Sea and clouds

I had a letter to post and Tina had a large one that needed a large stamp so I walked down to the post office. I thought I was hearing things when I asked for four large first class stamps and she said £8.40!  After that I walked up to the see front. Pics of sun on the water and clouds for a change.

I walked through the memorial garden and saw the preparations for the D-Day service later. Every bench had a wreath, there were many crosses with poppies and the bandstand was decorated.

I went with Tina when she had her dental appointment and then we had lunch at a garden centre. Tina had seen some plants that she rally qqnre in the garden but they didn’t have them. But we found plenty of others and some new bird feeders. The a bigger plant, a fatsia that Tina had spotted at a good price.

I still have eighteen plants to go in and now there.The fatsia is at the back.

Maybe the squirrels will be a bit baffled by these feeders, but not holding my breath.

We decided the fatsia needed to go at the back of the garden to give sone height, but a very rough area!

Digging and raking and the tree roots weren’t too bad!

I managed to dig the pretty large whole that was needed and now the large plant is in the garden!

I did a bit more tidying after that but no more pics.

I watered the bonsai trees and a few other things in the walled garden but didn’t feel like my more gardening this evening, so another lazy evening!

Workshop day

I will start with a photo from Tina of a unusual shot of York Minster.

Caroline picked me up at 9.30 so that we could finish setting up for todays class. We set up two tables, one where Caroline did the lay work, making plant markers, and the one for me to get them painting the flower pots. I had done them all a set of pansy drawings that they could transfer to the pots with special ceramic carbon paper. I also made sure I had sharp pencils and sone fine paint brushes for their detailed work.

Here they were with Rachel and a couple of the markers.

And a couple of them painting the flower pots.

They have used the patterns I gave them but some very different results and they will all be great.

I painted a small tile while they were busy.

And a photo of their final days work.

The cake and scones went down well when we had a refreshment break, so all in all a good day. I walked back from Freeport after we had cleared up the studio. And Carol came and cut my hair this evening. Another quiet, feet up time now.

Garden and baking

This morning I decided I would add a couple of trees to the bed I worked on yesterday. When we were living in Scarborough I bought some acres.one has been in the bed for three or four years now, the other two are still in the pots and haven’t been doing too well. I went down to the bed frost to see if I could dig big enough holes as there is a dead tree stump in the middle of the bed. Then I went to get the pot bound trees out. It was a battle to remove all the rubbish that was growing in there as well after years in the same pots. Then I got them into the bed plus a few plants. You can see they are a lot smaller than the one I freed earlier!

It became a delightful job as I got unexpected company. A young robin who was so unworried by me that I managed these photos with the phone.

I tidied up the area where I la I’d the grass path years ago then took a photo of the garden.

This afternoon I made a couple of sponges and some cheese scones, no picture as they look much the same as the ones I posted a couple of weeks ago.

Made them for the workshop I am taking with Caroline tomorrow at the pottery studio.

Just taking it easy now.

Same old ……..

Will start with something different, the hoodie I bought yesterday. At the moment I am keeping a sort of diary in. Book called 100 Days of Happimess. I am over half way through now and endeavour to think of things that have made me smile or feel happy. You can usually find something on the roughest day!

Today has been more of the same really. I moved on to two beds that I have tidied umpteen times before, then the flower beds in the back garden will all have been done fairly recently so I should be able to go round with the hoe every couple of days and keep them from getting too overgrown. Well, that’s the theory.

I finished the first one before lunch. 

Tina was out to lunch so Darren and I thought we would go to Lyndsey’s. We were very disappointed and will not be going there again. They had decided it would not be table service anymore and the meals were sparse and not correct. Such a shame as it was a great little place when it was Lily’s. So we went and had coffee and cake at a cafe in town.

This afternoon I got on with the other bed, cut back a honeysuckle which has never been any good so a bit more work involved,

Had a bit of a rest before walking down to see Sarah and David for a while. I got home before eight and Tina had wanted me to go and try and cut the lawn at the new curates house. We took the hand mower and the strimmer but neither were man enough for the length of the grass!

We tried!

Took a picture of the sky from the car on the way home.

Enough exercise for today. Feet up and tv until bedtime!

Just remememered I mowed the front lawns this morning as well, took almost two hours!

Boot sale and garden

I will start with the photo of Tina’s coasters s I forgot t add them yesterday.

We went to the boot sale, I got quite a few plants, a frame for the sweet peas and a hoodie. Will take a pic of the hoodie tomorrow. So quite a few plants to get in, will go out again this evening.

The frame was only a pound and when I got home added some strings as it was too gappy. Then I put the sweet peas in a plastic bag so that I could get the frame into the pot! Forgot to take one of them released, but actually they were a bit droopy so gave them a good drink.

I went out intending to carry on where I left off yesterday working round the flower beds, even took the before photo.

But I got sidetracked and decided to do something in the bed where the bird table is, not that you could see it was a bed as the weed and grass was about a foot tall. I strimmed to start with, then cut back brambles etc, and then strimmed again and tidied the edges. I won’t plant anything there but at least it looks tidy for when we have the open gardens day.

Really should have taken a before of that one! When I eventually went to the place I was going to work on I decided to dig out the three clumps of the giant snowdrops that were in there. More than yesterday! Did take. Pic this time, then I bagged them up ready to go out in a box again tomorrow for people to take if they want them.

A while ago I got some plastic chicken ornaments to go on the lawn, but becaus out lawn has so much moss you cannot get them in easily and they may break, so I have put them in a flower bed instead.

I got the bed tidied up, there was a lot of weed t the back which I cleared and will hopefully get a couple of larger plants to put in this week.

Tina go dinner as I was busy, which was nice. Doing the blog now then gong out aging for an hour to get some of the plants put into the beds. But intend to be indoors by nine to see The Piano.

Will finish with a great photo curtesy of Anya.

Mostly in the garden

After the usual trip to the shop for rolls for lunch,  and then seeing Darren off to Lincoln and his Amiga meeting and Tina off to a house warming I got started in the garden. I have a few plants to put in, but didn’t get that far today.

Went to carry on where I left off yesterday. The two areas of long leaves behind the toadstools are the remains of the giant snowdrops which are really nothing like the usual snowdrops and spread like the Spanish bluebells. I had decided to dig them out, and won’t be planting then anywhere else. I meant to take a photo of the trug filled with them but forgot. When I had a break I made up seven bags of bulbs and made a sign and put them by outright garden entrance. All seven were gone in about fifteen minutes!

While I was indoors I took a photo of the kokedama in the jar, it is very happy now.

The antirrhinums In a tub weathered the winter and a looking good this year.

One bed done and onto the next.

Quite a bit done today.

Had a cuppa with Tina and then I cleared some weeds in the walled garden but didn’t take photos.

Had a shower after tea and relaxing now,