Birds and bees

This year many gardeners have found the growing season has not gone well. In my garden potatoes have vanished and sweetpeas are covered in greenfly. But there have been some successes and they make me very happy. I grow many plants to encourage bees and now the borage (a bit of a thug) and  the nasturtiums (which have covered the onions), are visited by lots of bees and yesterday, the first peacock butterfly. Best of all are the sunflowers which I have grown to show our grand daughter. Tall and sturdy the wonderful big heads have a visiting bee most of the day. The hedgehog babies have been seen near the compost heap and beside the swing seat so they are getting adventurous. Everyday I walk beneath the willow tree and look up. Almost always there will be two big eyes looking down at me and sometimes four, as our baby owls snooze in the sun and wait for take away food to be delivered at dusk by mum. So some things are a big success!

Quilt made for Joss

Garden treasure

We all know how much it has rained this summer. There have been days when I haven't ventured down the garden. The mosquitoes are enormous and bites require antibiotics. Climbing beans and sweet peas are half their normal size. But today we found a treasure. Years ago Denise gave us one which we planted in the meadow. It disappeared....The meadow was once the lawn, but with a high water table it was impossible to cut, so we let it grow. Now we have lots of wild flowers and now our newest arrival.... now we need crested newts and our garden can be a site of special scientific interest!!

Local families

It has been ages since I wrote the blog. Time has flown in a whirl of cuddles with my baby grand daughter and quilt making in between. It's been a very busy time. Now they have moved to their new home, settled into a new job and she is making her mark at the baby music group with bells and tamborine at the ready. So now I have time to look around the garden and I find that there is a new family. The triplets are very young, just learning to toddle. They have found a comfy home under the hellebores and near the slug supermarket which is my hosta plant area.... Very sleepy by day, they wake up to eat in the evening. We are thrilled as you can imagine....

New neighbours

Recently we have discovered we have new neighbours. We met them when we were out walking on the common one day. They seem to be outdoor types, they enjoy fresh air and lots of walking. I see them out in all weathers, rain or sun, they often come over to say hello. Vegetarians, they mostly eat green leaves, but enjoy the odd carrot and apple. Although they are very quiet neighbours, they are always interested in what we are doing, a chat over the fence is a great way to pass the time of day. and if there are polo mints around, they are very happy to share a packet.....

Quilt made for Maddy

New life

Here in rural Lincolnshire, we have just had one of our big events on the calendar. Even though I don't have a farm, one feels very close to the land and celebrating the seasons is important. So lambing time is very special. Our university has several  agricultural courses and the students get lots of practical experiences. Lambing weekend is one of them. Students work in shifts throughout 24 hours to help delivery lambs. There are pens of expecting ewes, very large and woolly, pens of lambs and mummies, very maternal looking, and a small pen of lambs to be bottle fed which is a huge attraction for everyone. The public are welcome on Lambing Sunday. You can cuddle a lamb, sit on a tractor, stroll through the snowdrops and daffodils and eat wonderful bacon rolls. It's a great day out. The sound of baaing hungry lambs fills the air, they jump on the hay bales, sleep in the troughs, get lost with other lambs, but still manage to find mum for milk. Such a happy day and a great chance to try out new wellies.

Food for the soul

'There is a deep satisfaction about making things', Paul Kennedy, historian wrote. He was talking about Tyneside and the Swaan Hunter shipyard where his Dad worked, building ships. As a small boy, when a new ship was launched, he and his friends went to watch. They went to see what their Dads had made. How impressed those little children must have been. Now we can't all make such a wonderful thing as a large ship. But we can make something. So Andrew makes beer in his garage. I have knit several rather strange woolly jumpers for myself, to the astonishment of friends and family. Susie made bunting for a new baby present and Katy makes muffins frequently. So make something today, a birthday card, a cake, a knitted teddy, homemade, but very special gifts. Unique, treasured and all your own. It's all food for the soul.....

knitted toys at Farnham Woolly Ideas Show

Resolutions

This the time of year when resolutions should be made. So I have resolved to throw away the bathroom scales. And my resolution has been successful.  Now I no longer see them lurking in the bathroom, daring me to stand on them when I know they will make me miserable most of the time. So they have gone. Lovely Grandpa gave me a Christmas cheque and I have spent it on a keep fit machine. Rowing, jogging, weights you may ask? Well this one is for use in the fresh air and comes with a lovely basket. And it is for Ladies. It is a Ladies Bicycle and I can wear skirts if I wish. I intend to spend lots of time sailing along, gripping the lovely leather clad handlebars and balancing elegantly on the leather sprung seat...which is also for Ladies.... With flowers and library books in the basket and the sun shining, it will be perfect. Now I need to practice doing that clever way of twizzling your legs as you jump on and off..............