New life

My pomegranate is coming back to life, I love the colours of these new leaves, hopefully I may get a few flowers on it this summer, I moved the pot last summer and it does seam happy, no signs of any distress, before I kept it trimmed to a lower height, now I will let it grow, it will make a nice backdrop for the seating area, along with my herbs. This plant I grew from a seed, started back in 2017.

I mixed loads of flower seeds and sprinkled them into these two bags, I used these for cut flowers last year, I also have freesias in here as well, most of the seeds should do well it's a warm sunny spot. This for me is proving a successful way to start seeds, the bags protect them from the worse of the weather and snails.

I removed six lupins seedlings from the above bags, I love to grow them, sadly they never return after their first year, these will be useful to fill gaps. The tray at the bottom of photo I have completely forgot what seeds I have sown, I checked with Lens, it can't make it's mind up, could be forget-me-nots or cornflowers, its a case of wait and see.

I also planted some bulbs, liatris spicata, they have tiny flowers on stalks, I put two packs in the back of my square bed last year and nothing grew, so once these are bigger they can go out.

My hubby purchased a plant for our garden, it was market day on Wednesday, the plant stall is good. I made comment I loved these bottlebrush plants and one would go in my pot, which is in a sunny sheltered spot, I had just popped my astilbe in it, but I can place it elsewhere in the garden. As I was deciding hubby paid the man, I'm happy with my latest addition. 

I have been out most days looking for snails, I know where they hide, catching them early helps my crops, I do have beer traps I can use, for now I search by hand, there are not many weeds, I have them under control for the moment. My cucumber plants is growing well, I have 4 tomato plants, hoping for a good harvest this year and loads of lettuce plants at various stages.

I have also purchased another astrantia, it's a pink flower, I do love these plants, I want to dig out my penstemon, it's too big for the spot, plus last year there were hardly any blooms, I also got 20 french marigold plants from B&Q, my own seeds failed germinate. It's truly naughty to purchase more plants, I have plenty growing in the greenhouse. 

It's been a quiet few days, I have hurt my left shoulder, I've had problems since 2010, when an operation left me with nerve damage and a weakness, all I can do is rest, which is not so bad with the sunshine, I do wish the very cool wind would drop, it's nice to work outside but still cool to sit for too long. Today they have promised the wind will disappear, I have high hopes, I have a few jobs to sort in the square flower bed.

Thank you for your kind comments regarding our garden, whilst I do most of the work these days, it's a space for both of us, our refit back in 2023, was the final stage, ensuring its a much easier after 17 years we have done all the hard work, we know what grows here, I am an organic gardener, I use no chemicals anywhere, watching the wildlife gives us as much pleasure as seeing the blooms. I don't regard anything here as work, I'm happiest with a set of snipps in my hand, either deadheading or keeping things in shape.

My peaceful place

 April is a great month, so much new growth to be seen on all the trees in garden surrounding ours, making a colourful backdrop, our Magnolia is now filling out, I adore this tree, happy we keep it smaller. My red acer had a hug dead spot on the top right had side, I have cut all the dried wood away, it now looks lopped sided, I'm trying to convince hubby it needs a huge trim. 

My fleabane daisies are coming into flower, I have been tucking all the bulb leaves under the new growth, I won't cut them back as they are mainly hidden. My astilbe in the middle is growing back, I have popped the rusty frame around it, it's not really needed, I just love the look. I have 4 aquilegia's along the back, they will show soon.

My square bed is all sorted in the back section, my forsythia is thriving in this new spot and fills the corner, in the other corner I have planted my Chinese witch hazel, it was potbound, a neighbour has hers in the ground and its doing well. I do have space at the front for other plants, this bed again is how I wanted it. I put an astilbe in the big pot, I purchased it as a tiny plant, its now a good size.

My side bed is still full of bulb leaves, I will leave this bed for a few more weeks, I can see loads of plants returning, soon summer plants will dominate, for now I can let the bulbs die back and gain strength for next year. My bunting is years old, it's faded and dirty, I will remove it, I can't decide if I should make another lot to go up, I have had coloured lights here, they never last too long, humm, might look good bare.

There is almost nothing to do in this ornamental front section, it is how we like it, this is going to be a year of enjoying the space together, my greenhouse is full of plants, not sure where I can put them all. I can get dirty finger nails in the veg/fruit section, with the bonus of loads of lovely fruit and veg and of course my greenhouse. I did pop some spring pots under the red acer, something has been digging in them, so I will move them to the back section of the garden, I still have some space there. 

