I hope everyone is staying safe and well. I've been looking into some new activities to try and fill the hours each day now we are stuck at home.
Timothy has been brought out of the day-out rucksack so that he can come with me when I go for wanders round the garden.
We have plenty of eggs and butter, thank goodness, but supplies of plain, self-raising and strong white plain flour are diminishing. However, I did let my daughter bake this Butterscotch Traybake. Recipe courtesy of Mary Berry in her "Fast Cakes" book.
I have a collection of free kits given away in knitting magazines and am currently making the Easter Daisy Duck (photo top right of the pack).
My interest in Heraldry continues and on Twitter @LyonCourt's (a heraldry twitter feed) are providing links each day to heraldry sheets which include colouring in.
I did think of working through this book which has tuturials on painting flowers - although they look a bit complex. But I am making a sketch of blossom and fruits.
This is a painting OH started but never finished of Primroses.
I am trying to get some fresh air by walking round the garden each day. Today I have seen my first Dark-edged Bee Fly of the year and have also seen male and female Hairy-footed Flower Bees - no photos - I hadn't got my camera when I saw the Bee Fly and the flower bees were too fast for me.
Photos of some of the plants in flower in the garden
Dandelion
B's bay plants grown from cuttings I think.
Corydalis
Rosemary is flowering
Spirea or Bridal Wreath
Honesty
I am pleased to see Everlasting Wallflower (a perennial) has appeared again.
Camellias
Green Alkanet which appeared in the garden of its own accord - much loved by pollinators
Forget-me-Not
Blackthorn on the edge of the wooded area at the top of the garden which is behind the wild flower patch.
Timothy
Daffodils are still flowering
Pulmonaria
Wood anemones, primulas and Grape Hyacinth
Blossom - B bought this shrub for its autumn foliage although neither of us can remember its name!
We have Cowslips dotted round the garden.
Azaleas have buds appearing.
Lichen
Timothy enjoying the sunshine.
Timothy in his new home on one of the bookcases.
And a few more I took this morning
Wood Sorrel which mysteriously appeared in the garden is now in flower.
Violet growing out of one of the stone walls where I plan to plant my Wall Pennywort seeds.
Budburst on Silver Birch
Whitebeam
Rowan
Blossom again :) - Have picked a few sprigs for the hall.
I hope everyone has the happiest Easter they can in present circumstances.
Take care everyone and stay safe and well.
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.
20 comments:
Your shrub is Amelanchier; I have several in my little patch they start with the flowers then a few bronze leaves are put out and, just as they look perfect, the wind blows all the blossome off! They are lovely though and give berries for the birds later on.
Glad to see you have an assortment of things to occupy you, and with hints that lockdown will be extended you will need them. Happy Timothy is now out and enjoying some freedom in the book case. If this weather keeps on he will need his new tee shirt! You have a good selection of blooms in your garden.
Toffeeapple - Thanks so much and especially for naming the shrub - the name rings a bell now!! It is a pretty shrub. I must look for berries - not sure if I have spotted them.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much. In a way I hope the lockdown is extended and my son and daughter remain at home. I feel far less stressed now than when they were working outside the house. Timothy is happy to be out of that bag! To be honest he is normally near the bookcase but I didn't remove him after his last outing! I have his tee shirt ready and waiting :)
A lovely variety of plants in your garden. My daffs have finished flowering so I spent some time dead heading.
Midmarsh John - Thanks so much. Some of ours have finished too but we don't have as many as we used to.
You have some lovely trees, plants and flowers in your garden and it's good to see Timothy is out and about in the garden with you. Your Amelanchier seems further forward than ours, the flowers are just in bud here. We have found that flour is in short supply too as well as yeast, so we are being careful with the little store we have to make bread. I'm trying to walk up and down the side garden a few times each day for fresh air and exercise. There were lots of bees and butterflies out yesterday afternoon. Have a good Easter and take care:)
Rosie - Thank so much. The Amelanchier suddenly seemed to come into flower very fast. Lack of flour is a pain - people suddenly seem to have developed a love of baking out of nowhere :( My daughter has been on some websites looking for baking birthday presents and scales are sold out, baking tins and trays etc. :( We have enough yeast and strong plain white for Hot Cross Buns and about half a dozen loaves and I have enough plain flour for a simnel cake. SR flour I have a little more but not a lot :( Glad you are going round the garden too - I go out a few times each day too. Good to see flowers and butterflies and bees and watch birds. More than ever I am getting pleasure out of the smallest thing.
Have a good Easter too and take care.
Very nice to see the spring flowers in your garden as beauty to brighten the tough time everyone is faced with. Although it is a bit wet here at present we are fortunate in being able to wander around the property. I am remembering our UK visit as I am reading Hilary Mantel's latest on the life and time of Thomas Cromwell "The Mirror and the Light", such a wonderful writer. Hope you and your family keep safe.
