Lol,.. i constantly say that to myself,..''your not as young as you used to be'',..then go and try doing something like climbing on the roof to cut a cable,..then oops dropped the cutters and grabbed for it,..resulting in a fantastic thrill,.. as i slid off the roof and landed in the garden,..i did try digging my heels into the gutter to stop sliding,..the gutter was plastic and just bent.
I wasn't sleepy last night just played out,..fell asleep at about 03.00 and surprise surprise didn't wake until 11.00 that morning,..i got 8 hours sleep without waking once,..that was very unusual,..so did some gardening,..pruning,.. dead heading,..then watered the front and back garden,..washed the car,..changed the Car Battery,..yep back to normal.
As i mentioned to @Valley Gardener ,..i didn't like to change the name of the boat,..nothing to do with it being unlucky,..its like when you get a rescued animal,..most people tend to keep the name it has,..but ''Kon Tiki'' or ''Calypso'',...oooooh very adventurous craft those two.
Foxy Molly,..strutting it out with the new harness,..£5.99 in LIDL.
So you also had a good long sleep,..yep it must be the heat wearing us out during the day,..warnings about doing everything energetic,..even don't walk the dog,..for the dogs sake that is,..and rightly so,..though Foxy Molly can paddle those wee feet when we get to the river.
We have very small feet.
Long Whiskers.
As you probably read i managed 8 hours sleep,..a record for me but enjoyable and i was refreshed as a result but didn't really come to until around four this evening,..then i was like Road Runner.
Some Hydrangea images captured this evening,..they were all Pink at one time,..blue was the first change,..then the following year i didn't use the Colourant so some of the Blue ones still appear others have turned Mauve.
Ah yes about watering when its sunny,..many people don't water at all when its sunny,..believing its harmful,..not knowing its only harmful to the foliage,..it was only when i went abroad to very dry Countries that i noticed how they released water during the day which flowed down little drills each side of plants and Veg,..it was an eye opener to watch how they grew everything in such hot dry soil.
Oh i hate seeing all the rose petals on the foot paths,..the main path in particular,..though i can sweep those away,..its the other paths that feel scruffy when petals are everywhere,..sometimes i pick up a few other times i just let then decay and that happens very quick,..what i really hate is petals on my Hosta plants,..they stick to the Hosta if left for more than a day,..watering the petals off is a chore i have to do,..i won't use an image of a Hosta covered in rose petals lol.
Well between all the work you put in to your ''Secret Garden'' and then while your Son and his Girlfriend were there,..plus this heat and your long walks,..no wonder you are tired,..probably dehydrated as well,..take it easy on yourself and don't risk taking cuttings,..you are being watched
Good morning all OH is already out doing the watering, l am still drinking tea 😁.
@nultyphilip224, Glad to hear you had a good sleep and awoke refreshed, sometimes it gets to a stage where the body thinks "enough's enough" and forces you to sleep. l love that photo of Foxy Molly's paw, for some reason it made my heart go all soppy. I think she thinks that harness is Gucci, not Lidl! Your hydrangeas are beautiful l love the different colours. Mine are all standard pink, cuttings from MIL's garden apart from a dark red one "Dark Angel" (l think). The original plant didn't survive the winter, but l have one cutting. I suspect that if you were to name your boat after various lady friends, in the words of the character from "Jaws", "We''re going to need a bigger boat'" 😉
@Purplerain , my garden is full of blue pots from the Alan Titchmarsh era ! At one time our fence was painted "Barleywood Blue" and we even had blue trellis 😊. Just out of curiosity, l searched for photos of Charlie Dimmock but couldn't find any of her with her hair tied back. Years ago one of my bosses was a real fan of hers, so we all clubbed together and bought him one of her calendars for Christmas. I do get goldfinches in the garden now and again and they seem to come in pairs.
