Undercover

My ranunculi's are filling out I have 18 plants here in the segments, and aquilegia plants I have 4, I split these plants, this is the sunniest side of the greenhouse. 

These are from a split geum plant I removed from my sink, one pot got a bit waterlogged, they are all growing well, and a few extra sweet peas which will not grow so high as the main batch. 

On the lower shelf I have 5 foxgloves, all seeded in wrong places in the garden, I dug them out to grow on, my echinops is growing well, another reduced plant coming back to full strength. My sweet pea seedlings are a bit leggy, they do look good.

10 days ago I was pleased to see shoots on my peanuts, today they are even better, later I will pot them up and put them in the greenhouse under cover to keep them warm, I have the perfect sunny spot for them. All I did was pop them on wet paper towel in this clear box, placed them on a sunny window sill near the radiator.

Some of the above plants will go into bigger pots before planting, I have also potted up, Chocolate Cosmos, gypsophila  and I have two Geum's which were reduced plants, my freesia bulbs are planted in a bag outside, so much promise for this summer. My greenhouse is a bit full, it is also very messy, my tiny plastic greenhouse is still in the middle, soon I will move it back to the side, remove the plastic cover and use it as shelves. I have sown a few flower seeds, I have more to start, I do not require so many bedding plants, in previous years I used loads. I hope to be able to move some of the plants above outside. 

I felt sorry for daughter driving 7 very loud excited boys to their first paintball morning, the day was dry and bright, the sun shone a few times. The woods was not as muddy as we feared, daughter sat and read whilst the company looked after the boys for two hours, they were beyond happy on their return. I had a simpler morning watching Disney for a while with Molly, then painting, we stayed inside, George wanted to stay in his PJ's, which is OK.

Saturday evening and Sunday was at home with hubby, we never do much at weekends, too many people around. Sadly Sunday was wet so we stayed inside, I would have preferred being in the garden, in reality I don't have much to do, just a quick check in the greenhouse. 

Monday was a sunny start, which cheered us both up, I spent the morning cleaning our bedroom and shower room, giving all the glass a good clean, when the sun shines all the smears show, which left the afternoon outside, nothing big to do, its has left me feeling really good. I added a solar air pump to my pond, just a gentle ripple, I also moved a plant, I was overjoyed to see a small newt swimming, finally its a wildlife pond.

February round up

 Nothing on craft, I started my garden month well, Fridays garden shopping boosted the total.

 I did get a couple of new soft jumpers for the spring season, no reason other than I liked them and some underwear. 

10 Books read this month.

This month is always expensive, car MOT, insurance and tax, we had budgeted for it, the insurance was the same as the pervious year, so we stayed with the same company, tax is only £30, it's not increased since we purchased the car. MOT just one advisory for breaks not unexpected. 

We have made a good saving, our internet contract ends in a couple of months, Virgin has doubled their price for the second year, so we have gone with a local firm who is receiving loads of great comments, they have done all the installation and its working well, they give us free connection until our Virgin contract expires, we always requie a mesh to boost our signal inside the bungalow, the new firm has been really on the ball, the customer service desk have helpful people who we can understand. It's great when things go right and at a better price. Another bonus I can now see all post from Chris at Always Smiling.

Just a few bits of food waste, having the children here made a huge difference. We have  been sent the council food waste bins, I won't be using them much, most of our peelings, egg shells and other kitchen bits go into my composter, I already have a covered container I use in the kitchen, I will put teabags, onion skins and pepper bits, which I don't compost, we are going to keep the bigger bin outside. Daughter is apprehensive about the system, her kids waste far too much food, it's going to be a shock for her, hopefully she can try and reduce amounts. 

My weight is stable, small portions are working, I am walking a bit, not everyday, it's been too wet for that. It did wobble over Valentine's weekend, we did have Prosecco and chocolates.

Adding colour

 I adore these spring blooms, all silk and years old, I only keep these out for a couple of months sat on kitchen window sill. There is a cracking this jug, so it can't hold water, I do love it, came from hubby's grandparents house.

This spider plant is growing well here, Lilly has not attacked it, the amaryllis bulbs are a disappointment, the back bulb is from last year and only leaves, the front bulb is new this season, no bud at all.