Since one of the huge elderflower trees has shifted in our neighbours garden, ours is now getting more sunshine, it is making a huge difference to the space, in time it will grow back and cast a huge shadow, the others are taller than our own magnolia tree.

Sunday we did nothing, it was another dry sunny day still with a cool breeze, we ate lunch outside, I did water the pots, again they were bone dry, I sat and did cross stitching for a few hours, such a restful day, the little ones played in their own garden so daughter got some relaxing done as well. Monday I did some housework and then outside again, enjoying the lovely weather.

The mornings and evenings are still cooler here, the days full of sunshine is very welcome, it's been a long wet winter, and I am more then ready for summer, even if I have to water often.

In my hands

32 pattern rows completed, I'm still enjoying knitting this blanket, first row is my mixed coloured yarns, second row is plain coloured yarns, I've kept going in the cycle. The bottom still curls, hope I can sort that. I'm getting to the length I require if it is going to be used as a lap blanket, it's not wide enough for anything else.

My yarn stash is shrinking, this container is not so packed, I've been using all my small hand dyed shanks, this was the point of making this design. I'm still on my first 100grms of black yarn, all 4ply. The paper separates the yarns used in each row, ensuring I spread the colours throughout my knitting. 

There are loads of ends to sew in, I use a tiny rug latch hook, much easier and quicker, no threading yarn through needle eyes.

I have felt something was missing from my days, I do enjoy knitting and reading, my real passion is for cross stitch, last year I found a huge piece of linen, which I had forgotten about. I won't stitch it all, plans are forming for another mash up of designs, I love the challenge mixing everything up gives me, as always my starting plans are very loose, I adore this edging design, I already have made some changes to incorporate the flower motif I love, it will form the outer border, maybe a bit bigger that the original design and then have fun filling the middle. The original design can be seen here. 

I love this author, so far every book I have read has been great, a very different plot, she wakes up in a strange room, trying to piece the past few days, except to everyone else she is in a coma after an accident. I adore how she gives you all the answers in plain sight, and not until the end does all the bits fall into place. Book 31 read this year

I've had a couple of quiet days, I sat with the boys on Friday after school, whilst Molly had her swimming lesson, later daughter went out for tea with a few old work mates, both little ones went to bed and settled quickly. Saturday we had a day at home together, I did a bit in the garden, keeping on top of everything, later we both drove to daughters and shared a Chinese for tea, all three children ate well. Later at home another relaxing evening. Today I'm  doing nothing.

I'm in hubby's bad books, do you remember the fun the little ones had with the confetti balloons, they loved them when they popped over the Easter weekend, it's rained since then and now we have predominantly red and blue dots on the paving. Me saying I thought it looked pretty did not help at all, I suppose they should fade in time.

Day trip to London

Neither of us had been to Canary Wharf, in it's heart it's a modern space so many huge buildings, walking along the water edge was very peaceful, loads of places to sit and enjoy the space, other spots had original buildings, the Dockland museum, which we did not enter this time was lovely red brick. Everywhere you went there were sculpture of all kinds, a beautiful fountain with a seating area and very few cars.

Just a few landmarks, the top two are sculptures made from discarded stuff, one from electrical circuit boards, the whale from household plastic bits. The silver thingy caught my eye and the big yellow duck, just because I liked it.

We walked through the Crossrail place roof garden, it was much bigger than we expected, we both loved it, such a peaceful place to be, loads of places to sit, I did love seeing the tops of the buildings through the roof, which was open in places.

The weather gods were good to us, the sky darken a few times, but no rain, it was warm enough to wear a light jacket, a perfect day for walking, hubby recorded over 14,000 steps, so a good workout for our knees, today I do ache a bit, it's worth it to have such a fun day out. 

George loved talking to me on his bedtime call, Nana on a bus, he was so excited.

We had been chatting regarding another visit, hubby suggested we try a day trip using National Express (coaches), so we caught the 8.30am bus and the 6.30pm return journey. We sat reading for journey, about 2.30 hours, the coaches are very comfortable, and much cheaper than the trains, which often are cancelled and replaced by bus journeys. Our route stops at Portsmouth and Gilford, by passing loads of towns, sadly on the return journey they changed the route not going into Gilford but calling into both terminals at Heathrow, putting 40 minutes on our journey. Next time we book we will have to check which route preferring to take the shorter journey.

We both agreed we would do a day trip again, we had our early evening meal near to Victoria coach station, in a small Italian restaurant, we found it last year on our trip, worth the second visit, and handy to relax so close to where we needed to be, we both prefer to visit smaller independent places to eat.