Time for an update

I can't believe that I haven't written a post in over 2 weeks. I would love to say that it's because I have been somewhere really exciting, but that isn't the case unfortunately.

I have been busy though. We had friends stay with us for almost a week and then we have had birthday BBQs to go to and over the last few days we were babysitting the grand-children whilst my son & daughter-in-law had a well deserved day out in London on their own. So they had fun and so did we.

I made some chocolate cookies with Bertie who will be 2 years of age next month, that really was fun, especially making sure he didn't eat the dough before we shaped the cookies. I rolled the dough into balls and it was his job to squash them into flat cookie shapes.

Apart from harvesting and watering the greenhouse on the allotment I have to admit to not having done much up there at all. I am trying to be a bit more relaxed about it all and not let it tie me down like it did last year. I was spending far too much time there last year, I suppose it was because I had just taken it on and was planning out the beds and paths and I admit it did get a bit addictive and time consuming. This year has been a good balance of time spent on the lottie and days away, and I have managed to work more in the garden at home.

I have lots of pumpkins and squashes doing really well at the moment, the colours are really nice and I love the way they scramble around all over the place. Some have even escaped through the wire boundary fence and onto the pavement outside the allotment.

I have harvested some pretty amazing sweetcorn, this years crop has been very good. I had 6 cobs this evening, I also had 4 courgettes, 5 beetroots, raspberries, a couple of little 'munchkin' squashes.

A couple of the pumpkins.

Almost the last of my carrots, just a few left now.

A harvest from last week-end.

Myrtle shrub in flower in the garden.

'Toad Lily' in the garden, this has been flowering for a week or so.

The Echinacea's that I grew from seed this year.

Busy Bees

A few photo's of the new flowers in my garden.

Dahlias

Dahlia 'Karma Fuchiana'


A half price bargain , not sure of the name.


Leucanthemum, I'm hooked on these, I have the white and now the yellow one.


Thunbergia 'Mango'

What a splendid orange flower, I love it.

Home Alone , and other things.

It's been a quite couple of days for me as Austin went off to Surrey to stay with his sister for the week-end, so I was 'home alone' I didn't have use of the car so the allotment was off limits as it's a good walk and I had twisted my knee stepping out of the shed last Wednesday. It's much better today thank goodness and on the mend. So I had a nice couple of days in the garden, pottering about albeit slowly due to the knee. I managed to get a few of the new plants recently bought planted in the beds. I took a few photo's whilst sitting in the garden, so here they are.

By the time Austin was back this evening I was a bit concerned about the lottie greenhouse as we have had a couple of hot days and I hadn't been up to water it. When he got back we went up and gave the plants a good soaking and harvested some tomatoes and a cucumber and a few small green peppers from the greenhouse and other bits from around the plot. It's been an amazing year for all that we have had from the plot, and there is still so much more to come.

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A few photo's from around the garden this week-end.

The wild corner with the Japanese anemones which stand almost 4 ft or more.

An old favourite bench that has seen better days and needs re-painting.

I've at last planted these in the cutting bed, I love their scruffy petals.

A little Viola growing in a crack (self seeded)

Some wild life in the garden ( I took these for Kella ) she has some amazing bugs and creepies in her garden it's like a mini zoo !

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Aubergine's

Aubergine on the patio 'Baby Rosanna', it has lot's of flowers and many small fruits growing, apparently they only grow to golf ball size so just nice to roast with other veg, Yum !

'Baby Rosanna's' first tiny fruits forming.

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Lemongrass update

The Lemongrass taken on 23rd June 2009

One of the Lemongrass plants taken today.
The lemongrass plants are coming on a treat and I can't wait to start using some, the stems are thickening, so it shouldn't be too long.

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Hydrangea

I have had this Hydrangea for many years. It's growing in a half barrel. I don't usually feed or pamper it and it's usually a deep purple. This year I decided to give it some feed for Ericacious plants, I wish I hadn't as it's now changing to pink, I hope it goes back to it's old colour when the feed has all gone from the soil.

My Lace cap Hydrangea taken 5th July

It's just starting to change to a lighter pink.

Taken yesterday, it's definitely changing colour.

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Pooh Bear

At last I have finished my grand-daughters Pooh Bear cushion, it's the same as her brother's but Florence's has a pink balloon (sorry Pooh !) and pink edging. It's the longest I have ever taken to do a sewing project, the garden and the allotment take up so much of my time.

A close up of the hand embroidered Pooh, balloon and bees. The clouds have been quilted to make them stand out.
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Today's harvest

I went up to the lottie to water the greenhouse this evening, and came back with this lovely harvest, plus a carrier bag of runner and french beans. The little squashes are 'Munchkin' and they are delicious roasted. The peppers are just as I like them which is small. The tomatoes are a mix of cherry, and others that I have forgotten the names off hand. My sweetcorn still isn't quite ready, I am waiting patiently. I have to get up there and weed and pull up spent flowers as it's looking a bit untidy.

Vegetables also have 'siamese twins' !

This is a photo of my harvest on Friday and I have been watching with interest the growth of a 'Siamese' courgette. It had two flowers but grew on one stem and never separated, it looks very odd, has anyone else grown a Siamese veg ? I have yet to eat it so hopefully it will taste twice as nice !! speaking of courgettes ! they are coming fast and furious and I have three kinds- round Italian ones, yellow ones and normal green ones and now a Siamese one, quite what I will do with them all I have yet to figure out. We love them roasted, in soups and raw in salads, any other ideas anyone ??

Fridays harvest, Siamese courgette.

It's been far too hot for me to get much done on the lottie, I have gone up and pottered about and of course watered most days, especially the plants in the greenhouse, which are Aubergines, cucumbers, chillies (three types) tomatoes and peppers. It's hard work and a week ago I really had a moment where i felt like moving to an apartment with No garden and giving up the lottie, but the moment passed and thank goodness common sense prevailed and I love it all again.

The problem is we love to visit the grand-children every week and because of the distance it means staying over, so 2 days out of the week we are away and in this weather it's a worry for me about the watering. I now have a dear neighbour who will come over to my garden and water the plants and shrubs in tubs, and in return I gave him strawberries, broad beans and a bunch of sweet-peas, so we were both happy with this arrangement. The allotment is another issue, so I ask whoever is around to water for me and I do the same in return.

I haven't had time to visit all of the blogs I follow or the ones on my blog list, so I apologise to anyone who thinks Ive lost interest in their blog, but I'm sure everyone is so busy this time of year that they are in the same situation what with gardening and veg growing.


Below are a few photo's of the garden taken on Saturday, my lilies have flowered at last, I love them and wait in anticipation for the first flower every year.

Tea for two in the garden

Lemon grass growing bigger at last

I love these colours together

The cutting flower bed.

Lillies at last !!

Double nasturtion 'Darjeeling gold'

Inside the summerhouse.

Seaside mania.

My favourite colour Dahlia, grown from seed.

A very full mixed border.

Global warming my A**E

Well what happened here then ? one minute I was commiserating with others, who were showing snowy scenes on their blogs in the USA & Canada, and then low & behold we got our own. I don't like it one bit, it may be pretty, but it's difficult to walk in and we can't use the car, so I feel like hibernating until it's all gone. Here are some photo's I took when I ventured bravely into the garden. OK I know us Brits are wussies, but we are not used to this, the whole country is in chaos. Mother Nature does it again !!! respect !