Green is the new black...

I really don't like to buy new things unless absolutely necessary. 

So when our laptop went caput, again, and we took it to the little laptop shop, again, and it came back as slow and unresponsive as it ever was, again, we decided it was time to get a new one.

We still have all our photos stored on the old one and I have been spending some time transferring them all and came across the photos from out trip to France.

I have not travelled much. At all. In my head I like to imagine this other me packing a ruck-sack and heading off to far flung lands but in reality the furthest my feet have touched is Turkey when I was about fourteen.

I really enjoyed our visits to the various gardens and watching the countryside roll by.

My favourite by a mile was Les Jardins Pays d'Auge.

I have never really had my breath taken away by a garden before - yet I could not stop smiling and sighing as I walked around.

I got a jolt of excitement when I came across the photos this morning - and just wanted to include some again to refresh my memory and get some inspiration for this weekend when I plan to spend a few hours in my own garden.

I think one of my favourite features in the garden was how things were displayed. 

I do find myself 'decorating' my garden with all the random things I find on the beach or rescue from skips much to the annoyance of The OH...but that is what makes your garden your own. Just as much as the planting, the colours you use, or indeed the colours you don't. 

Pays d'Auge celebrated green it all it's glory, and I think that was why it struck such a chord with me. 

I had always imagined that a well designed garden needed to be a riot of flowers and colour.

I am looking forward to getting out in my garden this weekend. 

The OH and I don't really 'do' Valentines - but he has kindly offered to take The LO out for a few hours so I can get out into the garden.

It will be a long time yet until I can let The LO go toddling around the upper part of the garden as it just too steep, uneven and dangerous. 

We enjoy playing on the patio though - he loves his little swing and I may try to build a little sand-pit for him this summer. 

I will make a point of walking around my garden this weekend and appreciate all the different hues of green, which I am ashamed to say I have often overlooked as mere 'foil' for other plants.

Green is fast becoming my favourite colour.

Muddy Boots x 

This time last year...

I was shuffling around with a huge bump, getting nervous and excited with every twinge or twang as my due date drew closer and closer.

Right now, at this moment in time, I am sat at the kitchen table watching a blackbird devour some cheese I have just put on the bird table.

The LO is asleep. Although not for long...

It is a gloomy but mild day. We shall take a walk in a while once he has woken up and chased the cat around the house for a bit. I have spotted a big Pine Tree in the park and want to collect some of the pine cones for my insect hotel...

I plan to use an old wine rack for the frame and have been busy collecting twigs, bamboo canes, seed heads and terracotta tiles.

Much to do.

Much to do around the house...

Much to do in the garden...

I need to buy some new gardening boots...

Although I may treat myself to a pair of wellies.

I don't have a pair of wellies, and am not sure how comfortable they would be for gardening.

Though I could just leave them by the back door so it looked like I had been busy in the garden when I was actually having a sneaky nap when The LO did...

Muddy Boots x 

Still Life...

With more and more of my time spent out and about with The L.O, or even stuck indoors due to miserable weather, I find that I look upon my garden in a completely different way.

I used to walk around making mental notes of everything that needed to be done, thinking ahead. Always thinking ahead to next year and never really just sitting. Sitting and looking. Looking and observing. Observing and enjoying. 

I now spend those rare and golden moments I get alone in the garden to just relax with a cup of tea and put my feet up.

Watching the light playing through the trees.

Listening to the birds flitting around in the hedge.

Breathing in that wonderful smell of a fresh Rose bloom. 

Sometimes it's nice to do nothing at all in the garden except be in it. 

I usually buy a tray of Geranium plug plants in Spring for the patio, but this year I grew some from seed. 

Not only were they really quick to germinate, but they seem much more vibrant than the plugs I get. 

I think I will be growing them from seed from now on. 

On a cold and gloomy day I tend to use Geranium Essential Oil in a burner. It never fails to lift my spirit. 

