January update.

I’m a few days late here and I’m well aware that we are now into February, but just where has the time gone. January is always a strange month for me as its my birthday and every year the numbers get higher and as my brain believes its still 30 I get more dispondant. This year I got an electric propagator for the said event, it doesn’t top the industrial sized wheelbarrow I got the other year, but it’s pretty darn close!

I started some chilli and tomatoes in it last weekend and the tomatoes sneaked up yesterday while I wasn’t looking and are already a bit leggy. It’s not a problem as I tend to prick out quite quickly so will plant them deep.

In the garden we mainly missed the snow with only a millimetre or 2 Friday night which soon went. We’ve had some sharp frosts though so that has knocked things down.

A few Hardy souls carry on. The hebe is an unexpected treat as we often loose them and usually I move any in pots into the tunnel. This one was just a bit big. The primrose spreads everywhere but usually flowers later, it does look very nibbled though so some bug is still awake. Probably the slugs who are prolific all over the garden.

Here in the tunnel I’ve surrounded the cauliflowers with ash from the log burner to keep them at bay.

The fleece is giving the impression I’ve got a huge spider in there. It’s not needed today but the temperature drops to freezing at night. The poor plants must wonder what is going on. I leave a spider plant amongst them, if that survives I know the rest have a good chance. It’s still going strong this year!

My favourite plants at the minute are this little hellebore I brought for 75p at the supermarket this week. I do love a discounted plant!

And my sarrococca or winter box. It was given to me as a tiny cutting, by a fellow beekeeper, a couple of years ago. It’s very slow growing but these few flowers smell amazing. It promises a wonderful future and will be planted near the house to be enjoyed for years to come.

2019 is looking like being a better year here at the cottage. We have upheaval to face with building work scheduled for the water damage we suffered last year and I’ve had a huge birthday that I just didn’t want, but I’m feeling positive. Funny what a bit of sunshine, a few pretty flowers and some new growth can inspire in you, if you only look for it!

Treating mum.

It’s Mother’s Day today. I’ve had gifts, someone else cooked my breakfast, I’ve pottered in the garden, there’s been cake, family visiting and a country walk. It’s been a good day all round.

In the garden the sun has brought out some spring flowers.

In the polytunnel it has been almost tropical and the covers have come off all the pots

The bulbs I planted in January are coming into flower and some rather feeble hyacinths scent the air amazingly.

The summerhouse was 40 degrees when I first went in but in my rush to fetch the camera and take these photos, I left the door open and it dropped to a healthier 30

The seeds sown in there earlier in the week are not through yet but the onions and alliums are doing well.

In the house I have seedlings a plenty. Miss C is lucky enough to have her own bathroom with a lovely wide windowsill that she covers in collectables for the rest of the year. In the spring she has to move them all aside for the good of the garden.

The tomatoes I sowed last month have been pricked out into individual plugs along with French and African marigolds. This week they were joined by celery, chard, leek, melon and cucumber seeds. The peppers and chillies are also there but have been for a while and are not showing any sign of germinating yet. They are always a bit slow.

It’s still feeling warm at teatime and spring fever is kicking in. I can hardly wait to sow more things but as they all have to go into the unheated summerhouse I just have to be sensible and sociable. I won’t spend the evening on my own in the garden, I’m joining Miss C on the sofa and watching Dancing On Ice. It’s her favourite programme and she did sort of cook my breakfast, with a little help!

Hills and Holes.

There’s a quarry in Lincolnshire that has been mined since Roman times. The stone has been used to build everything from houses to cathedrals. In more recent times it’s become a nature reserve. As a little girl we visited on one occasion and I distinctly remember rolling down the hills over and over again.

Today we were back as more recently my parents have moved to the area. My niece is spending some time with us and it seemed a good way to spend an afternoon.

These days large areas are roped off to protect the ground and it’s precious flowers. Having two teenagers with us did inspire Hubby to challenge them to roll down the biggest hill to much squealing and laughter though.

The area is home to a number of rare plants and today we were lucky enough to see some of them.

The pasqueflower​ and orchid were prolific in a number of spots along with huge swathes of cowslips.

The weather was lovely. The plants and bird song were amazing but best of all was the company. We visited with my parents and my 86 year old dad put us all to shame by climbing every hill quicker than we were. He’s a force to be reckoned with and long may it continue, but I bet his legs will ache in the morning!

Who’s exploiting who?

We made a trip over the weekend to a local farm that was having an open day. It was advertising lambs and feeding, with tractor drives around the fields thrown in. We arrived late morning and were immediately surprised by the amount of people there. At £10 a family it initially seemed reasonably cheap with a fair return for the farm so a great idea.

