Big move.

At the back of the garden next to the steps to my greenhouse, is our Acer, it has been here since 2017, in wooden bottomless planter hubby made, sat on paving stones, I have had it over 12 years, I always keep a collection of pots here to soften this area. The Acer is now getting too wide, I brush past the leaves on the steps, I have already trimmed some off. 

This was the view from the decking, the fruit pots sat nicely here, along with our Olive tree, looking down to our magnolia tree and along the fence. Hubby suggested we should move the Acer, rather than give it away and get a smaller one, this is the only spot where we could plant it and give it space, and it could look beautiful here. 

I promise you hubby did not pick out all the slate by himself, we both worked over 2 days to remove as much as we could, there is a cheaper stone below, which I raked to the edges of this area and reused under the slate, after we planted the Acer. Hubby was not sure about the colour I chose for the fence, but he does trust me, the 3 panels near the house are old and looked scruffy, but the paint made them look much better. Every panel had 2 coats, making them all look the same, we would have liked to replace the 3 panels closer to the house, but our neighbour won't let us. 

 The plan was to swap the garden on Friday, but it was lovely outside on Thursday, so we started and got everything done, the Acer moved easier than we expected, not too many roots had gone into the ground, and the wooden planter fell apart easy. I dug the hole, again I expected the ground to be compact, but I managed it, the Acer fitted into the space, its far enough away from the fence and seating area. I do like our Olive in the corner of our decking, it will be protected there in the winter months. All I need now is to keep an eye on the Acer and ensure it thrives after the move and in its new spot. 

The fruit pots look good down by the steps at the back of the garden, they fit into this space and give colour against the brick wall. This area is sunny until mid afternoon, so the fruit should do well here. My blackberry grows above, I do have an extra pot, I was given a pink gooseberry plant, hubby does love them, Will have to see how I get on with it. It will also make harvesting much easier, hubby will put a batten on on the wall so I can hang a net to keep the birds away from the ripening fruits. 

We popped to B&Q for another tub of paint, we did not use much, but it's handy to have spare, I found another Acer, the green is different from the others in my medley pot, just £4 and a lovely size. That's 5 Acers we have, but only the one above is tree size, I do love them, but I will refrain from getting any more. 

We were both exhausted but happy with the changes, I love the view from the house the red leaves from the acer stand out from the grey fence, and the green from the fruit tubs looks good against the bricks. It's not a perfect time of year to move the  Acer, but because it was growing in a container the roots were not disturbed to much, I just need to watch to see it settles in its new spot, our soil is clay not ideal, but locally there are loads of Acers growing, so I have everything crossed it will thrive.

My greenhouse is still full of flower plants ready for the garden, I bring them out each day and back in at night, but the weather is just not warm enough yet, my cucumber and tomato plants have been put into their big containers and are growing fast.

Friday afternoon friends came over for coffee in the garden, it was lovely to sit in the sunshine and chat together, the garden looks so nice again, hopefully we can spend loads of time outside again this summer. 

Fill the gap

I have been filling gaps on the left hand side, I wanted to sort this side before moving on, I am pleased enough to say the left hand side is finished, as is the top half of the right hand side. 

I added just one more small design to the oblong box, the same as the others, less white to see here.  I also added the pink design above the Spanish sampler, it fills the gap and does look pretty, the design did not have the box sections, I added them for a bit more colour. 

All the bits have been filled in the Spanish sampler, I am also working on finishing the center of the square, I also added the purple lace tumbling down, it matches one at the top. 

This corner box is now finished. 

I had a nightmare with the purple boxes at the bottom, the last full design I stitched, I unpicked one section 3 times, I just could not count, I got rather concerned as the canvas was getting very fluffy, where the threads have been pulled through so often, but with careful stitching I have completed the section. There are a few errors on my work, years ago I would have pulled them all out in seeking perfection, but I read on a blog, a lady who created patchwork quilts, placing fabric into beautiful designs, she makes an error on every quilt she makes and 'only God does perfection', the quote has stayed with me. 

With less than a quarter to do, the finish line is in sight, my plan was to use just the lace designs, but I have made a few designs from one lady and decided there should be something on here, so I have chosen a diagonal design from Carrie Rose, still with the lace tumbling around it. I will decide as I am stitching if I repeat any designs or find ones unused from the original design. 