It is one of my favourite plants. 

I have three long shallow stone troughs on the patio and I always get stuck for ideas with what to plant in them.

I often get bored with my choice very quickly.

I had been growing some Violas, but fancied a change so I dug them all out and transplanted them up in the garden.

I replenished the soil, added some leaf mold and put in three ferns and some grass that I had grown on from splitting a huge clump in the Spring.

I'm not sure what type of grass it is, perhaps Acorus?

I am really pleased with the combination of Ferns and Grass.

It is simple, and pleasant to look at.

A real change from my usual choice of Violas, Love-in-a-Mist or Night scented Stock. 

I am discovering that I actually quite like understated and restrained planting combinations.

Next year I would like to change the patio. 

Simplify it.

Instead of having lots of little pots filled with lots of little plants, I would like one or two big pots. 

Lavender, Rosemary or Lemon Balm for the sunny side or the patio.

More ferns and perhaps some Ivy for the slightly shadier wall.

One thing is for sure though - I will always have a soft spot for the good old terracotta pot...

Goodnight. 

The Glory of The Garden...

So we all know that Mr Kipling makes exceedingly good cakes.

However, that is not the Mr Kipling to which this post is about. 

One of my favourite things to do on a sunny Sunday morning is to wander around a boot fair.

I absolutely love a good boot fair, and have countless times happened to drive past one and screamed "STOP...STOP...BOOT FAIR..." at my long suffering husband.

I get really excited and almost dribble. Yep.

So, last Sunday, the LO woke me up nice and early.

We pottered about, listened to the radio and shared a lovely breakfast involving porridge and banana while we left The OH in bed for a well deserved slumber.

By 8.00am The OH was still... sleeping... like...a...baby...so the actual baby and I headed off to the local boot fair.

In the past I used to do a formula one circuit, scanning everything everywhere in super quick time, for the fear of not being fast enough and missing out on something.

Nowadays it is a much more leisurely activity.

Mainly because I made a commitment to stop buying junk that I didn't really need.

If I buy anything now, I have a one in, one out policy.

Whether it be a boot fair, charity shop or finding something for free, it has to be...

1) Useful

or

2) Replace something else which then gets donated or given away.

When wandering around a boot fair, I will always be drawn to books, things to do with owls, and anything garden related.

I really have to work hard at not buying another book about wildflowers, even if it may be 'useful' when out rambling across the countryside...

Back to the last Sunday...

I had already bought The LO a nice set of flash cards for the grand price of 20p and a set of books for 50p, two African Violet houseplants for one whole pound and was about to head home when I spotted an interesting little picture.

It was in fact a poem called The Glory of The Garden by Mr Rudyard Kipling.

I have way too much art hanging in the house already with not an inch of wall to spare, but I loved the little poem and when the lady told me I could have it for 50p I immediately handed over my silver and rushed home with my goodies.

I have a whole wall dedicated to various pictures loosely based around the theme of woodland/trees/nature, and the little poem fits in perfectly.

   The Glory of The Garden   

                  

Our England is a Garden that is full of stately views,

Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,

With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by,

But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.

For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,

You'll find the tool and potting sheds which are the heart of all,

The cold frames and the hot houses, the dung pits and the tanks,

The rollers, carts and drain pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you'll see the gardeners, the men and 'prentice boys,

Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise,

For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,

The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,

And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows, 

But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,

For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made,

By singing "Oh, how beautiful" and sitting in the shade,

While better men than we go out and start their working lives,

At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner knives.

There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick,

There's not a hand so weak and white, nor a heart so sick.

But it can afford some needful job that's crying to be done,

For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one.

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders,

If it's only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders,

And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,

You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden.

Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees,

That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees,

So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray,

For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away!

AND THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN IT SHALL NEVER PASS AWAY!




Rudyard Kipling

A new chapter...

Greetings.

It has been a very long time since I last sat at my laptop to write about my little corner of the world.