@Fran IOM l posted on the "Anyone done..." thread the full extent of my labours yesterday in MIL''s garden, the highlights were finding 4 pots of irises just waiting to be sorted out and split, and a frog ! He was living in a terracotta pot full of water. I apologised and left OH to rehome him. By the time we got home l was hot and covered in dirt, but at least we got quite a lot done. OH admits he owes me big time ! Glad you had a nice day yesterday , lol at you being under surveillance for possible cuttings taking. I'm sure they would have let you take a couple if you asked nicely . It's worked for me in the past. I had a look at Woolpit online , a lovely place and very interesting about how it got its name. As @Purplerain said a fascinating story about the green children. The site l looked at said it was possibly due to an encounter with Flemish immigrants, and the green skin was a result of dietary anaemia. Over the years, the story has become embellished, and there are still supposed to be descendants of the green children living in the village. Whilst browsing, l came across a house l'd love to buy in the area, sadly it has been sold..... https://www.onthemarket.com/details/4022137/
@Valley Gardener, sadly l don't have a fetching sun hat to wear, my headgear of choice is a baseball cap my dad brought back from Spain years ago. It has a big peak that protects my eyes and stops me squinting, thereby avoiding crow's lines and keeping me looking incredibly youthful 😉
Apologies for the long post, l had to get it all done while l remembered ! Mr B is chuntering outside , l think he has been getting drunk on amelanchier berries. He was singing very loudly until very late yesterday and perched on the wall in a slightly wobbly fashion with an ""l love you, you're my best mate" expression . Or maybe that was my imagination......
Right, have a lovely day everyone and don't overdo it. Slip, slap,slop as the Aussies say
Good morning all. Two awws this morning one being Foxy Mollys wee paw, and the other Mr B singing and wobbling merrily lol.
No sun yet but I think the cloud is going to burn off, at least I hope it does as I organised all the barbecue things in case anyone wants one. I loved your house @AnniD and I did exactly the same as you did, checking out the real estate in Woolpit. Lovely place. I haven't checked out Charlies hair, but the thought of her swishing it about even in private would drive me mad!
@Valley Gardener I looked at bullfinches and siskins, lovely little birds, and the siskins put me in mind of budgies with their shape and nature. I hope my goldfinch stays away because it had no fear of me and I would worry about Chummy catching him. I still have the Cordyline in the pot but some family will be here today so we will have a go at getting it out. I don't know if it will even fit in their car as it is over 6ft tall.
@nultyphilip224 I was pleased to read that you managed 8 hours which must be a record for you. I am going to add some colourant and water the small hydrangea again. I will leave the big pink one as I like it as it is and the buds are just showing some colour now. Yours are lovely!
@Fran IOM wishing you good weather for the rest of your break. It's nice to spend time in a familiar hotel making it more like a home from home.
Good afternoon all, where has the morning gone? OH has been levelling the soil ready to put down the gravel,he's not doing too much today as it's silly in this heat, but it's all going to plan,and I've looked at stone urns,maybe to put in those golden dwarf conifer,not sure yet. I think my job is to paint the wall eventually!
@nultyphilip224. Lovely pics as usual,the purple Lily is a stunner,my favourite colour too! Do you ever just sit and read and soak up your garden,I've seen your bench but no sign of a nice comfy deck chair. Foxy Mollys little paws are are the same size as Cush's,what dainty little feet for a dog, I love the look on her face with her whiskers being displayed,I bet she wondered what you were doing. I've taken a few pics of my Penstemons they look nice this year,I suppose it took a full year or so, for them to get going properly. Last year it looked as if they were all "Garnet" (free seeds so felt annoyed as it said mixed) I take it all back now as they are different!
@AnniD. I think you are amazing to do someone else's garden as well as your own,but nice to find lots of stuff that were originally hidden from view,you never know what you'll find. The hat sounds great,similar to mine from Spain,the baseball types are good to work in,as you say the peak is shady,so it keeps all the wrinkles and freckles at bay.....😁😁
@Purplerain. Good luck with the Cordyline,I'm sure that between you,you will manage to keep the blue pot intact, hope your weather is good up there?
