Changing seasons

I love these glass brambles, they catch the light and look very real, it's October, so I am packing away some of my summer silk displays, these I've had a few years, but because I don't leave them out, the joy every year is brilliant. 

This old jug has a crack, so it won't hold water, but it sits in my kitchen and has 4 different silk seasonal displays. My two bigger pumpkins are years old, they take tealights but I don't use any, the tiny one is new this year, I love the colours of leaves as they change, so another display I love. I don't normally do Halloween decorations, but I have knitted some pumpkins for the dining room table.

This book is set in Cork, southern Ireland, we have an Irish daughter-in-law,  so I understand the relaxed style of living. It starts with a murder, a senior partner at a solicitor practice, two investigations, one by the police, the other internal, the plot follows the internal one. The many twists lead to an ending I did not guess, this is her 2nd book, I did enjoy it. Book 32 read this year.

I got more bulbs, I really did not want to dig any out from other parts of the garden, I think these tete-a-tete daffs will look good, I am also hoping these snowdrops will grow. The new flower bed is filling up, so much promise, I need to keep it watered whilst we are having this sunny weather.

I'm really tired, I've not slept well for ages, which is surprising as I'm tired in both mind and body, I always take an age to fall asleep, some nights I can be awake for a couple hours. I'm not cranky yet, I'm trying not to be snappy, it's not hubby's fault. 

Monday I spent the day cleaning, it was needed, it's funny how I enjoy hard work outside but not cleaning inside, everywhere is looking good, so I'm happy again. We did get time to relax later, I cooked Paella for tea, its my dish I always make. Tuesday hubby came with me to a different garden centre with the sign group for our coffee trip, we did have a look around, I resisted all the plants. We popped to The Range on the way home, just a few things I wanted, I stuck to my list, they are in full Christmas, we did not bother to look. I did spend an hour in my greenhouse, moved a few things around, I can now see flowering plants from the house.

Wednesday, our extra top soil arrived, plus the bags of compost from our local shop, I dug out all the plants I wanted to move into the new bed, I also dug out the bed where I will place the rhubarb, here I added drainage and loads of the top soil. With the main flower bed, I added home made compost, and chicken poo pellets, once the bed was full of top soil I replanted everything including most of the spring bulbs. I then sorted a few pots, again with spring bulbs, I will plant tulips in my cucumber pot, I can use a big potato bag, which happily fits inside the pot, which will save me digging them out and I can reuse them next year.

Growing

I have potted my first Amaryllis bulb for this season, I have tried for a few years to regrow these wonderful blooms, only to have leaves and no flowers. In early summer I took all the bulbs, removed all the compost and popped each bulb in a paper bag, they were all placed in a cool dark part of our garage, I had no idea if this was correct, but it's what you do with other bulbs. I recently learnt how to get second blooms and my instinct was correct. So now it's wait and see, I have another 5 bulbs in paper bags, I am hopeful for loads of colour to come.

 We popped to a favourite garden centre, the two items here was not on my list, I just loved the colours in this cyclamen and the bulbs are just different blooms for me. My garden spend has been much lower so far this year, I have added these purchases to my stash list, anything which will grow is added, all hard landscaping items are part of the refit. 

I was super pleased to see there were still onion sets for sale, there are more than I wanted, but as I could not get red onions, I will plant more of these. I won't use them all, I will pass the extra sets to my neighbour. The broad beans are for sowing now, they over winter in the ground, hubby choose the potatoes, it would be nice to have some for Christmas time. So my veg beds will be working the whole of the winter months, it will be good to see things growing early next year. 

Our local pet shop has started selling bulbs, I got these hyacinth bulbs, in hope I can have them in bloom for a Christmas inside display.  I also got 2 bags of compost, 1 for shrubs and another enriched (no peat), which will be delivered on Wednesday,  with a bag of mushroom compost if he can get it, I will mix the compost with the top soil for my pots.

This is the second book by this author I have read, it's a sequel to her first, both can be read as stand alone books. Another good story, years have passed, the daughter who was a young child, is now grown up with her own family, I guessed the baddie but not the final twist. I found this book in the works, as was the 1st book, they are selling really good authors. Book 32 read this year.

I have a paper bag with green tomatoes in, they should ripen over the next few weeks, both plants have been cut back and used in the bottom of my new veg beds, we also put the leaf mulch from my black bin, and loads of chicken poo pellets, topped off with lovely enriched topsoil. It was a beautiful day on Friday, our topsoil was delivered before 9am, so both veg beds are full, we had to order more topsoil for the flower bed, which will arrive on Wednesday, hopefully we can finish all the new beds.