Our little one has arrived and everything else just kind of stopped.

The garden has been left to it's own devices.

The washing up doesn't get done and I can't tell one pile of laundry from the other. 

The cat has gone without her dinner a few times too which is the worst, although she seems to be handling the whole situation rather well surprisingly. 

Talking of new arrivals...we are now also the proud owners of a potting shed.

Winter gave us several big storms which smashed our plastic greenhouse to smithereens all across the garden. 

I shall be finding little pieces of plastic for years to come.

The glass greenhouse also took a battering but is still standing and The O.H was brilliant at fixing it back into shape again.

We dismantled what was left of the plastic greenhouse and set about wondering what to do with the space it once occupied.

I wanted to grow roses across the fence to use as cut flowers for the house and build some raised beds to create a little herb garden.

The OH wanted to put up a shed. A man shed. What is it with men and their sheds?

In the end we agreed that a potting shed would suit the both of us. 

He could sit in it and listen to the cricket or play guitar and I would be very happy having more space to grow plants.

It arrived last weekend and is awesome.

I moved a rocking chair into it and me and The L.O have been having a very nice time sitting among the Tomato and Cosmos seedlings.

I will take some photos soon so in the meantime here are some photos of the space left behind once the greenhouse had been dismantled. 

I stared at these photos for hours just imagining what to do with the space. At one point I did think 'Hot Tub' but had probably drank too much Raspberry Tea.

I also fought long and hard with The O.H over my wish to dedicate a part of the garden to a small lawn.

We have no lawn at all in the garden and I thought it would be lovely to lay upon some grass making out shapes in the clouds and having a Teddy Bears Picnic.

The O.H stood firm but eventually caved and I began the job of preparing the area for some turf.

I was considering sowing it from seed but we have so many cats and foxes roaming through (and of course pooping in it) that it would be a nightmare trying to keep them off so we bought some turf instead.

Here is how far I had got two weeks ago.

I weeded, levelled and raked the area all with L.O strapped into a sling. 

I try to get out into the garden with him and do something every other day. 

Simple easy jobs. 

We have already gone toppling into a box ball together when I reached over too far trying to pull some bindweed from a border.

I can't wait to spent time together seeing who can grow the tallest sunflower, watching the frogs in the pond, making treats for the birds in winter and of course...laying on our little lawn...

The garden will no doubt change now we have a L.O.

There will footballs flying over the roses towards the greenhouse I'm sure.

As much as I want my garden to look nice and be productive, I also want it to provide a little boy with health, happiness and adventure.

Even if means a few squashed veg and headless flowers...

Good Night.

Grouch in the Grotto...

I am often told by The OH that I need to relax more when it comes to Christmas.

Well, when it comes to the Christmas decorations actually.

I always have this vision of a naturalistic style when I think about how I would like to decorate my home - lots of wood, greenery picked from the garden, oranges spiked with cloves so on and so forth...

And yet...

The OH always manages to find the bag of tinsel no matter how hard I try to hide it in the attic.

I'm not really a fan of tinsel.

Or the foil dangly things he hangs from the ceiling.

Little bits of tinsel flutter into every nook and cranny, I am forever hovering them up.

The foil things never seem to stay up on the ceiling no matter how much blu-tac or sticky tape is used.

The OH tells me 'It's Christmas, it's supposed to be shiny and tacky' and I no longer have the energy to fight him.

So I have left him to put up as much tinsel, foil things, and whatever else makes his heart sing.

I rescued this little tree from a skip a few years back, and I have to admit that I have grown rather fond of it.

It often makes me quite angry when I think about how we live in such a 'throw away' society these days. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this little tree, so why was it thrown in a skip instead of donated to charity or advertised on freecycle etc?

It is now a source of great pleasure for Stingray our cat, who enjoys trying to rip down the little Robins that hide among the branches...

I couldn't resist popping into a local charity shop last week when I saw they had a sale on their Christmas stock.

