A Lawn

Slowly emerging from the depths of building rubble and hardcore, we can finally say we have something resembling a 'manicured' lawn.
There is nothing there that hasn't popped up by itself, mainly wild grasses and 'weeds' and we are okay with that.

What I love about a manicured lawn is the contrast it gives to the wild and rugged landscape beyond.
We can now use a regular lawn mower for the first time instead of a strimmer.

Obviously in a few areas around the land we (the royal 'we) still use the latter.

Simon, our English volunteer, who helped us out for 2 weeks made short shrift of the long grass around the chicken and duck runs and also near the poly tunnel and around the soft fruit shrubs.

It always gives me a nervous breakdown if anyone else but Bert does the strimming, because you can be sure one or more plants or trees will be cut by accident.

At the moment we have Marcus, from Canada, here and I think if he wasn't getting hungry at the time,  he would have gone on well into the night, he enjoyed it that much.

When I was looking through some photos yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised with what we have done in the four years we've lived here. Obviously, with the help of volunteers and paid labour. 

Just to show you the difference from just moving in in April 2013 (that's my mum, btw) and now.

Third photo is from July 2013 and then yesterday.

It sometimes helps to look back and see the difference one has made, instead of always looking at what still needs to be done. 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and the coming week.

Patricia xxx...x

My Big Fat Harvest

Squash Futsu. Or that is what it should have been. My only fruit from 6 plants. 

It should look like

this

photo from The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Let's just say, if we had to live of the land we'd probably starve to death.

A grim, wet and rather cool summer has resulted in poor pickings.

From our many tomato plants I've managed to make one decent tomato salad. Chillies and peppers didn't do too bad, but ripening on the plant is not for this year.

Sweet pepper - Lipstick. A novelty, green lips. 

In the background - Early Jalapenos. Slugs have been munching away at them and I hope they enjoyed the sting when they did their number two's.

In the front - Hungarian wax. They have given a reasonably good harvest and I'll certainly plant them again.

Squash Butterbush. Similar to butternut but smaller/stockier. Only, mine are larger. The big one is about 25 cm long and these two are the only fruits from I-don't-know-how-many plants. Dire.

The real thing should look like 

this

photo from The Organic Gardening Catalogue

This should be a squash Tuffy. 

But a real one should look like 

this

photo from The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Pumpkin Rouge Vif d'Etampes.

They have done well in comparison with the other fruiting veg. Only one pumpkin per plant, mind. 

I had 8 plants in total of which 3 were wiped out by cold wind and rain early in the season. 

One other pumpkin got completely hollowed out by slugs.

Completely eaten away on the inside.

I don't know what more I could have done to get a better crop of vegetables. Even my courgettes have let me down this year with a produce of male flowers and hardly any fruit.

All is not lost. We still have spinach, chard, carrots, beetroot and two types of cabbage.

Next year better.

Patricia xxx...x

In with a New Post....

....before the next lot arrives.

That will be Bert's older brother and his wife and they are expected in an hour or so.

Salad made, chicken in the oven and potatoes ready to roast.

But first a few photos of the last lot.

 A novel way to wash the hands.

 Washing up chores, since the dishwasher packed it in (on my birthday !)

And a little outing in the dinghy.

 There was no one as happy as Roisin on Monday, when she had the house free of rowdy kids and adults alike.

We've had a fun few weeks but everything has gone reasonably quiet here now.

The veggie garden hasn't been the success I had hoped for. Lack of sunshine, too much rain and not enough time spent tending to it are all causes of a less than favorable harvest thus far.

A few pumpkins and the odd squash. The tomatoes are a bit meh.....

The few zinnias that haven't been eaten by slugs and whatnots are a joy to see in the herb bed.

Next year better on veggie front !

I hope everyone is having a relaxing and sunny summer with better results in the veggie plot.

Patricia xxx....x

Where Did the Time Go ?

It's been ten whole days since my last post and I'm not really sure what I've been doing during that time.
Well, yes. One of the things I did was 'embellish' the freshly painted front door. I went on a shopping spree and bought two bright pink planters, two marguerites and 4 lavenders. I repurposed an old-ish wreath by covering it with burlap/hessian ribbon and two little boats in wood. Bow ! Bam ! Ready !

Our new volunteer arrived on the 13th. Her name is Nil and she is from France. She's a good sport and a fast learner. She has been weeding around the raised beds, tied up the tomato plants in the greenhouse, transplanted seedlings, planted out lettuces, etc. etc. She works good and  meticulously.
And we cleaned the house from top  to bottom (almost).

There is someone living in the Wendy house for chickens, but that will be revealed in the coming days.

So, now I'm off, doing some more of not much. I definitely need a kick up the backside.
Have a lovely weekend.
Patricia xxx...x

The Front Door

We've been here in this house just over three years and I have changed the colour of the front door as many times.

I didn't 'plan' to do this, but every springtime I feel like a change.

So, yesterday I got some paints out and started mixing. I used Chalk Paint (Original from Annie Sloan) as a base.

I added some of the facade paint (see picture below), a squirt of magenta (the artist variety acrylic) and the result is shocking !  Himself wasn't too sure at first, because when it went on it looked proper bubblegum pink. It has toned down a bit with drying. It looks actually quite good with the colour of the stone and the painted extension.

Need some more embellishments, like more colour in the plant pots and a funky doormat.

The door colour was blue before and it looked colder than the photo below shows. 

And, it was time for a change. Ha ha !

Before the blue, it was lavender, but it had bleached a lot during the year it was on the door (must have been from all the sun)

When we moved into the house, the front door was a bland (in my opinion) brown and I wasn't having any of that !

I don't think I can just slap another coat of paint on top next time. The door might not close again.

The window boxes have been filled and are looking goo-ood.

And I'll leave you with a last picture, of the Sweet Williams in all their glory. 

Now, that's a colour and a half.

Have a great weekend !

Patricia xxx...x

Blooms and Buds

 A few small plants, placed in the flower garden two years ago and they've spread really nicely. The leaves are a burgundy colour and make a good ground cover, minimising weeds (I'm all for that). The flowers are purple spiked delicatessen for bees and other buzzers.

And, I've forgotten the name.

The flag iris, one of our many native wildflowers. We have them in abundance.

Rhododendron Ponticum. An invasive species that needs desperate taming (or killing), but undeniably beautiful when in bloom 

 Foxglove or digitalis purpurea. Another of our natives. These pictures I took during the weekend, now these buds have sprung.

 I love them so much that I'll 'rescue' them from outside my herbaceous border and give them pride of place.

My yellow rose with heavenly scent. 

 Picture taken last week when the leucanthemum was starting to flower in earnest. 

At this very moment it is like a sea of white. My mum always had them in the garden and these have been handed down to me by her.  Just a few plants and they have a prolific spreadability.  Which is, again, fine by me. They are easily pulled up if they start to take over, just like the monbretia (in the foreground)

 Sweet William about to pop.

And the lavender. 

I've been weeding and weeding, wheelbarrows full. The worst offenders are the creeping buttercup and the rushes. 

 These above have now found a place in my window boxes for hopefully a good display this summer.

Most of the trees we've planted last year in March have survived, only to be smothered by grass.  Soon, I hope to free the trees.

The stream, now calm and all picturesque, until the heavens open.

Have a nice weekend with lots of sunshine.

Patricia xxx...x