Saturday I worked on the section behind the garage, I dug out the composter and hubby moved it for me, it was a bit too close to the water butt, I have struggled to fill my watering can, I did toy with the idea of have a 2nd butt here, but decided there was not enough space. We moved things around and made space for hubby to build a wood store, he has kept loads from the decking base for our wood burner.

Sunday I should have been cleaning inside, but was drawn outside again, the days are warm and sunny, I spent loads of time sorting my side of the garage, I used fresh soil and compost to redo both hostas in pots, and have 2 small babies potted up. We did get time to relax on Sunday, we both enjoy sitting  outside whilst we still can. I will post later in the week with photo's of the finished section of the garden. We finally found the permanent spot for hubby's sundial in the new design, we don't use it, but he does love it.

Today, we are having a lazy morning, hubby is out this afternoon, I can do some overdue cleaning, the evening will be rest, read and look out at the garden, I love what we have created, it's just now a case of waiting until the landscaping is finished. 

September roundup

Just a couple bits of craft items, I got Christmas fabric to finish a cushion and some yarn for a knitted shawl and a pair of socks, very little in the garden this month.

No clothes, there is just nothing I want, we are not going out enough for me to see things I might like. 

No big spend this month, our trip away was paid for months ago, and our spending money came out of our £2 savings pot, we did fill the car with petrol, which does not happen that often. Daughters birthday treat was factored into this months spend. We got a few kitchen bits in Wilko's last few days sale, with 80% off most things, I still feel so sad this store is gone, it was always busy with shoppers. Anything for the garden is coming out of the referb budget, which is bigger than we wanted, but will be worth it.

No food waste, I'm thankful for the freezer this month as I have frozen loads of tomatoes for winter soups. I have a good supply of blackberries frozen, making our harvest go just that bit further. 

My weight, it's all gone to hell in a handcart, as my mum would have said, too many days out this month and no won't power! Steps are poor, who wants to walk in the rain, and I am still enjoying Pilates class. 

Books

 Jodi Picoult always write a good story, and always about a difficult subject, this was the story of a father who after an accident was on life support, his son, daughter and ex-wife had to decide his future. Whilst the topic of the books was hard, the story was about lives lived, I enjoyed this book. Book 31 read this year.

I love second hand books, I get them from charity shops, online and local selling pages. One recent book purchase online had this inside the cover, look at the beautiful hand writing, don't you want to know who these people are, it's an old garden book, did they love to garden or just look at blooms, it's the same year as the book was published, was it that years must have gift. Oh for a crystal ball. 

My 2021 book has arrived, I got another 30% off and free shipping, so as it was finished, I thought I would take advantage of the savings. I've only imported 4 months of 2022, they updated the site and I'm not loving the new systems. I did say I was going to stop at 10 books, 11 years of post(my 1st book had 2 years together) but Covid changed that, and now I want Molly included in my set of books, she is the last grand child, so they are all in there. 

We had loads of long decking planks left, one of our neighbours said she would like to grow along her sunny fence, beds not too wide, she thought veg, I suggested fruits, they take up less ground space, she loved the idea and came back with measurements for 5 beds, did we have enough, hubby built one bed so they could see if it would work, it did. Hubby is building all of them, using most of the decking, he uses the best bits of the frame for the side corners to hold them together, he is even reusing the old screws, which came out of the decking. Our neighbours hubby has MS and is not able to build them with ease, so my hubby has chosen to help, and at the same time reuse so much of what we don't need. 

We have our date for the hard landscaping, late November which is no problem, for the past few days we have been outside, sorting raised beds, and digging out plants. All my decorative bits are packed in the garage for winter, I have left the bunting out and the string of lights, which are not working, I am hoping it's because it's not dark enough, our lovely neighbour keeps her outside lights on in the darker evenings. 

Storm Agnes did not come far enough east to cause any issues, just a breezy day and a few spots of rain, we had both our Covid and Flu jabs, nice to have them sorted, we both had dentist this week.  I met with an old work mate for lunch on Thursday, I had not seen her this year so far, all's well in her world, lovely photo's of her fast growing granddaughters, just time to chat, we did manage a short walk. Pilates went well, I am really enjoying the classes.

Talking of dentist, ours is lovely, still NHS, and very helpful, sat in waiting room listening as you do, one man was told they do have an open waiting list, but the wait is 3 years, another lady registered with the practice came in with tooth ache, they could not fit her in for a week and was told to call 111. I'm not surprised, just another part of our health care in crisis. We booked our next appointment as we left, knowing nearer the time we will arrange our lives so we don't need to change the appointment. 

Today and tomorrow is all about filling the raised beds, the top soil will arrive this morning, planting shrubs and putting everything tidy. The garden is a mess, there is a huge hole where the decking was, we are moving pots to new homes and ensuring everything is clear for the landscaper.