Long weekend

This event is in it's 2nd year, it's a brilliant idea, a walk around our village and a bit of nose at what people have for sale. There were local artisans as well as loads of families selling their stuff, and a couple of plant sales, each red dot was an address to visit. There is now talk of making this a more regular thing through the summer months, which would be lovely, for us there are 3 or 4 different walks we could do. 

These photo's were taken from our local facebook information page, at times facebook can be very helpful, just homes with their items outside, you can walk as far as you like, we did an hours walk local to our house. 

Our Acer is looking brilliant, but sadly it's getting too big for this area, I have been thinking about getting another smaller plant, hubby made a brilliant suggestion to move it and repurpose this space. 

Another job done, I originally had a Hosta growing in here, but the slugs feasted on it, so I replaced it with mint as it grows any and everywhere, sadly not in here. So I have dug it out added pea shingle and some candles, the saucer on top will keep it dry when not in use. The guard is to keep cats out, Grace loves to snuggle in there.

Saturday was fun in the garden for an hour, I sorted the chimera, we have had this for over 20 years, when it lit and hot the terracotta makes expansion noises which always worried me, so we stopped using it for heat. I'm not sure if we will light the candles, but it now looks useful, the only other solution was fake plants. It did rain on and off for much of the afternoon, so stitching and reading time. 

Sunday it was sunny in the morning, so we had a walk around our part of the village, I love the Jumble trail and next time we will have a sale outside our bungalow, I did have some stuff this time but sent it all to the charity shop,  last year there were only a few houses involved, this year many more took part. It did rain around lunch time and got really cold again. I did not see any nice plants this time, but in truth I don't have any space left for bigger plants, we came home with empty bags. 

Monday, Bank holiday, which means nothing to us, every day is similar, as is every week and month, it's the downside of being retired, the weather forcaste was wet most of the day, not a problem for me our gardens and water butts need the rain, apologies to those who work and had hopes for a nice day out. So after an hours start on a project outside, we had a lazy time at home inside, reading and stitching. 

So hubby has suggest we move the Acer, we have a perfect spot in the fruit section, but it would mean moving loads of pots, the fruit would then be along side the garage, which does not get sun all day, but is protected from the weather. My head is full of 'what ifs', I am planning and re-planning. We have moved the fruit pots to allow hubby to paint the fence behind, in the hope once painted the old part of the fence won't look so bad. It sounds a simple task but it's much more work than that, we are moving all the slate off the whole area, I will want to put it back afterwards, it's not cheap to buy so I don't want to dig it in. 

Under glass

Lots of my succulents have buds, most are in the greenhouse, the morning sun is always lovely here. It's always a joy to see these bloom. 

Two of my Amaryllis have leaves growing, no sign of a bud shoot, so I am just going to leave them here in the greenhouse on the floor.  

My pitcher plant is in flower again, this trio of carnivorous was cut back a couple of weeks ago, they are all growing back healthy. 

So many plants in the greenhouse, just becoming ready to plant out, but not yet, I will still wait a few more weeks, it's never worth the risk to put them out too soon. 

I purchased this book from Tesco on Monday, it's a big book 478 pages, I enjoyed the story, but not the best read of hers, book 17 read this year. 

At this time of year, it's all about waiting, I have plenty of plants ready for the garden, I have farmyard manure to spread around, firstly I am waiting until my bluebells finish flowering, I will lay all their leaves under the manure, I have done this before and it works well, I do try a no dig policy in the garden allowing the worms to drag the manure into the soil. The next stage is popping all the plants in the ground, but it's got cold again, we are not getting frost, but I do prefer it to be warmer before the plants go in. So I wait, there are a couple of pots still in the greenhouse with tender plants, when it gets a bit warmer, these can come out in the daytime. 

My French marigold seeds have started germination, tiny seedlings, my plan is for the trays to become full of plants, I will cut into strips and place in my long tubs, I also have chamomile lawn in a big round tray, which will sit in my big pot in the herb garden. In both cases they are sown onto the compost sized for their final containers and won't need thinning, not done it this way before, in theory it should work.

The greenhouse is my go to place, it's always warm in there, the recent dull days have not given me the rain we need, water butt's are still very low, all I can do is hope the rain will appear at sometime. 

How quick did April fly by, a third of this year gone already, most days are a nice pace for us, we keep busy enough for them not to drag on, the weeks go quickly as is this year, maybe it can sense we are willing better times to arrive.