@FranIOM I hope things are going well? Are you due back soon,you will see such a difference in your secret garden in these few days away. Have a good day folks.
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
By the 'eck, it's been warm today, greenhouse temp. got up to 38 degrees. Glad OH got the shading on yesterday. It has clouded over in the last hour or so, but quite muggy and a very warm breeze. Definitely couldn't have done MIL's garden today ! Not done a lot, apart from some watering and damping down. Caught up with GW, quite enjoyed Adam Frost and Joe Swift helping the young couple with their garden.
@Valley Gardener Those penstemons are lovely, the white one looks a little like "Huskers Red" . If it should ever produce seeds......
Hope @Purplerain had a barbecue after all the preparation, and that the cordyline came out of the pot without too much difficulty ! Also hope @Fran IOM is still having fun and the bargain clematis is safe on the balcony, and @nultyphilip224 and co have had a good day.
Scampi and chips and a glass of sparkling elderflower tonight. Took some photos of poppies etc this morning, will try and post some tomorrow. Have a good evening everyone
Good morning all, up early feeling stifled! It's humid and hazy here,but hoping to get the Buddlea chopped down today as it's taken over,and the "Josephine" clemmie is lost amongst it!
@AnniD. Yes it's a Huskers Red,I'll look out for seed,last year I did a cutting from it,so now have a smaller version on the other side of the steps,it didn't occur to me to look for seeds......Duh!😖 We had haze most of the day yesterday and at one point it came over a bit dark so hurried out to bring in the washing,it didn't rain however,and the hose was in use in the thisevening! OH made good inroads into the patio area,all levelled off,the best of the slabs sorted. These were all lying around the garden when we moved,so they are nothing special,but will get a jet wash before laying them on top of the gravel,anything will look tidier than what was there. A slight problem with the level of the sloping path,and the flat level of what will be patio,it will need some rockery type planting between the two,but done vertically! Difficult to describe. Might try a quick sketch to show what I mean.
Time for more coffee,speak again later when I've read what you've all been up to.
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
Good morning all. I notice that you have gone AWOL again @nultyphilip224 so I hope you are either catching up with sleep or had another good night out. The weather changed here yesterday and it got dark with rain and thunder and lightening so no bbq. I could hear quite a few neighbours sitting out in the evening but it really wasn't the weather for it. The cordyline remains in the pot as it is too big to be transported so I will have to come up with plan B.
@Valley Gardener your penstemons are lovely and I particularly like the lilac and white ones. They are such easy cuttings too, rooted in water and I have multiplied Heavenly Blue that way although they are not flowering yet. The garden sounds like quite a job but you must put a photo up when it is done to your satisfaction.
@AnniD I also watched GW but I wasn't sure about them taking the boundary away. It looked unfinished to me, but did you notice the black fences? You are ahead of the game there Anni. On the geum thread, I didn't want to elaborate on the potentilla because the seeds were Tonguei, but instead of being apricot they turned out orange and as it was a thread about geums I thought I would leave it at that. Your suggestion was probably right though.
Finally, as you have put your hat up @Valley Gardener I thought I would too:
Good morning everyone Have to admit to feeling unable to outrun a slug at the moment, very warm last night and didn't sleep very well. However, l am sure a second cup of tea will sort me out. The bellringers start at 9am on a Sunday and appear to be all over the place, not the usual lovely sound. (Not that l know much about it). Even as l type, they have stopped ! Very breezy out there again, OH has watered the baskets already, but not as warm and sunny as yesterday so hopefully l can get on with my list. Hope all is well with @nultyphilip224, we do worry !
@Purplerain, sorry your plans for the barbecue and cordyline didn't work out. Hopefully you can come up with a cunning plan. I did notice the black fence, and confess to feeling slightly smug. I don't know whether they had some kind of ditch to prevent people getting into the garden, l suppose they'd have to be pretty determined but you never know. I couldn't help wondering how long it would be before there were houses being built on that field That's a very funky hat, it reminds me a little of the one that Monty sometimes wears.
