Daffodils in the Orchard
It's remained warm in County Clare for about a week now. I always feel that when it's good weather I will garden and when it's bad, I'll do inside jobs. Well, there's been a distinct lack of inside jobs for a while!
I have concentrated my efforts the last couple of days in the orchard. The long bank to the left of the entrance was getting overwhelmed by weeds and brambles, so I set about removing them. Part of the bank is a bit like a rockery, but it had collapsed. Of course, I had to rebuild that too! One job always seems to lead to another.
At the top of the orchard was an area that used to be used for raising turkeys. There was an old turkey house and much wire netting and the whole area was full of stinging nettles and brambles. I tackled the house last year, moving it to the bonfire (see last post when I lit it) and cleared away much of the bramble/nettle combination. As well as doing the bank, I have just about cleared the rest of the persistent weeds and it is now ready for Jim to seed with grass. The more areas we can grass, the easier they are to maintain.
I did take some photos of the primrose bank although they're not very clear:
Still to be cleared. I usually forget to take 'before' photos!
It looks a bit bare now but those brown clumps are ferns and they cover a huge area when they come out. The rockery looks a bit haphazard but I left any well bedded in stones and just added more when required. The 2 green bushes are escallonia, which I planted last year as tiny babies from a larger plant. I will prune them hard when they have flowered.
I ended up with a huge pile of stones! These have now been moved to the back yard for road building!
Jim and I often sit on this bench, which is to the right of the 2 escallonia bushes. We have a break and a cup of tea. Sometimes Buster tries to get up with us - usually in the middle!If I look left while sitting on the bench, this is the view:
Can you see those 'wigwam' structures? They are some of our raspberries and are apricot coloured! At the bottom is the little Aspen wood that we cleared last week.The daffodils in the orchard have been wonderful this Spring. The first photo at the top is now my screen saver.
Daffodils in the orchard.
We also have double yellow daffodils and single ones there.I took one last shot as the sun we going down:
The blossom is very late this year. Usually the cherry blossom is fully out by now but there's no sign of it yet.I have just found the following photo, taken in June 2006, the year we moved in. The rose bush shown is opposite the bench:
It's all a bit different now!We saw one swallow but it was obviously just passing through. We have seen a yellow brimstone butterfly and an orange tip - all good signs of the warmer weather.
Tomorrow is the final reveal of our 'Through the Rabbit Hole with Bea' pieces. I also have a number of ATCs to show you. I still haven't done my 'O' one. I might have a go now.
I hope everyone is having a good week.
