Glasshouse

 I've cleared the plastic greenhouse cover away and moved the frame back to use as shelves, this space is busy at this time of year. I need to try and clear all the fallen leaves from the back of the greenhouse, it's along our neighbours fence and a struggle to get to.

My peanuts are growing, I have ten plants so far, which should be enough, they will be grown in two bags and kept here inside the greenhouse, they need a hot sunny space. Molly wanted to start some more, they are shooting, when she next comes here we can start them in compost.

I have loads growing, I snipped the growing tops off my sweet-peas, they are now filling out.

More guara cutting in hope to have loads of the wonderful plants, on lower shelf is fleabane daisies for daughters garden. I have sown some saved french marigold seeds as well.

My daffodils are going over, I have cut the heads off them and have tied some of the smaller bunches, it's important to allow the leaves to die back on the bulb, this process gives the bulb their energy for next year. I have bluebell and camassia buds showing, the colour keeps coming. I shall move some of the pots with bulbs in as they go over, they live behind the garage the rest of the year. 

We have picked the first of our rhubarb, made a crumble with apples, we both enjoyed it, it's always the first harvest of the year, it is an early variety, I have a wire ring around the crown, which I fill with fallen leaves, they protect it through the winter and once broken down nourishes the soil.  

I got some stone (pebble) edging to cover my pond sides, the stones are small and I was worried about the 'glue' used, so I have used them elsewhere, I really do not want to damage the ecology of the pond. 

Days are now dull, the wind is much colder, so the garden seating stays covered, I still check the garden every morning, watching the separated plants growing in their new spots. Hopefully the better weather will return soon. 

Lazy days

 We had an us day on Thursday, firstly in our local town we did some pottery painting, both deciding to decorate a mug, hubby had no idea what to do and looked in their corner of aids to decorate. I do like his, he is very pleased.

I knew how I was going to decorate mine, I took loads of Q-tips to make dots, mine does look busy, will have to wait and see how it turns out, I forgot they had the fineline colours, which would have made it better. 

We also popped into Waterstones, I still had a gift card from Christmas, the gardening year is a book to add notes throughout the year, it has space for 5 years of notes, each month has 5 pages allowing a weekly entry, I will start it on 1st of April, the wildflower book was very pretty and a complete indulgence for me, I only had to pay £3 for both books.

Another new author, I enjoyed this clever book, another story where the outcome is hiding in plain sight, after a horrendous marriage and the death of the husband, she starts to engage with village life, making new friends, but at home in her cottage strange things happen. Book 25 read this year.

We had planned lunch out on Thursday, but we were not that hungry after having a mid morning coffee and cake, so we came home and had an early evening meal. I spent time outside in garden, not doing much, just enjoying the sunshine. Friday we did some other end of town shopping and popped to daughters house, Molly had her swimming lesson after school, George had ran around the last couple of times creating havoc, so we sat with the boys whilst mummy watched Molly swim. 

Saturday more time outside, I planted a new grass in Kurt's head, the last plant died, hubby has drilled a couple more drainage holes, the wind is still cool. Sunday was another day of rest, more laundry was done, I sat at watched wildlife, there are loads of butterflies and huge bee's this spring, The small birds are nesting, Magpies hover hoping to get to their nest, I always make a noise when I see them to move them on. Having very little to do in the garden is very new to me, I'm not good at sitting still. It's gotten much cooler this afternoon and cloudy, shame, it was nice whilst it lasted. 

We both needed a few of rest days, each suffering with back ache due to the tasks completed on Wednesday, we have had a couple of early nights, we are now both awake at 6am, a bit too early for me to get up. I'm feeling rested as is hubby, sometimes you have to avoid everything and look after yourself. Luckily George is behaving a bit better, daughter took them to the park for 3 hours to play with their friends, so a great weekend all round. 

This life

 This is Lola, she is my mum and lives with the small people, my human visits often and comes back smelling of her, they are still missing Frankie, my brother. I have the same lighter patch around my mouth, I am the closest in the litter to looking like her.

I can just about fit into my spot here, I'm tucked behind the sofa, I can still see all of our garden.

The nicer weather she promised me has arrived, not everyday, so I am outside more often, I love the garden.

I have been climbing on the fence beside the messy garden, there are lots to watch, a fox lays on the summerhouse roof at the bottom, he is big and watches me, she has shouted at the fox twice as it started to move towards me. She tells me to stay away, I do like to watch everything, I an very nosey, she watches me when I'm on this fence. I don't climb on the other fence, the nice ladies big dogs bark at me.

I now leave the garden, always over our back fence, there is nothing scary there, I'm never gone for long, she was threatening to pop a camera on my collar.

I was very unhappy when they put me in my carrier earlier in the month, I thought I was going to the cattery, I like Jackie, but I don't like staying in a cage for so long. They took me to the vets, after a wait sat close to too many dogs, I was let out my carrier, the vet said my weight was good, she listened to my heart and lungs and gave me a jab, last time I was here I got a treat, maybe this time she forgot, they gave me treats once I got home as apparently I passed with flying colours. Ask Janice at Jabblog, if you want to know what that means, she has done some great post about such sayings.

Spring bulbs

 Last year I purchased some different bulbs, all popped into pots, I'm happy with these blooms, it's good to see something new to me along with old favourites, these have not all bloomed at the same time, bulbs are an important source of colour and nectar at this time of year.

The pots of spring bulbs look good in front of this bed, they add welcome colour. In the back right corner my forsythia I moved last year is full of yellow buds, I hope to keep it the same size as the Chinese witch hazel in the other back corner.

The fleabane daisies are starting to grow and will soon fill this bed, the hyacinth bulbs in the middle add colour, the new flowering plants in the chimneys are doing well, I'm just waiting for the astilbe to come back in the centre back, then the look will be complete. 

The seating is now back being used this warm sunny weather has started our garden living, this year is about enjoying the outside space we have created, no big or even little jobs, I shall have to learn how to sit and rest. Tuesday we sat outside to eat our lunch, first time this year, we both have everything crossed for a good summer, again we had lunch outside on Wednesday, by early afternoon the sun is behind our neighbours house and it's too cool to sit anymore. I dug out my oldest composter, I now have 2 bags of good compost, hubby cleaned all the gutters and then the windows, both dirty jobs, so an early shower and relax inside.

Both my acers are in full bud, the triple at the back now has small leaves forming, I have 4 forsythia bushes, they are all in bud as is my pomegranate. The strong winds blew off the few remaining buds on our magnolia tree, leaves are now forming, often this tree flowers throughout the year, so I have hope to see plenty pink blooms in the coming months.

This week I found a frog hiding in one of the grasses around my wildlife pond, I am beyond happy, it was the correct thing to wait for creatures to arrive naturally, we decided to leave the pond as it is, I was going to try and raise the front corner, best not to disturb anything.

I popped to daughters so she could attend Will's parents evening, he does not enjoy a couple of lessons at the moment, and can be difficult on mornings when he does not want to go, it's hard for daughter, but she insist he has to go to school, anyway, mummy came back happy, he is doing well, his teacher and school are very supportive and are actively helping to get him back to loving school, whilst his attendance has dropped his work levels have not.