Blooms inside

I have popped these silk flowers back into this jug, it sits on the kitchen window sill, and add a bit of colour, these flowers are 3 years old, when not in use I store them in huge plastic bags to stop the dust getting in, they are in storage longer than they are out. The last of the Christmas greenery is packed away, it was Candlemas day earlier this week and old traditions says all decorations should be removed by this day. 

My new Orchid, purchased last week is looking good, it was signed as having 2 stems, but this was one of many with 3 stems, I love white Orchids, these will bloom for months and make the £7 spent on the plant very good value. The 2nd photo are the resting plants in the corner of the sitting room next to the patio doors for light and behind our sofa for safety. 

My nastie (cactus) jar is doing well, I made this a couple of years ago, when you could pop to a shop and purchase items. The 2nd plant is my coffee plant, these were purchased as a small plant in a coffee mug, they were crammed in and I decided to see how far I can get these to grow. 

Plants in our sunny office area always do well, I have tucked the string of pearls in Betty's hair back up, I would rather wait a bit longer for her hair and have really thick strands. The 2nd plant is my baby pineapple plant, I purchased the mother plant and the small fruit did not fair well, but the plant had babies, this is the best so far, I have 1 other in the greenhouse.  

It's a beautiful sunny morning after heavy rain in the early hours of the morning, it's still cold and we have been promised it will get colder over the next couple of days, there is snow in our weather forecaste, but I am not expecting much, we are shielded from most weather by the Isle of Wright, we last had snow 2 years ago and then not much. 

I am hoping to knit more on my jumper, I have just the rib on the body to finish, not my favourite and I intend to make the rib longer, to match the style of the jumper, the patter was for a short summer jumper, mine is a long winter style. I have caste on another pair of colourful socks, and I have started another book. 

Not much happens here, no visit's as hubby has a hospital appointment this afternoon, so we have stayed at home and not seen anyone. We do spend time watching the small birds in our garden, their feeders are always full, so they know a visit is always good, I can spend hours looking out at our garden. 

 

Growing inside

My house plants are looking good, this African Violet often has flowers, it does do well sat on our kitchen windowsill. 

I managed to get one flower on this Orchid, I broke the tip of the stem last month, half my Christmas cactus now lives here, just behind the sofa in a bare corner. On the floor are a couple more plants, just waiting for flowers to form. 

The other half of my Christmas cactus is still on my bathroom windowsill, this is next to the kitchen and gets loads of afternoon and evening sun. 

I had to move this pot, Will loves these plants and would often touch them and pearls drop off, not good when we have baby George and a couple of cats, it's now safely higher up. 

Betty's hair is growing, she sits on my desk, by another sunny window, I mist her most days, it's a slow process, but I am hoping it will be worth the wait. 

Also in my office my pineapple plant, I have a few of these, and swap the plants from the greenhouse to here, they are getting much bigger, not sure how far I can take these. 

Coffee anyone, again another lovely plant, the leaves shine, this was a tiny plant purchased in a coffee mug, it loves this spot, but I will have to move it once the heating is turned on.

Not yet in the house, this is last years Amaryllis, I pulled out loads of Cyclamen corns and found this bulb with a tiny leaf tip, for now it's in the greenhouse, but soon I will bring it inside. 

I do have more houseplants, and one huge glass pot with cactus inside safely from tiny hands, I would have more, but hubby not keen on plants inside, and I not about to overpower him. I have a few Orchids on the floor behind our sofa, it's a spot where they do well, once the buds reform they are placed where we can see them. I don't have plants in either of our bedrooms, but I do love to have plants to cherish in the winter months.

I did not sell my Olive, my youngest daughter changed her mind and decided to have it, she is going to purchase a big pot, which I will plant up for her. I am really pleased she is having it, I can watch it grow bigger. 

Under glass

My forget-me-nots are doing well, I hope these will fill the garden with loads of tiny floating blue flowers next spring. 