@Valley Gardener , one good thing about buddleia is that they are easy to cut down and you see instant results. "Josephine" is a very pretty clematis. Glad the project is going well. It's very satisfying when you can make use of paving etc. that's lying around.
Bell ringers seem to have got their mojo back, and it's time for toast and tea and a perusal of the list. Hope @Fran IOM has a good day .
Posts
Lol,.. i constantly say that to myself,..''your not as young as you used to be'',..then go and try doing something like climbing on the roof to cut a cable,..then oops dropped the cutters and grabbed for it,..resulting in a fantastic thrill,.. as i slid off the roof and landed in the garden,..i did try digging my heels into the gutter to stop sliding,..the gutter was plastic and just bent.
I wasn't sleepy last night just played out,..fell asleep at about 03.00 and surprise surprise didn't wake until 11.00 that morning,..i got 8 hours sleep without waking once,..that was very unusual,..so did some gardening,..pruning,.. dead heading,..then watered the front and back garden,..washed the car,..changed the Car Battery,..yep back to normal.
As i mentioned to @Valley Gardener ,..i didn't like to change the name of the boat,..nothing to do with it being unlucky,..its like when you get a rescued animal,..most people tend to keep the name it has,..but ''Kon Tiki'' or ''Calypso'',...oooooh very adventurous craft those two.
Foxy Molly,..strutting it out with the new harness,..£5.99 in LIDL.
Back in the garden.
So you also had a good long sleep,..yep it must be the heat wearing us out during the day,..warnings about doing everything energetic,..even don't walk the dog,..for the dogs sake that is,..and rightly so,..though Foxy Molly can paddle those wee feet when we get to the river.
We have very small feet.
Long Whiskers.
As you probably read i managed 8 hours sleep,..a record for me but enjoyable and i was refreshed as a result but didn't really come to until around four this evening,..then i was like Road Runner.
Some Hydrangea images captured this evening,..they were all Pink at one time,..blue was the first change,..then the following year i didn't use the Colourant so some of the Blue ones still appear others have turned Mauve.
Ah yes about watering when its sunny,..many people don't water at all when its sunny,..believing its harmful,..not knowing its only harmful to the foliage,..it was only when i went abroad to very dry Countries that i noticed how they released water during the day which flowed down little drills each side of plants and Veg,..it was an eye opener to watch how they grew everything in such hot dry soil.
Oh i hate seeing all the rose petals on the foot paths,..the main path in particular,..though i can sweep those away,..its the other paths that feel scruffy when petals are everywhere,..sometimes i pick up a few other times i just let then decay and that happens very quick,..what i really hate is petals on my Hosta plants,..they stick to the Hosta if left for more than a day,..watering the petals off is a chore i have to do,..i won't use an image of a Hosta covered in rose petals lol.
Well between all the work you put in to your ''Secret Garden'' and then while your Son and his Girlfriend were there,..plus this heat and your long walks,..no wonder you are tired,..probably dehydrated as well,..take it easy on yourself
Pelargoniums.
Lily Blooms.
Arum Lily.
OH is already out doing the watering, l am still drinking tea 😁.
@nultyphilip224, Glad to hear you had a good sleep and awoke refreshed, sometimes it gets to a stage where the body thinks "enough's enough" and forces you to sleep.
l love that photo of Foxy Molly's paw, for some reason it made my heart go all soppy. I think she thinks that harness is Gucci, not Lidl!
Your hydrangeas are beautiful l love the different colours. Mine are all standard pink, cuttings from MIL's garden apart from a dark red one "Dark Angel" (l think). The original plant didn't survive the winter, but l have one cutting.
I suspect that if you were to name your boat after various lady friends, in the words of the character from "Jaws", "We''re going to need a bigger boat'" 😉
@Purplerain , my garden is full of blue pots from the Alan Titchmarsh era ! At one time our fence was painted "Barleywood Blue" and we even had blue trellis 😊.
