I'm not going to say it...

 We are sitting out this heat wave, I do a bit of gardening first thing, I water later in the evenings, I have a lance on my hose, its a longer pole with spray at the end, allows me to water the base of plants without bending, this is when I am most grateful for a small garden. These roses are stunning, they change colour as they open, I cut it back last year so the flowers are lower. They hide the gap between the fence and garage, by the end of the summer they will reach the top of the fence.

I adore this bed, just 3 years old, these fleabane daisies are a froth of colour, the aquilegia behind are new this year, four plants, I'm happy if they propagate and I have loads more, my snowberry plants (2) are slowly growing and will fill out in time, my astilbe is in the middle and should shoot up soon.

I love pots you can give plants the correct environment to grow, Kirts grass hair is better than I imagined, I do like to have a few pots displayed together. Just a few of the pretty flowers here in our garden.

I will trim our olive tree, its full of blossom and getting bigger than we want, another tree we both love, we have had this tree since 2019, I feed it once a year and clip it often.

Another loved plant is my pomegranate, I started a seed way back in 2017, its been in this pot since 2022, it was moved to behind our seating last year, I've stopped clipping it and would like it to grow higher, its not a tree. I do have herbs in pots at both ends of the seating area.

I have been careful when purchasing new plants to remove weeds from pots before planting, I also prefer to grow from seed, which helps keep weeds at bay, so I don't have too bigger issue. I am pulling the buttercups from my back fruit bed, they are taking over, lesson learnt, they need space. In my side bed I have meadow rue, it's a pretty low green ground cover, all through the summer I am pulling it out, it spreads by root and can be a thug, I do like it around my big herb pot.

We did not see daughter and little ones on Tuesday, they stayed home, where they could play inside in the cool, George was going to have a sleepover, but he's not sleeping well, so we postponed it, whilst sad not to see them, we understand their welfare is always most important. I found sitting outside under the parasol with the slight breeze best, the morning temperature was 29°, as it got hotter we later went back inside.

Lack of

Energy, 

I've not done much sewing, the heat makes me tired in the evenings, that's when I make mistakes, I've not touched my knitting or read much, I find myself often sat watching wildlife, we are not sitting inside so much. I have been working on the left side, it's simple stitching, where I can see immediately if I have miscounted. 

I did manage to get into the kitchen and do some baking, cheese straws with tomato puree, bacon and cheese wraps using one pack of puff pastry, a no pastry quiche. I also made a few fruit scones, I had already purchased clotted cream. Hubby loves to bake so it's not often I get the chance, Will loves the cheese and bacon wraps, both daughter and I love my quiche, so everyone ate well, all savouries had cheese in so not for hubby, he got a couple of his favourite pasties.

We all love a freebie, these potatoes grew in my raised bed, I did not plant any this season, one must have been missed from last year, perfect in this hot weather. I still have 4 bags still growing, and some more sprouting potatoes to go in. 

Cute photos, scary how grown up George is now looking, Molly is not far behind.

Nothing much doing in the garden, I have planted my two tomato plants in a raised bed, along with my cucumber, my peas are soaked and in the ground. We are eating lettuce, our 1st cucumber and a strawberry, broad beans will be ready to pick soon. I have put a net up in the greenhouse, the shade does help with temperature inside.

Sunday was so very hot, the little ones spent most of their time playing on the sunroom floor ( I know it's a posh name for the garage space), they were very happy and out of the sunshine.  We vetoed a BBQ, just too hot, so the little ones had nibbles and we had salad with loads of sides, we will be eating leftovers for days to come. For us a perfect family day.

Monday daughter stayed home so children could play inside, hubby was out in afternoon, so I had a quiet day, mainly inside keeping cool. Tomorrow we are having daughter and little ones, they asked to come again, we won't do a BBQ, just too hot, we plan to have a main meal here so daughter does not need to cook later. Wednesday they are with Grandpa and Grandma, half term is a great week for them, both the little ones were tired so a restful week is perfect.

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post, our new sunroom is being used and enjoyed daily.

