Monday 29 September 2014

Happy days..........

I will not be around for a while.   Our son is marrying the girl of his dreams and the mother of his child.   I have waited a long time for this moment :)
Then we will be jetting off for a family holiday in the sun.

Enjoy your October garden, I will be back with  you sometime in November.................

Monday 22 September 2014

Hush! Listen!

 Have you noticed the silence that Autumn brings?   The further we walk into the season the quieter it becomes.   
 I walk through the orchard and was pleased to see some of the Prunus blooming.
 Today is 'clean the tree house' day.      I can almost hear the children's laugher and giggles, as I work.   I sit for a moment and look at our collection of bees dragonflies butterflies etc.    If we find a creature that has gone to Gods garden we take it to the treehouse and talk about it.
We have a book that is hidden in  a secret compartment.    We can write our thoughts and feelings in it.   It has been used for the last three years...........and will stay hidden, for the children and I are the only ones who know its hiding place :)
 Later on in the day I planted up some small pots to decorate the patio area.   Nothing fancy, just pretty.  
 The robin watched as I worked.   He looked so shabby during the Summer months but just look at him now.   What a handsome fellow.
 Feeders cleaned, bird boxes scrubbed, hedgehog boxes checked (and yes someone is making a winter bed in one of them)   I thought I had heard snuffling in the garden during my awake moments a few nights ago.   In serious decline it is always heart warming to know that one is safe and snug in the garden during the winter months.......


Thursday 18 September 2014

Who would mind being led up the garden path?

 I walk this pathway twice a day, no matter what the weather, I just need to be out in the garden.   In summer clothed in my jim jams and in winter heavy coat with a hood.
The pathway leads to the old apple tree.    I planted clump forming bamboo when we moved here.     They make a wonderful screen but I mostly enjoy the movement of these graceful plants.   
 Cyclamen have appeared all over the woodland area.   
     Planted beneath deciduous trees is ideal.   I add leaf mould each year to keep them happy :)
It is hot today, too hot for mid September.    I love the fact I can walk this path and it is always cool.   Somewhere to work in the garden to  keep away from the sun.    In the winter it is bitterly cold.  That is the joy of a garden, being in touch with it.........feeling it.
I love this garden in sun, frost, heavy dew but especially in freezing fog.......when it has a beauty that is hard to explain.

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Evil Beauty.

 Monk's Hood is extremely poisonous - even very small amounts can have severe effects.   It contains aconitine, a neurotoxin that can cause heart failure, and there are reports of people feeling unwell after just smelling the flowers.
 Monk's-hood is a native plant............often found in the wild along ditches or streams, also on the fringes of woodland.       
Planted in the centre of the island beds, to keep well away from little people, it is a stunning addition to the autumn garden.
It is a firm favourite of mine..........blue is a precious colour in the garden.......also it is pollinated exclusively by bumblebees.   Perfect..........well almost :)

Thursday 4 September 2014

 A mist hangs over the garden.  I can hear the cry of Gulls in the distance.
 Hawthorn laden with berries, soon Redwings and Fieldfare will come to our shores, and enjoy them.
 Crab apple line the branches, waiting for the Starlings.
 Teasels will satisfy the Goldfinch.
 Such a nostalgic time of year.    The slow process of saying farewell to Summer and hello Autumn.
 Dad loved these days.   Dad was my gardening companion...............he taught me so much.   When he left school he started work as an apprentice gardener.  
 A tear falls.............it is 18 months since Dad passed away.     It gets easier, I think of him most days.
I think of his smile.........he was always smiling.
I look up to the sky with a warm heart...............I know he is not far away.

Monday 1 September 2014

Happy days

 Summer days drifting away.............
 Soft golden rays ...............
 A lone bee .............. 
 Flowers in all their glory.............
My darling little dog, and loyal companion................

It does not take much to make me happy.

What makes you happy??