Just out of curiosity, l searched for photos of Charlie Dimmock but couldn't find any of her with her hair tied back. Years ago one of my bosses was a real fan of hers, so we all clubbed together and bought him one of her calendars for Christmas.
I do get goldfinches in the garden now and again and they seem to come in pairs.
@Fran IOM l posted on the "Anyone done..." thread the full extent of my labours yesterday in MIL''s garden, the highlights were finding 4 pots of irises just waiting to be sorted out and split, and a frog !
He was living in a terracotta pot full of water. I apologised and left OH to rehome him.
By the time we got home l was hot and covered in dirt, but at least we got quite a lot done. OH admits he owes me big time !
Glad you had a nice day yesterday , lol at you being under surveillance for possible cuttings taking. I'm sure they would have let you take a couple if you asked nicely . It's worked for me in the past.
I had a look at Woolpit online , a lovely place and very interesting about how it got its name.
As @Purplerain said a fascinating story about the green children.
The site l looked at said it was possibly due to an encounter with Flemish immigrants, and the green skin was a result of dietary anaemia. Over the years, the story has become embellished, and there are still supposed to be descendants of the green children living in the village.
Whilst browsing, l came across a house l'd love to buy in the area, sadly it has been sold.....
https://www.onthemarket.com/details/4022137/
@Valley Gardener, sadly l don't have a fetching sun hat to wear, my headgear of choice is a baseball cap my dad brought back from Spain years ago. It has a big peak that protects my eyes and stops me squinting, thereby avoiding crow's lines and keeping me looking incredibly youthful 😉
Apologies for the long post, l had to get it all done while l remembered ! Mr B is chuntering outside , l think he has been getting drunk on amelanchier berries. He was singing very loudly until very late yesterday and perched on the wall in a slightly wobbly fashion with an ""l love you, you're my best mate" expression . Or maybe that was my imagination......
Right, have a lovely day everyone and don't overdo it. Slip, slap,slop as the Aussies say
Laters x
No sun yet but I think the cloud is going to burn off, at least I hope it does as I organised all the barbecue things in case anyone wants one. I loved your house @AnniD and I did exactly the same as you did, checking out the real estate in Woolpit. Lovely place. I haven't checked out Charlies hair, but the thought of her swishing it about even in private would drive me mad!
@Valley Gardener I looked at bullfinches and siskins, lovely little birds, and the siskins put me in mind of budgies with their shape and nature. I hope my goldfinch stays away because it had no fear of me and I would worry about Chummy catching him. I still have the Cordyline in the pot but some family will be here today so we will have a go at getting it out. I don't know if it will even fit in their car as it is over 6ft tall.
@nultyphilip224 I was pleased to read that you managed 8 hours which must be a record for you. I am going to add some colourant and water the small hydrangea again. I will leave the big pink one as I like it as it is and the buds are just showing some colour now. Yours are lovely!
@Fran IOM wishing you good weather for the rest of your break. It's nice to spend time in a familiar hotel making it more like a home from home.
Enjoy your Saturday everyone.
OH has been levelling the soil ready to put down the gravel,he's not doing too much today as it's silly in this heat, but it's all going to plan,and I've looked at stone urns,maybe to put in those golden dwarf conifer,not sure yet. I think my job is to paint the wall eventually!
@nultyphilip224. Lovely pics as usual,the purple Lily is a stunner,my favourite colour too! Do you ever just sit and read and soak up your garden,I've seen your bench but no sign of a nice comfy deck chair.
Foxy Mollys little paws are are the same size as Cush's,what dainty little feet for a dog,
I love the look on her face with her whiskers being displayed,I bet she wondered what you were doing.
I've taken a few pics of my Penstemons they look nice this year,I suppose it took a full year or so, for them to get going properly. Last year it looked as if they were all "Garnet" (free seeds so felt annoyed as it said mixed) I take it all back now as they are different!