My passion fruit plants and salvia hotlips are all growing well, I hope to get a couple salvia into the garden next month so they can settle in and regrow next summer. The passion fruits will all be given away. 

Violets and Violas starting to grow, 

these will fill my pots with winter colour.  

I have 5 pineapple plants around my home, this one in the greenhouse is the best looking, I have another one growing well in my office, the last 3 are all much smaller.

Succulents, some I have had for years and loads with tiny new growth. I do love my pots, the brown 'chamber pot' I have had since the 70's, I no longer own the onion pot which matched.

My hydrangea cuttings did well in the Perlite, and had lovely roots, so I planted them, but left them were the rain could water them, they have gotten too wet, so I am hoping they come back, if not, I will have to start again.  

 I also have a tomato and cucumber plant in the greenhouse, both are producing fruits, but not as many tomatoes as the outside plants and the cucumbers have stalled, there are a few starting to grow again, I think for a week it was just too hot in the greenhouse. My nasties and succulents both loved the hot days, every plant is looking good. 

My 1st task everyday is to walk down my tiny garden and check the greenhouse, open the door and ensure everything is as it should be. 

We have been having rain most nights, not storms, no thunder and lightening - very very frightening (sorry, sing along), and the days are now cloudy and dull, but it's perfect weather for the garden.

Yesterday Will and George came with mummy, for a couple of hours I also had a neighbour's children, so 3 of them ran around the garden playing, Will was the youngest, but he happily shared the toys we had. Later we popped to our neighbour's to see their new puppy, both of their children were so happy and excited. 

Getting on with things.

This is my coffee plant, I purchased it February 2019 as a small plant in a coffee cup, and it grew, in March that year I popped it into this much bigger pot, it lives in our sitting room, which is in shade most of the day. I think I over watered it through the winter months and the tips of the leaves went brown, but the new growth is perfect. I have no idea where I will get with this plant, but it's fun growing it. 

I have loads of house plants, these below are just a few all looking good, the photo with 2 plants in are my pineapple and amaryllis, both are doing well. These string of pearls are their true green colour, these stay out of direct sunlight, I love the white flower on the African Violet, it sits on the kitchen window sill, and flowers every year, sometimes twice.  

I finished this 3rd book, I was disappointed with the end, but that's fiction for you. I will probably read more of her books, but with a different main character, they were an easy read and not too much gore. Book 34 of this year. 

I purchased this book from the net, I do love anything written by Sharon Bolton. I have enjoyed holding this book whilst reading, you can't beat holding a book and turning pages. It's another book I could not put down, brilliant plot and story line, book 35 this year.

I am slowly getting on with these socks, I am at the heal, and through the amount of work in the garden and the heat, I am just to tired to work on the heal, it's the only part of the sock, you need to think about. I will get it done soon, I want to knit a second pair with the same design but bigger. 

I have been doing more to this blanket, just a few squares most nights, it's so soft and comfortable, we keep the patio doors open until bedtime, so as it cools down it's perfect to spread this on my lap and add to it. The width is 20 squares, I aim to do 4 more full rows after this row, and then I will decrease each row by 1 square allowing the bottom to match the top. As yet I have not sewn all the ends in, naughty, but I will find the mindset to do it soon. 

I do believe I can now say I have mastered Tunisian Crochet, I am now thinking about my next new design to try, but I promise no more blankets, a gal can only have so many. 

On 1st May I did a post about my list making, showing things crossed on the original list and published the list below, as my next prompt. So how have I got on, well frankly poorly, I have not touched anything, I'm not bothered, the weather is perfect for being outside, and the list will wait for me. 

It was my turn to bake this week, and hubby asked for fruit scones, I made just 4 big ones, which we enjoyed with clotted cream and jam, and to start a conversation, I always add the jam 1st! I also made a quiche for my lunches, just a small one with half ingredients, it will last me 3 days. We are both enjoying salad most days, we are eating our main meal at mid-day and a snack at 6pm, which is working better for us. 

