We went to Herefordshire for a few days last week - a visit inbetween family birthdays and to water the plants there.
We arrived on the Wednesday - the weather was lovely but too hot for me.
The Herefordshire Oak in all its summer glory.
The Octopus Tree
The Constable Tree(s)
B has wanted a red hot poker plant for the garden there for ages and I was really lucky to find one for sale at Stockton Bury Gardens.
The sunflowers D grew from seed are slowly growing.
I bought this dahlia at B and Q for £4 - it was meant for the garden but ended up in a pot!
Self Heal growing in the lawn.
Herb pot - the mint is growing well. Unlike home there are no problems with Mint Moth larvae.
D brought a spare tomato plant from home and we bought the chilli pepper for a £1 in in B and Q.
The hollyhock has just started flowering.
After we'd arrived D and I went a walk down to the Hen House to buy some eggs.
While we were away David completed a jigsaw - it is a John Speed historical county map of Herefordshire. You can buy prints of this map and I wouldn't mind buying one for the caravan.
We'd brought some strawberries we'd picked at home just before we left and D made a Strawberry polenta cake.
This is one of the hedgehogs at the caravan site. It was out early in the evening although it looked healthy enough. I would imagine they are finding it difficult to find food in this dry weather so we put out some hedgehog food while we were there. I used the bat detector most nights but unusually I couldn't pick any up or see any.
The site was very quiet even at the weekend which is unusual for a June weekend when the weather is good. We've heard several rumours about what the new site owners are planning but to be honest I take it with a pinch of salt as it is just people surmising and no-one really knows anything. I do worry though about what might happen in the future. Our neighbour at home for over 40 years has just moved out which is unsettling. No-one has yet moved into her house and I just hope there are no plans for rebuilding work like we had the other side! We really do need to get our act together and move ourselves. Although that won't be easy as B and I like totally different types of property and I would like to move to Herefordshire but B wants to stay local. You can get a lot more for your money in Herefordshire compared to Warwickshire.
On the Thursday D and I did a click and collect at Morrisons, Leominster and called in at B and Q and then in the afternoon we went and had a look around Stockton Bury Gardens which I'll write about in the next post.
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera except for the hedgehog photo taken by D with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would appreciate an email first - thanks).
6 comments:
I hope you do move to Herefordshire - it's lovely county. I grew up in Southampton and have lived in Dorset and spent half my life in Wales. I would HATE to be tethered to the same area I grew up, especially as it is so incredibly over-populated and busy down on the South coast now. I think I am more adventurous than your husband. I think it pays to retire to somewhere known but newer to you, and you can get to make new friends and explore. You will have to talk him into it.
Thanks BB - believe me I have tried but he doesn't have the family ties to Herefordshire I do. My paternal grandfather came from Hereford and my grandmother from Burford. It would also mean we could sell the caravan. The site fees and other fees they charge is getting more and more each year. But he wants to stay near our daughter. He lieks the amentities you get too. But I hate and loathe living in a city. We should have moved years ago when he first retired tbh.
So thankful it's been cooler here on coastal Wales. I'm surprised your eggs aren't cooked from the Egg House! I hope you get good new neighbours, and also a positive outcome with the new owners moving forward at the caravan site.
Thank you Debbie - I would love to be somewhere cooler - it is unbearable today. Thanks re the new owners and the caravan site. Hopefully I am worrying unnecessarily!
Lovely photos and everything looks wonderful in your garden and around the site. It is unsettling when changes are afoot especially where you live. We've recently had new neighbours after our old neighbour died earlier this year. They seem okay but have two Staffordshire bull Terriers who keep getting into our garden, one more adventurous than the other. Like you we really should have moved years ago, for us back to Derbys or Notts, nearer family and friends, now it seems to much to contemplate. So hot today here, take care in the heat:)
Thanks so much Rosie - EEK re the new neighbour's dogs - not what you want. I remember years ago when my son was a toddler next door's dog kept coming in the garden and leaving unwanted "piles". OH in the end put 6 foot fencing up. I think it is the uncertainty of what may happen that is worrying me. No idea about changes at the caravan park and people there surmising too much. As for next door no idea if they are going to rent it but more concerned of any rebuilding plans they may have. Moving at our age is not an easy thing to contemplate is it? Yes horribly hot here too. Roll on Wednesday when it may be cooler.
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