It was buy three items for 50p so I picked up this little cutie...

This little guy (who terrifies The OH)

And another bird decoration, because you can never have too many...

I absolutely love the little deer, he shall be staying out all year round.

I have quite the little collection of deer hiding around the house now, and shall have fun finding a little corner for him to live in.

I always enjoy making my own Christmas cards, so I took a few photos of some I made earlier...

I am constantly being told that by this time next year it will seem impossible that I had the time to do something so frivolous with a little one around...

I had a very nice time wandering around charity shops picking up little gifts for The OH, as well as a few cheeky things for myself such as the decorations.

Our present buying rule is that we never spend more than £5 on one another, and that gifts have to come from a charity shop.

We mostly end up with a selection of book or record shaped items under the tree.

I was quite pleased with two books I picked up for The OH. 

A really old book of poetry based on The Lake District with some lovely illustrations, and a book on the history of Punk.

Both books for £1 - bargain.

I had forgotten to pick up some wrapping paper though, so I went rooting through the cupboards and drawers to try and find something else to use.

I came across half a roll of lining paper, so I wrapped the books in that, and dug out my little Christmas tree stamp to decorate the paper with and was quite pleased with the result...

 

I wondered why I hadn't done this before.

I might actually go and buy a roll of lining paper for use next year instead of wrapping paper.

It is fun to stamp and can be put in the compost.

I put some shiny metallic type wrapping paper in the compost last Christmas which was a mistake as it just never rotted down.

I am actually quite excited about Christmas now.

I am very much looking forward to Roast Potatoes.

And the tinsel isn't that bad (even if I did just have to fish out a bit from my cup of tea) but I won't tell The OH that...

Otherwise he may go out and buy some more...

Good Night.

The simple art of giving...

I have been thinking ahead to Christmas. Not this Christmas, but next Christmas.

It will be a quiet Christmas this year.

We are staying home for the first time in years and are very much looking forward to it.

No long car journeys, no uncomfortable silences when someone says something they shouldn't have around the dinner table and no clothes.

Uh huh - that's right...no clothes.

I will be wearing my pj's for Christmas this year...all day long.

Mainly because I can no longer fit into most of my clothes and I refuse to buy maternity clothes.

I am making do with stretchy items and borrowing things which is working so far, but rocking up for Christmas day wearing an over sized man's shirt and questionable leggings would I'm sure, be frowned upon.

So, it will be a quiet Christmas, which also means we have not had to go out and spend a fortune of our money, time and sanity on shopping.

I really do hate Christmas shopping.

Not at all because I am a scrooge, but because the meaning of Christmas (to me) seems to disappear further and further away each year.

I feel almost bullied into purchasing pointless rubbish which is 'supposed' to show I care.

I have the happiest Christmas when I spend time with loved ones, eat too many roast potatoes and listen to Christmas carols by candle light.

Yet I feel embarrassed if I turn up at a friends house without a gift usually over packaged in way too much plastic.

So I have decided, that next year, I will go green.

I'll still wash and won't go and live in a tree or something - I just mean that I will try to give gifts that are home grown or home made.

It sounds easy enough but it is actually quite a difficult task when I think about it.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

I have some box cuttings that are growing away in the greenhouse, which might make nice sized plants by next year.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

I have some white cyclamen that I could carefully dig up and pop

into a nice pot.

 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  

 

 

I could go pine cone collecting and make some

wintery mobiles.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

I could print these cute little seed packets and create a personal selection of flowers, herbs and/or vegetables that I know a loved one liked.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

I could snip some greenery from the garden and make some pretty (if somewhat short lived) decorations. 

 

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 Plant some paper white or amaryllis bulbs in an old china cup or dish.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

Make a nice festive cake, ideally with cinnamon. Mmm Cinnamon. Mmm Cake.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

So my aim for this Christmas, next Christmas, Christmas in general is to... 

 

 

 

Good Night x