine who lives in Suffolk. I love the pink of the flowers











These two acers are a picture together




















The delicate flowers of London's Pride are a delight


















This huge bee was resting by the cold frame














I couldn't resist a photo of the alchemilla mollis after the rain











These tiny heuchera flowers still attract the bees. I think they are so pretty


















Common or not, this geranium flowers where nothing else will survive










This is also a perennial geranium and has rather unusual cut petals. Jim doesn't really like it as he things they look raggy!











The lovely Hilary from down the road called today. She didn't want her photo taken. I can't imagine why, she is so slim and attractive



















This really does need enlarging. Do click on it. You will then see the bee snuggling down at the bottom of the one on the right! They are white cornflowers




I wasn't so pleased to see this wasp on the flower head. It's a little early for wasps.

















We brought this ornamental thistle from the UK too. Here's a montage of the flowers, plus the odd bee gathering pollen




That's it for today. It's a funny time of year, the bulbs have finished and the flowers are on their way, but some of them not appearing yet. It has been lovely to see so many insects around today. Butterflies, bees, hover flies and moths, plus little beetles scurrying along the ground (and across my floor in here).

I can't believe it's 1am, it feels like about 11pm. I hope the sun is shining where you are.

Archaeological Dig at Doorus, Inside Bundle 11.5.09

I know it's now the 12th but this is for 'today', ie, Monday the 11th. It was another lovely day, sunny with bits of white fluffy cloud and a bit of a cool breeze. I was disappointed that the builders didn't appear.

Dig Revelations

After some tidying up inside, breakfast in the garden with Jim and Buster, it was off to do some work. I headed for the same spot I was at yesterday and ended up doing more archaeology than garden clearing. I did clear quite a bit of ivy too. Tonight I brought my finds inside and photographed some of them.

Boots and Shoes






Here are some of the old boots and shoes I have found. And there are more.. There are also lots of bits of boots. I'm sure someone in the past must have been a shoe mender and maker














One of the boots













A different style, maybe a lady's shoe?









Any Old Iron?






I think this is a piece of an old cooking pot









Glassware







This is the bottle of 'Elliman's Embrocation'. Isn't that absolutely wonderful? It's presumably some kind of medicine as there are several of these bottles. It must have been good. See below










I have just googled this 'medicine' and can you believe you can still buy it? The bottle still looks pretty old fashioned in the advert. I think that's amazing. This is what google tells us:

Universal Embrocation for rheumatic and muscular pain. Uses: rub in Ellimans Universal Embrocation to spread soothing warmth; for quick relief of muscular pain and stiffness including rheumatic pain, backache, sciatica, lumbago, fibrositis and for athlete's massage of arm and leg muscles.




Another favourite, 'Lockyer's Sulphur Hair Restorer'. Brilliant.
Apparantly it was a hair dye, not a 'restorer' as such, only in that it restored your colour and got rid of grey. This was only made from the late 1800s to about 1912-1915, so this bottle is pretty old.

















I washed and cleaned the glass as best as I could. Here are some of the bottles, jars and glass stoppers












This attractive little bottle still has the stopper in and some of the contents. It looks like oil

















This pretty bottle has lost its top but I still thought it was worth keeping. it's quite different from the others. Maybe it was for perfume. I love the 3 glass bottle stoppers we found







Pottery/China




Here is a tiny selection of the pottery I unearthed. The marmalade pot on the right is complete







You can see how thick this pottery is. It was probably a huge old serving dish











Jim was trying to put this bowl back together but it appears there is more than one. We keep saying we'll make a mosaic of the china but never get round to it. One day.







And finally (drum roll)




An enamel potty!











I don't think we'll be using it though......










Didn't I have fun?? I'm sure there is a lot more buried around there but I must get on. Tomorrow I'll try and resist the urge to dig some more.

ATC

I made this ATC, called Madam Butterfly



The material on the left is beaded and very delicate. The centre is a book mark I had, made of wood and the butterflies are cut out from an old pair of girl's tights and then I highlighted them














Bundle - What's Inside?

I unwrapped my bundle this evening and took some photos of the contents. Some of them hardly look any different but some of the paper goods look great. The 2 photographs I put in, especially the one of an Ibis, have changed for the better. Here are the results:

























The bee I had hanging from the bottom has hardly changed at all





































Purple crepe paper gave this wonderful effect on the ibis

















My ATC didn't survive very well and has brown fuzzy stuff on the bottom half from some textured paper


















This piece of plain yellow paper has definitely improved too









Our next task is to make everything into a new piece of art. It makes me think I wish I'd know this before I'd made up my bundle! I have a few ideas and the new work has to be finished by August 1st.

The Garden



The strawberries are coming on a treat. There are two sets of rows like this and they are covered in flowers





















The vegetable garden is looking a picture. You can see, left to right, gladioli (for cut flowers), broad beans, onions, peas at the back. I know there are also beetroot and lettuce. the strawberry plants are in the foreground. Jim has worked very hard on it.





Pink aquilegia
























White saxifrage, white thrift and pink thrift












Blue/purple aquilegia



















I know I have featured this little section before but I just love the contrasting foliage. The alchemilla mollis is just beginning to gain strength and will soon make the combination even better with it's gorgeous green leaves and yellow/green flowers. My washing features behind!!







Buster

Buster quite often likes to sleep on this chair. Well, if he can get all of him on it....




He often has his head falling over the front















Yesterday, Sandy cat was sleeping in his bed. Buster did not approve. See how he worked his magic to remove the intruder:
















Buster removes Emily (his doll) from Sandy's reach












Then leans heavily on Sandy











Sandy gave up and ran up to bed










Builders

Finally, Martin the builder came round about 5pm to talk about the job. He is coming to meet the electrician and hopefully the plumber on Thursday to discuss their part of the job and will crack on next week with the plastering. He could see I wanted it done. Hopefully things will move fairly quickly from Monday.

I am off to the UK for Jack's 4th birthday on Wednesday until Saturday evening. I'm going to the Zoo on his birthday, the 14th and to an indoor play hall on the Saturday with lots of his friends. Should be great fun.