This is the second book from this author for me, it's as good as the first one, a murder in a small village, local DCI is in charge, he returned home to the village from London after a divorce, BBC news is there, his ex is leading their coverage, everyone knows each other. More murders, a very clever plot, the perpetrator hiding in plain site, I could not put this book down. Book 19 read this year.

At B&Q I got some coloured stone for my sink, it stops the squirrels digging. I also got 2 half price packs of smaller daffodils, just £8, I love to get them at this time of year, so I can fill any gaps. I put 6 sections in the daisy bed, 4 in square bed and 2 in fruit bed, plus the containers are great for seedlings. There is a nice mixture here, I'm not bothered if they die back, they will return next year.

I'm feeling so much better, a couple days of sunshine has lifted me, all black moods have gone, I do ache, from jobs done outside, nothing big, just the start of the growing season stuff. I have done more knitting, I am enjoying the design, it looks complicated but is actually very simple.

I was so pleased when outside to see so much wildlife, bee's, butterflies and small birds, we feed the birds all though out the year, I try and have as many open flowers, avoiding double blooms, which are not so bee friendly. Sadly we have lost many of the pink buds from our Magnolia tree, either the squirrels or pigeons have had a feast on them, I have picked up loads of damaged ones from our lawn, it's never happened before.

Thursday morning we went to B&Q, hubby wanted some slate for his front garden, it's cheaper there, then on to our favourite garden centre, we had coffee and cake. I was looking for a couple potato growing bags, in both stores the bags are much smaller, so I will look elsewhere. I did not look at plants, at this point there is little I want, I have loads of my own in pots. The daffodils were a bargain, with 3 bulbs in each section, 36 bulbs for £8, I still need a couple small pots of tete-a-tetes. 

I spent the afternoon knitting, I have finished another row of colours, this time speckled ones, I now need to find 9 balls of plain colours.

Nothing planed for today, it's wet after heavy rain last night, there is more rain expected, later I'm at daughters house for a sleepover,  Will's birthday treat is paintball in the woods on Saturday, he is very excited, its an early start, I will stay home with George and Molly. 

Spring Blooms

This fruit bed in my veg section is at it's flowering best in spring, I can see the left hand side from my chair in the house, the striking difference between the red hellebores and the yellow of the primroses shine out. There is a small dark hellebore in front of the strawberry tower hopefully it will fill that area.

Further along this bed, the wildlife pond is pretty, I purchased a few pots of small daffodils last year, they had gone over, just 50p per pot of four, they have all flowered again this year. The grasses are all loving this area. 

My reduced hellebore has flowered, lovely white blooms, the second plant at the end of the raspberry bed I have had for a few years. I can't wait for the white blooming plant to get to a bigger size. 

I have six different blooms from hellebores, I have only grown them in the past few years, they are a firm favourite in my section of the garden, I have another 2 plants growing in the flowerbeds, and 2 more smaller babies, I am hoping hubby might like them in his garden. 

The crocus are beginning to go over, it was nice to see early colour, I have just one clump of snowdrops blooming, I do have another clump which as yet has not bloomed. 

I have cut some damage daffodils, I prefer to see them outside, once the stems are damaged they suffer and the blooms lay on the soil.

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent a few hours outside, just pottering, working in the greenhouse and enjoying dry days, we have had more dry time than rain this week. I sorted my first early potatoes, they are planted in two bags, I have some second earlies to chit, and some shallots, all to be grown in bags. My two bags for cut flowers are ready, I will sow a few mixed seeds in each, in hope they all grow. In the veg beds, my leeks are still small I will leave them a bit longer, my broad beans are starting to flower I always grow an early variety, I have a few cabbages doing well, and my Japanese onions are looking good. We had our last portion of last year's runner beans with our tea, I hope to be able to freeze more things this summer. 

I opened all the windows today, good to have fresh air circulating around the house, our laundry on the line dried. Lilly is spending all her time outside, today a fox on our neighbours sunhouse roof snarled at Lilly, I was close by, it dissappeared when I shouted at it, Lilly did not run away, its a worry, hopefully she will learn to avoid that part of the fence.

Enjoy the weather this week, it's our first sign of spring, gardeners call it fools spring, still far too early to plant out anything.

I get instant cheer from working outside, this winter has been hard on me, so many bugs and absolutely no energy, I am fed up with looking at the rain through our windows. I should not complain, we have had no snow and we are safe from flooding, our home is warm and safe, March can be a hard month here along the south coast, I have everything crossed it will be mild and dry.