We started with a burger ( another £10 spent!) before progressing to a wander. It was at this point that I began to wonder at the kindness of modern farming.

My phone makes this picture look quite cute but actually these cows were living in almost darkness in a barn that was falling to pieces. The sign on its door gives you some clue

There were a lot in here. Cows and calves in what was clearly a deep litter scheme. Although it had obviously been newly laid for the occasion it was still quite smelly.

This was their view of the fields they should have been turned out into for the spring. If only it wasn’t​ being used as a car park!

The sheep faired no better. Here the pregnant ewes are rounded up into a straw covered yard with little shade from the relentless sun. The ones lucky enough to have given birth were under cover in pens hardly big enough to turn around in, being stared at by a never ending row of stressed families as a loud speaker crackled over and over to not touch the lambs or not to feed the sheep. Miss C took one look at the length of the queue and decided she’d seen lambs before and  was to hot to join it.

The length of the tractor queue got a similar response so luckily within the hour we were on our way home.

Hubby pointed out that the meat is probably butchered off site and returned so it’s still got food miles but I brought some burgers from their farm shop anyway.  I feel I’ve done my bit for another local business and they had been lovely eaten in the barn earlier.

Then I realised the burgers were pork and apple and I never saw any pigs!

My kind of shopping.

I’m no shopper. I don’t mind the supermarket, everything under one roof, all done in one trip, once a week and quite honestly in general if it’s not in a supermarket I go without. Hubby is more of a shopper than me and Miss C loves it, if we are buying for her. In fact even I prefer it when we are buying for her!!

Today we headed to Spalding. If I have to shop than at least there I can still fit in a bit of gardening

The shops have a pretty outlook.

There are benches to rest and enjoy the views. 

There’s weird sculptures to ponder over.

A stream with fish, running all the way through the garden. Both fake and real!

Children’s entertainment

Spalding is the bulb capital of England. This outlet centre is built on an old exhibition site and is proud of it’s heritage.

Tulips, tulips, tulips and more tulips. Each variety is labelled but quite honestly who cares. With colours like this they are all wonderful.

There are other gardens for year round enjoyment, but in spring it’s all about the bulbs.

There were lots of children’s Easter activities. An egg hunt through the garden, but quite honestly I didn’t see anything but the planting and some rather cute animals.

I spent a bit on new towels and some craft ‘bits’.  We have lunch. But basically I just went for the flowers and topped it off with some rather lovely new secateurs.

A very successful day!

I only popped out for a minute.

I’ve been out in the garden again today. I popped out to hang out the washing and came in 3 hours later! It all started with a quick check of the summerhouse, just to see if the seeds were ok but as usual I got distracted and time flew by.

These pots of flower seedlings were taking up to much room and needed moving to the polytunnel.

The polytunnel was already full so plants from here needed moving outside.

Cauliflower and cabbages have lost their labels so I’m confused. Both look too leggy anyway so I guess they should have come out. I got distracted by the peas.

I found some pods!

The potted strawberries are flowering. So that took me outside again to check the outdoors ones. There I became distracted by an empty seedbed and  sowed parsnip, radish, spring onions, Pak choi, lettuce and turnip.

That led me back to the summerhouse to admire the melons and sweet corn, sown last week, before  I got involved in sowing more flower seeds and butternut squash.

Then I saw the dahlia and chillies needed a water and started moving everything around so I could water everything else that needed it.

These are Brussel sprouts and the cauliflower are in a different tray.  Once the labels fall out I will be stumped but for now I know what I’m doing!

Organisation. A beekeeping must.

Following on from storm Doris I really felt I had better check the bees this morning.

I was up bright and early and started at my own hives.

I have three hives on a farm just up the road. They are a fair way off the lane but today I was able to drive most of the way down the farm track. The hives were upright and bees from each of the end hives were happily coming and going. The middle hive was surprisingly quiet and a quick look showed dead bees gathered behind the mouseguard on the front. I had a look under the roof and there seems to be a lot of dead bees in there too. I’m thinking that for the first time in my 10 bee keeping years I have lost a hive. Not a nice feeling and nothing I can do until it warms up a bit for a proper check.

I then made a quick visit to a bee keeper who lives close by to share the pain before heading to my next apiary. I was almost there when I realised I’d forgotten the keys to the gate. I pulled into a garage to turn around. Pondered on the situation for a minute, I’m a long way from home, I might not feel like coming out again if I go back, I’ll waste a good hour, then I carried on my journey. I rather hoped the farmer might be working and have the gate open.