It's sorted

 Our work in the garage is finished, it took loads of sorting, four trips to the tip, the bigger back section is tidy, we both have our own sections, now everything has it's place again and we know where to find things and hubby still has loads of wood (just in case).

I am really pleased with my second IKEA storage unit, I got 6 of the shallow trays, giving me 4 shallow and 1 double in each carcass, plus 2 of the deeper ones stacked beside. Plenty of useful storage along with two bigger shelves. The top shelf which I can't reach is all hubby's bits, stuff we want out of the reach of the little ones, my feeds and other bits are on the shelf below, still out of reach. 

 The partition is useful for my hanging hand tools, and a few other bits, this space is so much better for me, I can get to everything much easier, at the top is an old rusty rake which belonged to my mum, I ready did not want to pass it on, so I cut the handle and pinned it up there. The four horse brasses belonged to my older brother something I like to see in here. The bin is now on my side, I don't need to access the bigger storage much, so it's sensible to have it there.

Hubby built the two partitions, just a frame with tongue and grove on the front, I had chose green stain for here, but decided I liked it bare, we decided to paint the brick, we already had white masonry paint. I have loads of daft signs on my side, hubby will add bits to his side. The children's garden toys are here as well. For now we will use our loungers, which can be folded if we need the space. 

It's a very sunny spot and perfect on windy days to sit inside, we had ideas to knock the garage down and remove my greenhouse and build across the back of the garden, the estimates were eye watering. The second bonus, I am beginning to struggle with the up and over door, the smaller door was taken out by previous owners. 

We are both happy with this reconfiguration of the space, its nice to look at, which was important, it catches the sun all day, whilst sheltering from the cold breezes, if we sit further back we can be in the shade. Once the new french doors arrive we needed to decide on flooring, we did think of coir or jute, which is expensive so we have ordered so gym flooring interlocking mats, easier to cut and we can use our rug on top. We both have electrical sockets, Alexa works in here as well, unexpectedly our wi-fi reaches outside. 

We have used this space over the hot weekend,  it's nice to have another space to relax in, I'm behind on my veg beds, it won't take long to catch up, I need to get used to working in this heat, plus I won't plant out anything until the temperature drop to their normal levels.

I have no idea what day it is, the little ones had an inset (no school) day on Friday, so far I think I'm on my third Saturday, not that it matters to us. They will all be here later this morning, lots of laughter in our space.

Oops I done it again

We went to Lidl for shopping so we don't have to go out over the coming bank holiday weekend, and this acer fell into our trolly. I did not know I needed another one, it is beautiful, the leaves are different to my others, I lied to hubby stating I had just the spot for it, at £9.80 it did not break the bank.

Here by the steps to the greenhouse is my trio of acers, there are three different colours here, I trim it all the time to keep the steps clear. These are my favourite,  I love the different shades of green.

This acer is the star in our garden, purchased in 2008 for just 99p, it looked like a dead twig, but I knew it would grow back, I  gave it some acer feed this month, I will need to cut the front back later this year, so I'm hoping it thrives through the summer.

 George is not wanting to wear his school uniform, the school is very understanding, on the last day before half term, he decided to wear his top from his pj's, school shorts, mummy's hat and tassels from curtains, his teacher said he looked cool. Molly also has her own individual style as shown before.

This is our westher forecast for the coming week.

It's half term, so we are expecting little people to visit, we have stocked up on their favourite snacks and ice pops, probably have a BBQ or two as the weather is playing nicely. 

Hubby has to finish sorting his area of the garage, like me he does not like things just shoved into spaces. I have veg beds to sort, digging out the final cabbages, making the bed ready for two tomato plants, I have soaked my peas and they are now on wet kitchen towel, those which sprout will go straight into the ground, my runner beans are sown, a bit late which is OK. I am picking lettuce leaves, the cucumbers are getting to a nice size and I have tiny fruit on the tomatoes.  My flower beds are all looking good, I have a few gaps to fill on the side bed, and room for home grown bedding plants in the square bed. I do need to purchase some french marigolds, my seeds all failed.