We are walking in the evenings, it's a bit cooler and we head for the water front, where we can find any breeze, it's a big area and never too crowded, we are walking much further, find new places to have picnics when we can get together with family.

We have planned to drive to daughters house on Monday, we will stay in the garden, watch Will and George play, we are hoping Will can understand the distance rules, I can't wait to see them all again. 

Our friend and neighbour went into hospital this week, he has underlying health issues and is really unwell , they ran loads of test and sent him home, they would not keep him in, the whole family have been shielding for 11 weeks, he had a covid 19 test, which thankfully was negative, he is now isolating just in case he picked up the virus, we are all hoping he's OK. 

 

What are you growing.

In 2019 I had a beautiful Amaryllis, as the flowers went over they produced seed pods, so I planted the seeds, and they grew.

The pot above was crowded, so I thought I would pot them on, I was surprised to see such good roots and a tiny bulb has formed, I had to find bigger pots for them. 

 Six in plastic pots, 3 in bigger pots which can be used inside, it's exciting to see something new growing from saved seeds. I have no idea how these will progress, or even if I will get flowers.

 I thought I would update you on other seeds and pips I have growing.

In flower is my Lime plant, this was purchased as a plant, I was not able to find pips in limes. Next is my orange tree, this was grown from a pip planted back in 2015. Both are due to be placed in bigger pots. 

 My Lemon tree, planted in 2014, I cleaned and popped the pip in soil and was pleased when it grew, this started my fun on growing things from seeds and pips. I have a bigger grey pot to give this plant more space. These 3 plants are still in the greenhouse. 

 Cape gooseberry, planted in 2018, I have cut all the growth back, it had better shoots from the base, again I have no idea how I should be growing this. 

 Pomegranate sown in 2017, I cleaned the pink fruits and 1 grew, I have just put it in a bigger pot, the leaves drop each year and every spring it gets bigger and more wonderful. 

 Kiwi also planted in 2017, it took a couple trys to get these to grow, 1st attempt I picked out all the tiny black seeds and popped them on a wet kitchen towel, they grew but were to tiny to pop into soil. 2nd attempt, I cut a slice of kiwi and popped it on soil, it did go moldy, but I left it and I got 1 plant. It has been outside for a couple of years, and loves a sunny spot in the garden. 

 I am growing this kiwi for the blossom, it is beautiful, as yet this plant has not produced any, but I am hopeful this will be the year, the leaves are furry as is the stems, it's a very different plant. There was one growing in a neighbours garden back in 2013. 

 One of the babies from my pineapple plant, after the tiny fruit ripened, the plant died, so I potted up the babies, this lives on my desk, it's always sunny and warm here. 

 In the green house I have 2 other pots, the single baby had good roots, the pot with the glass cover has 3 plants which do not have many roots, the dome I hope will help them to grow, it's working so far. 

I have other things, an acorn sapling, I have a couple of nuts in soil, to see if they will grow, I am always looking for something to try and grow. I did grow  an avocado and had it for a couple of years, but it did not winter well in the greenhouse. Not everything grows, I had walnut sapling given to me, which curled up and died, and loads of things which never started growing, but if you don't try you will never succeed.
My green house is full, I have trays of flower seedlings, a couple tomato plants and I got another packet of cucumber seeds, the old ones I planted did not grow. I was given 3 camellia seeds, which I have planted, the itch to grow is huge at this time of year.
My mood has picked up again, feeling more positive, I'm finding it better for me if I focus on home and family, I can't change the world, but I can live the best in my world.
Husband went to our local B&Q, he got loads of bits, so he can finish jobs, mainly painting, he's ex army and follows the mantra, if it does not move paint it.
This weekend I am planning time with my sewing machine, simple projects, things which can be finished, my crochet blanket is growing slowly, having mastered the design, I am finding it's very repetitive, but it does look good. I am also reading, which is always good for me.

