Another sunny day today but a little windy; rather more than a breeze and less than a gale. I thought the trellis border looked quite calm from the caravan window. I thought wrong. But decided to carry on with it anyway wrapped up in a woolly hat, and my trusty fleece lined gardening coat ( with the hood up of course as I hate wind on the back of my neck it gives me a bad neck for days).
I actually got quite a bit more done and have nearly removed all the stone edging and re-edged the grass trying to give the border a nice flowing curve – not an easy thing to do as the curves look better or worse depending on your viewpoint in the garden. I didn’t take any pictures today (other than the one of the plants I bought and are still waiting to be planted) – I will surprise you another day.
DH was on hedge maintenance all morning but at 11.30 precisely calamity struck when he discovered he had a slightly flat rear tyre (well the car had). It was a slow puncture from a nail that had embedded itself in the rubber. He went to change it for the spare but with limited tools here he couldn’t get the nuts off the wheel – he decided he would need help from a local garage.
Oh no…as you might know it was already lunchtime by now there is no garage in the village and when we checked most of the garages in town had closed for the weekend and the bank holiday on Monday. We didn’t want to wait until Tuesday or we would be stuck without and car over the long weekend which is not a good idea in case we had an emergency on our hands. We searched around on the internet and eventually found an MOT station open until 3pm – so he pumped the tyre up a bit and drove carefully into town and they kindly changed the wheel for him but would not accept any payment and DH had to force a few pounds onto the old guy. People are so helpful up here.
Whilst he was gone I put the tray of apricot Violas I had bought into the planter and then made some mushroom soup, just an excuse to use the new blender really. The instruction leaflet gives the speed settings for different foods – soup or sauce, milkshakes and ‘carrots with water’. Can anyone enlighten me on the ‘carrots with water’ – is this a new drink maybe?
I mentioned yesterday that after going to see (and climb) the mound we headed off up to New Luce. The pictures for this are far more exciting than my garden but I am still in the middle of preparing them so as bedtime is beckoning I will have to have a go at finishing the post tomorrow. x
The stream border is on the northern side of the cottage. Edged with pine trees, rosa rugosa and the Fatsia which needs pruning, it has become a bit leggy but keeps the border cool and shady and protected from any strong inland winds. The buds on the rosa rugosa and hydrangea in the border are only just starting to unfold as they too were quite leggy and I cut them back quite hard this year.
Meanwhile in the trellis border on the seaside of the cottage the plants I put in last year…
……have now been un-netted so I can weed inside (no doubt watched over by the bunnies on the hill pondering on their next juicy meal) and I am in the process of removing the stones edging the border for easier grass cutting.
Around the garden, especially in the lower wood and woodland walk, things are stirring and beginning to flower.
Solomon’s Seal
Dicentras and Tiarella
and apple blossom.
I woke up this morning so late, it was a quarter to ten when I finally got up – I think I had gardened myself into a standstill yesterday so we decided a day doing very little was in order.
The Mound of Droughduil was identified only a few years ago by archaeologists from Manchester University as Neolithic dating back to 2500BC and not Medieval as originally thought. In stone age times it was a ceremonial centre and meeting place for the local community. We went to take a closer look today as it is magnificently covered in Bluebells. 
We climbed up to the top –it stands some 30 feet high and is quite flat on the top – a lovely place to picnic maybe – just a touch draughty; the summit being reached by a tiny trail path through the grass and bluebells. Strange to think how many feet through the ages have trodden on this very turf. Although not quite the dizzy heights of the Eifel Tower the view from the top is still worth the climb. 
Going down seemed much steeper than going up. 
Afterwards we took the road up to New Luce – but that is a story for tomorrow. For now it is my bedtime, DH is already tucked up in bed – I can hear the gentle wafts of snoring coming from the bedroom – no doubt I will be back in the borders tomorrow. x
Raining all day here today – the forecast was right, but it was not heavy rain more a constant drip and drizzle so it didn’t sound like we were sitting in a tin can as caravans often do in the rain, in fact we hardly heard it at all.
I spent some time catching up with a few blogs and realised how many have fallen away recently – pressure of time, nasty commenters and some just run their course – but they are missed.
There is nothing so lovely as a few raindrops and I just had to take one or two quick snaps. I absolutely love these little cones on this pine tree they are like tiny raspberries.
It was always our greeting.   She would call out to me on arrival at the office ‘morning Miss V’ and I always responded with ‘morning Miss T’ – it stuck over the years and everyone else always addressed us as Miss V and Miss T like the shop assistants were called back in the day. Some things I still miss about working!
So far the rabbits have left them alone but I have to cover the roots of the hydrangea with large stones to prevent them digging and nibbling them. I think the ivy needs a bit more of a trim tomorrow then, weather allowing, I will be moving on to the trellis border.
where the journey takes me 2 