Garden Update

 

I don't seem to have done a blog post on the garden at home for ages!

Climbing Hydrangea has put on a wonderful display this year. The flowers are covered in bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies and flies.  Strangely we hadn't seen any butterflies on them until a Painted Lady appeared! You can see how much pollen the flowers produce from the top of the greenhouse!

I used to grow sweet peas every year but for some reason the last few years I haven't got round to it so this year I made a determined effort!

Years ago (over 45 years now!) when we first got married and bought the house B created a large vegetable plot and we also had a fruit cage at the top of the garden.  We grew vegetables for years but once we had the children we found it was hard to find the time - not so much the growing but the freezing and making jams and chutneys. So B in the end turned the area into a wild flower meadow and mini woodland. I seem to remember I gave up making wine at the same time - it was just far too time consuming when you have a baby and a toddler to look after! In addition, I never managed to make wines as good as my father's were! 

When we were last on the Isle of Wight (2018 I think) D was given a free tomato plant and this awakened an interest in growing vegetables especially when we had the first covid lockdown. So these days he grows a lot on the patio in pots and in the lean to greenhouse.

The pots in the centre contain cut and come again lettuce which is a brilliant thing to grow and in front we have radishes.

The first strawberries are forming.

Shallots, pumpkin/courgette and beetroot. 

Garlic which was planted last autumn and which is nearly read to harvest, another pumpkin and courgette and two pollinator plants one of which is Borage.

In the green house ready to be potted on are a chilli pepper, sweet pepper, sweetcorn, aubergine and tomatoes plus sunflowers.

Looking forward to what flowers come up in this!

Lemon Balm - never grown it before!

An overgrown pond! Somewhere in there are Cuckoo Flowers, plus yellow irises and loads of Water Mint which the bees love.

Speckled Wood on Choisea.

Common Carder on Lavender

Sunflowers

Mint in its own pot!

Herb Pot - parsley actually survived the winter. The new addition is Golden Sage.

We were planning on going to Herefordshire this week. I really wanted to see the flowers in St Leonard's as they had a Flower Festival last weekend.  But yet again I have gone down with cellulitis - I have been given some antibiotics but have been told to try not to take them unless it gets worse! I should try ibuprofen first to see if that helps bring down the inflammation.  My last blood test revealed I am slightly anaemic which I think can cause recurring bouts of cellulitis. I have another blood test next Monday. I am glad now we made the effort to go out more in the last few weeks while I could walk! 

Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera except for the Painted Lady butterfly 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 be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Recent Reading and a few photos from my Garden

 

Recent Reading

"Dead in Devon" by Stephanie Austin is a new author and new series for me.  I wasn't sure at first but as I got more into the book I really enjoyed it.  

Another new series and author.  Not sure where I got the idea to read this book - perhaps from Rosie or BB?  I found it a bit slow at first and wasn't keen on the main character but it did improve as it went on and I will try the next in the series.

I've been so wanting to read the latest Ruth Galloway novel and it finally came down in price.  Actually I didn't enjoy it as much as the others probably because it brought back memories of how horrific the first lockdown was.  Interesting ending though re: Michelle.  I may have to buy the next book as soon as it comes out! Am I the only one who wants Ruth and Nelson to be able to live together?!

I really enjoyed this book on Castles - it was so informative and I learnt such a lot. If you like castles I would highly recommend this.

Garden

For some reason the hanging baskets were really disappointing this year but some plants are still flowering.

We are still getting tomatoes and aubergines although not enough tomatoes to make Green Tomato Chutney.

Honesty Seedheads

Michaelmas Daisies - one of my favourite flowers.

Ice Plants and Choisea is flowering again.

Pyracantha and Whitebeam berries - blackbirds are already tucking into the latter and leaves are starting to change colour.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate most of my photos but if anyone does want to use one I would be grateful for an email first. Thank you).

Books, Garden, Baking, Wildflower Verges and a Trip to Coleshill

 

Recent Reading

Thanks to Bovey Belle who made me aware of this book.  Hopefully I can visit some of the places connected to Francis Kilvert mentioned in the book starting with the ones closest!

E bought me this book as a gift as she remembers when there were Golden Eagles at Haweswater in the Lake District we used to visit to see them.  It is written by the RSPB Warden in the Haweswater area on how they are trying to improve the land they farm and manage for wildlife not without facing obstacles from local farmers.  A brilliant read.

I noticed there was a new Brighton Mysteries book out by Elly Griffiths. I really enjoyed this book.

The new Merrily book is out.  I enjoyed this immensely always good to return to Merrily's "world"  although it is set at the beginning of the first lockdown and does bring back some of the horrors and uncertainty we all felt at that time.   In a few months I will go back to re-reading some of the earlier books in the series.

Baking

I made a Dorset Apple Cake for D's birthday as it is his favourite and

I was really pleased with the dragon pop up card I found for him.

Solihull has a project called Wildlife Ways to make Solihull greener and to create nature places that are good for people, birds and insects. Funding has come from the EU Regional Development Fund and other sources.   One of the projects has involved the planting of 8000 square metres with wildflowers seeds to help biodiversity especially pollinating insects.

This is just one of the lovely verges in Castle Bromwich.

 

Good to see they are using native species too.

Garden

Small posy picked from plants flowering at the moment.

D planted these "cut and come again" salad leaves and they are so useful.

Chilli peppers and tomatoes are forming.

Trip to Coleshill

D and I spent an hour or so in the market town of Coleshill which is close to home.

Seen on a lamp post.

I did venture briefly into the super charity second hand bookshop. Books Revisited. I didn't buy anything although they did have a full copy of the Flora Brittannica by Richard Mabey and I only have the concise version so I now regret not buying it!

Colehaven almshouses by H W Weedon for Sir John Sumner. There are two blocks built in 1931/32 and 1934 in a Tudor style.

The Town Hall by S H Wigham 1925/6.

I spotted this sign on our way back to the car so we detoured towards the church.

The fayre was held on a green by the churchyard. We had a quick look round and I did buy a beeswax candle with a sunflower on it.

Portaloos? disguised as phone boxes.

St Peter and St Paul Coleshill Parish church dates back to the 14th/15th centuries. It is occasionally open and I have been inside several times it is a fascinating church.

The Georgian Old Bank House.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (If anyone ever wishes to use any of my photos (or my son's) I would be grateful if you could email me first please. Thanks.