Wildlife pond

I have been working on my pond, not the garden around, that has been great this spring. My pond last summer had loads of slimy weeds, which wrapped around plants and floated across the surface, making the water messy. Firstly I purchased a barley hay bundle to pop into the water, which helped, next I got a small pump and two air-stones to oxygenate the pond, I did not want lot's of gushing water. I need to move plants along the back to try and hide the container.

Spring flowers, daffodils and cyclamens, I can see buds on other plants, the grasses are looking good, I do need to raise the front corner, it has dropped, it has always been the lowest corner, the water level at the back is an inch lower then I want it. It has become the drinking spot for Lilly, she sits in the same spot as Grace sat, I keep fresh water inside, Lilly is not interested, I have tried filtered and rainwater, she still prefers to drink from the pond.

Finding a newt and then a second one in the pond has cheered me up, I have seen a couple water snails as well, I did check, newts love grasses and wood piles to hide in, I have both in this back corner. I do love the collection of pebble around this pond, they have been collected over the years for use around my garden, I just pulled them all back to here. 

Hubby spent his time on cleaning the patio, he wanted to get it done using his power washer with a special attachment, it was tiring rather than hard work he told me, he also uncovered the garden furniture, I moved my spring pots to along the slate by the lawn, we can still see them from the house. 

Most of the time the pond requires no work from me, I wanted it to become a natural environment, without chemicals or other foreign additions, I was desperate for frogs, but decided rather than adding any myself, I would wait and see, it was never my intention to have fish here, they eat too much of the wildlife I wanted to attract. The small garden around the pond has settled, this is a sunny spot for part of the day.

Our garden is now ready for spring, purchasing the growing bulbs helps me fill bare spots, I am completely happy with our spring garden, I can see so many buds on shrubs, so much promise. A couple wet days were good for any new plants, it also gave my back time to rest and relax.

Saturday was dull as expected, everywhere was still wet from the rain, we did walk to the village for a few bits, I did some knitting and then read later, hubby made a lovely mushroom risotto for tea, a lazy day. Sunday we had Will and George early, mummy and Molly went to a party, they were back for lunch, we all spent the afternoon together, later after a quick tidy up, packing away all George's cars we sat and read.

Saving Doug

I brought Doug (from UP), home, he's a favourite of George's, he came here in a bin bag with all his stuffing separate, George and Molly were playing in their bedrooms quietly, mummy found the poor thing in bits, another job for Nana. I have done major surgery on his face he is all stitched up and back home, I did check all his other seams as well.

I do love this author, always a very easy read, Life can be good, but what do you do when people start hurting your family and yourself, well she does fix other peoples problems. Book 20 read this year. 

Another good read, I love how this author always has the answer in plain sight, so far I have never worked it all out until the reveal near the end. A couple goes to remote Scottish location to help save their marriage, will it work. Book 21 read this year.

It was world book day again this week, Molly has a growing set of books, all focused on people through modern history who has changed our world, she loves the book Queen Elizabeth by Racheal Riley, so here she is all regal, this girl loves to dress up, George went as Batman, Will went for an army costume. Molly has been queen before, seen here with George and Will as her guardsmen.

Will wanted a Hussars jacket for his costume, we used a blue fleece, I added golden stripes to the front, decorated the collar and cuffs, no swirly decorations on sleeves or buttons, I added epaulettes. I could only get cheap gold tape, which frayed and was a nightmares to stitch, I hate the finished item, Will loved it, most stressed I've been in ages. Far to ashamed to post any photo of my work here.

I have done more on my knitted blanket, I now need to stitch the ends in, I am keeping to my promise to do at the end of each colour section, as I have said before there is no rush to get this done, I am enjoying the process and that's the main point. It's not a project I enjoy doing in the evenings, I need to be able to focus and count without interruptions. 

I have watched Small Prophets, just 6 episodes, I really enjoyed the simplicity of the story, this weekend is the final of Pottery throw-down, we have enjoyed it again this season, we don't watch much TV. Hubby has enjoyed Silent Witness, which I never watch, I get annoyed how the main two, know almost everything and solve the mysteries, they just irritate me.

Changes

I have put some of my pots on the raised bed, these are all hardy plants, I am waiting to see where gaps are, these are the fillers. I have sown two different lettuce seeds, plus radish and spring onion here at the back, I want this raised bed to be full of salad stuff. I have planted some of my Ranunculi plants, for now in pots, I have more to go into the ground, two of the foxgloves are also in the ground, the rest can stay in pots for a bit longer, I'm always planning for more colour. 

I popped to B&Q for some slate, and looked at reduced plants, as you do (well I do), the saxifrage was reduced to £2 per pot, the white crocus were full price, I just loved them.

My daisy bed looks much nicer with the daffodils and white crocus planted, the crocus are in front of my hyacinths around the central daisy, the saxifrage are in the chimneys. I don't require anymore spring plants here. I'm just waiting for the fleabane daises to regrow. 

Most of my spring bulbs pots have been move to this area, we can see it from the house. I have changed the railings, this one hubby cut down for me, it was at the back of the garden, the red acer now can grow free, before it was getting tangled in the higher railings.

The taller railings are now along this path in front of the greenhouse, I hope it will help keep the huge rhubarb leaves from falling over my path. It feels much cleaner, hubby did a great job of sorting here, the last two arches were cut shorter, hubby has lifted them to the same height, attaching them to the raised bed, only I see this bit. The previous shorter railing can be seen here. 

Every year at Christmas I get hyacinth bulbs for an inside display, I love their scent, once they have died back I have been planting them in the garden, I try and mix colours, now I have a nice display, most are in the daisy bed. This year I still have my white blooms in the greenhouse, I am going to replant them for another show this year inside. 

Moving the railings was on my short list of jobs to do, we had chatted together, hubby was not sure, he is happy to go with my ideas, he now likes this configuration, it was the biggest job for this summer, or maybe not, I get ideas for improvements all the time. I've been outside most days this week and loving it.

I am sorry to all my northern readers, who are itching to get into your gardens, here down south we are a couple weeks ahead, this warm sunny weather is great to get ahead on the garden task and hardy plants, it's still far too early to work with anything tender.

I am keeping my head in the sand over world affairs, I worry about so much, mad men creating war can't be one of them, hopefully Starmer will hold his ground and keep us out of it, we did fill our car with petrol, it was a quarter full, now with a full tank it should last at least 6 weeks. 

I am busy altering costumes for World book day, Molly and George on Thursday at Will on Friday, Will could not get the uniform he wanted, so I'm being creative. 

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.