These are the hives. It’s an idilic situation in the summer. Miles from the main road across the fields. Surrounded by nothing by nature. Unfortunately it is miles

This is the field I walk down from the farm track. The bees are at the bottom behind the trees. In the summer I park here although my bee buddy could drive his car down there but then he was braver than me!

The barn in the distance is where I have been having to park my car all winter as the track is to muddy to dare driving down.

Today as an unorganised bee keeper I had to not only walk that journey but I had to park on the main lane which is probably where the hazy trees are in the far distance. So I walked twice that distance and some.

These pictures were taken last time I visited because not only did I forget my keys but I also forgot my phone. Miles from anywhere, on my own, no one to hear my screams should I have fallen in a ditch.

Lessons will be learned but at least there was no one to witness my stupidity. My secret is safe!

Hibernations end.

It’s been a quiet month here. The Christmas decs are put away and the weather has been cold and miserable. We’ve had all seasons in one day on more than one occasion and quite honestly it’s been fairly dismal. Miss C had spent a lot of time catching up on school work, watching documentaries and learning to cook while I have been making plans for the coming year.

Today after a home ed meet up Miss C popped around to visit the horses and I took hubby to collect his car from a local garage. This meant I was driving through the Fens at teatime, on my own. A novelty when you home ed and always have your child’s company. Now I love Miss C and in general I love her constant chatter, pop music and teenage grumps but when I saw this sunset my heart soared and I was able to revel in it all on my own.

It was invigorating and suddenly I remembered that today is St Bridget’s day. The first day of spring in the Celtic calendar. The time for fresh starts, new life. My hibernation is over and tomorrow (or certainly before the weekend) I’m going to start my spring growing.

Happy Imbolc. When people believed that if the weather was good winter would last much longer but if it was foul winter is nearly over. Today it’s been all of those things. A new season. A new growing year.

Life outdoors  is always good and today it all starts again!

4 seasons in one weekend.

Although it fills half the drive and cost us good money we don’t get enough chance to use our lovely caravan.
Friday evening found us sitting in it in a snow storm in not so sunny Norfolk.

As the hail ran down the window we snuggled up with coffee and  cake

It was bleak and lonely on the campsite but we were hopeful of better things to come.

The sunset was amazing so we planned the following days entertainment with gusto!

Saturday dawned bright and sunny so with walking boots at the ready we headed to a near by woods. They took some finding but they were well worth the search.

Bluebells carpeted the floor and ancient trees grew and lay fallen in all directions.

There was a little area enclosed in rusty railings with a wooden cross and a stone saying it was consecrated ground right in the centre of the woods. No idea who or what is buried there but it was poignant.

Less than 24 hours after the snow we sat outside the caravan eating our tea in t-shirts. Only in England can you have it all!!

April showers

Rain seems to play a large part in most of my posts, so it will be no surprise when I say it is pouring here today. However we have actually had some lovely weather recently so just to remind myself I am including lots of pictures I have taken this week.

There are hundreds of primroses, polyanthus and cowslips in my garden. They all inter pollinate and make strange colour combinations. Sometimes I dig them up, split them and move them around but mostly I just leave them be.

Tulips are just coming into flower. Flowering currant and daffodils are still flowering and just this week we have 2 white Christmas roses flowering for the first time ever. Definitely better late than never!

Some of the beds are overfull and should probably be contained but although I keep digging out this bluebell, that is ruining the shape of my box balls, it is so deep I never get it all and back it comes.

This was a huge lavender that I cut down after flowering last summer. It started shooting straight away but I didn’t expect it to survive the winter. It’s looking OK so far though, so it gets a reprieve for now.

The Rosemary’s reprieve only lasts until the flowers finish then it gets chopped right down. It is getting to woody to be useful as a herb now.

The seedlings have all gone crazy and space is running out.

Potatoes are doing well in their bags outside so in went the lettuces, interspersed with radish, carrot and parsnips. Hopefully they will be ready for pulling by the time the root crops need the space.

The strawberries have been tidied and fed with blood,fish and bone so just the onion and garlic bed to weed. They have survived the winter under fleece and are thickening nicely.

The chickens have enjoyed the lawns first cut, both in their run and from the compost bin. I do provide clean water but it seems muddy water caught in waste plastic is more tasty. This is a hole Miss C is digging for a pond. Every time she leaves it the girls get in and dig away causing the sides to collapse and half fill it again. They are all having a great time!