In the green

I have planted the 4 seeds I found in this packet, just a bit out of date, but the seeds looked OK, just hoping they grow.

 The tomato seeds have started to grow, too many for me, I will pot them up and leave on our drive for people to take, but not for a couple of weeks. 

 Bottom right corner are the pineapple plants, they have been in a couple of weeks and are still looking good. 

 These 3 have survived another winter in my cold greenhouse, they are all looking good, the Pitcher plant is losing some of it's taller growth, but the are loads of small ones to take their place. 

 I see these tulips every time I am at my greenhouse, but yesterday I noticed how beautiful the colours looked from behind, the sunshine made them look like jewels.  

 It's bluebell time, I only have English ones in the back garden, I don't like the Spanish ones at all, nothing says warm spring day more than bluebells. 

 My Peony, is a dear old plant and I love to see it come alive every year, I gave some root to my brother last year, and he's also happy it's growing in his garden. This plant was in the corner of our front lawn in my mum's garden, it's getting towards 60 years old. I do chip some of the edge roots off and pass it around, my daughter wants a plant next year, she is having her back garden done, once we get back to normal. 

 Earlier this year, the pesky squirrel dug my bonsai tree out, I did pop it back in it's pot and have kept it in my greenhouse in a shady spot, no buds as yet, but the tree is not dead, the branches are not brittle, I have everything crossed this will grow again. 

It's all about the garden at this time of year, whilst I have very little structure work, I can always find things to do, I have loads growing for the main garden, it will be May before I put much out, still the risk of some frost about.
I am having problems in the greenhouse with my dry river bed planted with my nasties, I have vine weed coming through from next door, no point in saying anything, I have been pulling it out, trying to take as much root as I can, it's the only real solution, but because it's so warm in there it grows quickly. I have dealt with it in the garden along the fence, plus Ivy, keeping it cut back and pulling the roots has slowed it down. I'm in the greenhouse each morning pulling the stuff up, but it's so full in there and my plants are not ones you can get close to.

What to do

We had the boys on Saturday all day, it was fun, Will got some time outside with Grancha, it dried up early afternoon. I forgot to bring Georges mosses basket, so we blew up the single bed and placed it in the dining room end, Will loved it, and George was able to watch us on times he was not being cuddled. It was a fun day, Will behaved so very good, I don't think he has taken his police officer uniform off since his birthday. 

Knitting, the weather outside is still stormy, the rain has eased to light rain, but still most of the day, the winds are still much stronger than normal, so inside hobbies. 

 I am rather pleased with this sock, I love the colours, and whilst they are colourful, they are not too bright, the toe will be red, unless I change my mind and knit them grey. These will be my 2nd pair of Christmas socks, I am getting well ahead this year, but I have plenty to make. 

My pineapple on this plant is ripening, it is tiny, I am surprised it has ripened, but the radiator under my desk keeps it warm. I have cut the tips of the leaves off, they were going brown. I am aware the plant will die once the pineapple is ready. I purchased it back in September, it's fun to watch it grow.

 I have 5 small plants growing from the bottom, so I will repot them in the greenhouse, I can't decide if I should put them in 1 big pot or individually in 5 pots, they will have to come back inside, they need the warmth.  

I have not done anymore knitting to my cardigan, or sewn my rabbit together, we are having issues with our neighbours over trying to get the fence repaired, it was expected they would kick off, but the devious way she did, was nasty, again police involved, it's so sad when people can be so horrible, we only want to repair a fence so we can't see into each others gardens. So simple knitting for now, I've not started reading my latest book.
Sunday I cleaned the house, top to bottom as my mum would say, it was really dusty, but I had not given it a good clean for a while. I managed a small time in the greenhouse, got a few things done, to wet to be in the garden.
Today it's Monday and Will is coming over, we love having here with us, gives mummy time to get loads done, he is very happy to be with us, it's a shame we had to work for so many years, it would have been nice to have this much time with our other grandsons in their early years.