@AnniD. I think you are amazing to do someone else's garden as well as your own,but nice to find lots of stuff that were originally hidden from view,you never know what you'll find.
The hat sounds great,similar to mine from Spain,the baseball types are good to work in,as you say the peak is shady,so it keeps all the wrinkles and freckles at bay.....😁😁
@Purplerain. Good luck with the Cordyline,I'm sure that between you,you will manage to keep the blue pot intact, hope your weather is good up there?
@FranIOM I hope things are going well? Are you due back soon,you will see such a difference in your secret garden in these few days away.
Have a good day folks.
Not done a lot, apart from some watering and damping down. Caught up with GW, quite enjoyed Adam Frost and Joe Swift helping the young couple with their garden.
@Valley Gardener Those penstemons are lovely, the white one looks a little like "Huskers Red" . If it should ever produce seeds......
Hope @Purplerain had a barbecue after all the preparation, and that the cordyline came out of the pot without too much difficulty !
Also hope @Fran IOM is still having fun and the bargain clematis is safe on the balcony, and @nultyphilip224 and co have had a good day.
Scampi and chips and a glass of sparkling elderflower tonight. Took some photos of poppies etc this morning, will try and post some tomorrow.
Have a good evening everyone
@AnniD. Yes it's a Huskers Red,I'll look out for seed,last year I did a cutting from it,so now have a smaller version on the other side of the steps,it didn't occur to me to look for seeds......Duh!😖
We had haze most of the day yesterday and at one point it came over a bit dark so hurried out to bring in the washing,it didn't rain however,and the hose was in use in the thisevening!
OH made good inroads into the patio area,all levelled off,the best of the slabs sorted.
These were all lying around the garden when we moved,so they are nothing special,but will get a jet wash before laying them on top of the gravel,anything will look tidier than what was there. A slight problem with the level of the sloping path,and the flat level of what will be patio,it will need some rockery type planting between the two,but done vertically! Difficult to describe. Might try a quick sketch to show what I mean.
Time for more coffee,speak again later when I've read what you've all been up to.
@Valley Gardener your penstemons are lovely and I particularly like the lilac and white ones. They are such easy cuttings too, rooted in water and I have multiplied Heavenly Blue that way although they are not flowering yet. The garden sounds like quite a job but you must put a photo up when it is done to your satisfaction.
@AnniD I also watched GW but I wasn't sure about them taking the boundary away. It looked unfinished to me, but did you notice the black fences? You are ahead of the game there Anni. On the geum thread, I didn't want to elaborate on the potentilla because the seeds were Tonguei, but instead of being apricot they turned out orange and as it was a thread about geums I thought I would leave it at that. Your suggestion was probably right though.
Finally, as you have put your hat up @Valley Gardener I thought I would too:
Have to admit to feeling unable to outrun a slug at the moment, very warm last night and didn't sleep very well. However, l am sure a second cup of tea will sort me out.
The bellringers start at 9am on a Sunday and appear to be all over the place, not the usual lovely sound. (Not that l know much about it). Even as l type, they have stopped !
Very breezy out there again, OH has watered the baskets already, but not as warm and sunny as yesterday so hopefully l can get on with my list.
Hope all is well with @nultyphilip224, we do worry !
@Purplerain, sorry your plans for the barbecue and cordyline didn't work out. Hopefully you can come up with a cunning plan. I did notice the black fence, and confess to feeling slightly smug. I don't know whether they had some kind of ditch to prevent people getting into the garden, l suppose they'd have to be pretty determined but you never know. I couldn't help wondering how long it would be before there were houses being built on that field
That's a very funky hat, it reminds me a little of the one that Monty sometimes wears.
@Valley Gardener , one good thing about buddleia is that they are easy to cut down and you see instant results. "Josephine" is a very pretty clematis. Glad the project is going well. It's very satisfying when you can make use of paving etc. that's lying around.
Bell ringers seem to have got their mojo back, and it's time for toast and tea and a perusal of the list.
Hope @Fran IOM has a good day
Laters x