Ian - Thanks so much and it is so lovely to hear from you. I am so glad you visited here in happier times. I have only read Wolf Hall but I did enjoy that and Hilary Mantel is an excellent writer. We once visited a hall where part of the tv series was filmed. Glad you have all your property to walk round and I am very thankful for our garden. I hope you and your family stay safe and well too.
Quacks is a bit concerned Timothy lives in a ruck sack!!
anyway pleased you are all well...
The Quacks of Life - Thanks Pete and lol!!!! :) Timothy thanks Quacks for his concern. He was a bit of a disgruntled bear as after his last outing I forgot to take him out of rucksack! But please be assured he is now back in his usual "home" i.e. on the bookcase. Stay safe and well - glad to know you are ok.
Brilliant that you have Bee Flies. I was so looking fwd to seeing them this year but the nearest site i've seen them to me is about 8 mile away. Just too far to go during the current situation :-(
You have lots of lovely plantings in your garden and how lovely to see a friend's plot. I have masses of the Green Alkenet too - it thrives here all through the summer, and I LOVE that shade of blue. We have a similar spread of plantings - my Cowslips have colonized new areas and look so pretty.
I was looking at your books behind Timothy and think I would be at home in your Library!
I am threatening to do some sketching too. I can't go out because of the tree pollen now, so perhaps today is the day I will commit something to paper!
Punk Birder - Thank you. I do feel honoured to have them in the garden. So sorry your nearest site is so far away. I am thinking of the Wild Garlic, Greater Stitchwort, Cuckoo flower I am missing in the countryside. Difficult and worrying times. Stay safe.
Bovey Belle. Thank you. Yes the Green Alkanet blue is a wonderful colour. Cowslips are spreading round our garden too and popping up in different areas.
I think we would be both enjoy each others libraries from what I have seen of yours.
I haven't got much further with my sketching to be honest! I am SO rubbish at it. But I will try and persevere. Although I doubt I will be sharing much on my blog!
Stay safe.
There's certainly plenty to see in your garden! I had Grape Hyacinths in my garden, then they disappeared but I noticed earlier this week, there are some in a verge just down the street.......maybe that's where they went :D There is a major lack of flour here too though one of the bakeries local to my Mum has been doing baking box deliveries with recipes and the much sought after flour!
Pam - Thank you - we are fortunate. The house was built in the 1920's when they dished out large gardens! Main reason why we bought the house. I look at new houses these days and the back gardens are smaller than our front garden :( Strangely Grape Hyacinths here seem more prolific than usual! Perhaps yours will re-appear. Lack of flour is a pain as daren't bake much now. Have got quite a bit of Strong White Plain but need that for bread. Plain flour is down to one large pack. SR flour we have a bit more but not much more :( Have tried mills online but they have all sold out too :( Do have a bit of old wholemeal and spelt flour but not sure whether out of date! Pleased your mum has found a source for some :) I can't buy ecover items either or simple soap - and I loathe perfumed soap with a passion! Do have an ecover order being processed from ecover direct with some zero perfume soap in a bottle! But not due for delivery until end of month! Thankfully have plenty of nonperfumed Simple deodorant, shampoo and conditioner and one shower gel!
I must admit though our garden isn't the biggest, it played a big factor in us buying the house! Madness over the flour, i'm not the biggest of bakers so i'm managing with what we have, as long as I can do the Yorkshires! I didn't think about all the products like that too, Simple is still Ok to get hold of here but I haven't seen ecover on the shelves, cleaning products are a get what you can at the moment :/ which is no good if you can't actually use them!
Pam - Thanks. I do think gardens are an important factor in house buying :) Lack of flour is a pain as my daughter loves baking and I am trying to keep her occupied to help her anxiety and panic attacks. Simple soap itself is what seems in short supply here in fact any soap! :( Ecover stuff has never been that easy to get here in supermarkets and I do have a stock of some stuff as I buy in bulk mail order and hopefully next order will arrive in a few weeks.
Hello Timothy, Ted hasn't ventured out for an adventure for quite some time. He seems happy sitting in his deck chair next to my computer.
Mostly garden walks for me too at the moment. I have easily accessible local walks where normally I would hardly see anyone. That was until everyone was told to stay at home, but they could go for a walk. So many people are now wandering/running past the back and front of my garden.
CherryPie - Thank you. Timothy waves to Ted and says he would quite like a little deckchair too especially this sunny weather :)
Pavements busy round here too - I haven't walked them but OH has and says if people coming towards you impossible to social distance and if more than one of them instead of going single file they just take up the whole pavement :(
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