Well, when I say showers I mean torrential rain! Just look through my kitchen window…..one minute the sun is cracking the flags, the next the rain is hammering down….
Apart from being beaten to within an inch of their lives, the plants seem rather happy with the weather. This peony simply closes in the rain, which I’m pleased about, for after five years it STILL only produces one gorgeous gigantic blossom.
The water lily has finally opened and four more buds are waiting in the wings, how beautiful is that, I could gaze upon it for hours!
And just look what was peeping under the lily pad…
I’m delighted with the lady’s bedstraw in the front garden that I grew from seed last year, it’s taller than me, soon those lovely spear-heads will be a mass of yellow flowers.
Please ignore the ugly covers in my veggie patch, they’re very makeshift but are serving a purpose, I still have kale and broccoli! And my spuds are flowering and the broad beans are almost ready.
I’m really pleased with the back garden, you wouldn’t think the turf and plants were only planted last autumn would you? And once the honeysuckle, passion vine and clematis scramble up the fences it should look really mature.
The courtyard is prettying up too….
I’m having far too many senior moments of late, I wander out into the garden and find myself thinking….”Oh, isn’t the….erm….what’sit’sblomminnameiounious looking lovely! I know what they all are but often the name escapes me.
Everything on the wall outside the kitchen in the courtyard is new and really shooting up, it’s so lovely eating out there at the moment, the scent of everything is wonderful.
I bought this little willow recently, how pretty is that eh?
This week a wonderful new pub opened, it’s surrounded by woodland and when the sun sets on the trees they glow like a golden wood, stunning it is. We walked there with the dogs and when most of the cars had gone we let Annie off, she LOVED exploring the woodland!
It such a shame we can’t let Sam off, but he puts his nose to the ground and goes off like a bullet, so he can only run on the beach safely, hopefully one day he will get a little more freedom.
I got a surprise gift from daughter this week, isn’t this little hummingbird candle holder delightful!
And finally….
The herring gull chicks have begun to arrive at the rescue, along with the crows. Both are delightful when they’re only a few days old, but within a few weeks they’ll be hanging off our digits and aiming for our eyes….I do love the herring gull chicks, you can see why they would be invisible amongst stones.
Your lovely, colourful picture on the window sill makes up for the view of the rain! Equally lovely is the garden – loved seeing the transformation from last year and all the new plants. That long path looks like a good one to walk Sam and Annie, but I guess they like the freedom of the beach best. Have a good week with those growing herring gull chicks. Take care! 🙂
Thanks Linda, I do love warm colours in the house, they are so cheering in the colder months. I am pleased with the garden given it’s only nine months old, as it matures it should start to look really pretty.
The dogs do love long walks but as you say they love to run together best.
I had an angry herring gull chick biting me today, they do grow quickly and are MOST ungrateful!xxx
What an absolutely gorgeous garden. You are so clever and creative! Keep posting these lovely photos please xx
Thanks so much Gilly….more work to do but the foundations are in place for sure, and the wildlife like it which is so important. You’ll soon get sick of my pics!!! Lol…xxx
I so love visiting your gardens, even if the visit is only virtual. And I’m very happy for you that you’ve had such a success. I remember when you reorganized it all, and it seems a really short while… and such results! Just gorgeous. And nothing is as much fun as going to a pub on foot. I was with you there too… though on the way back, you might have had to call for a taxi, if you let me stay as long as I wanted to. Sending you all my best. If only Sam would listen to a little reasonable advice…
I didn’t want to say anything about the senior moments… but even though it gets worse as we advance in age, after a while, we forget that it’s at all important…
Now my father always said to me growing up that he’d forgotten more than I could ever know!
Lol….here’s to me forgetting it’s important, I like the idea of that!xxx
The back garden is such an improvement isn’t it, back to what it should be, a haven for wildlife, the pups really wrecked it, but now they seem to be doing less damage. It’s always hard with puppies, but they are finally growing up a little, but still they run, which is fine, at least they’re not chewing and digging the plants up. I love to take the dogs out with us, so much better than leaving them home, and they love to come out with us, and are slowly but surely beginning to behave better. You would have loved that pub, I have a new camera and have no idea yet how to use it, just think what wonderful pics you could have captured…. the sunset on the trees was special.I always stay too long…..lol….Sam…..sighs…he never listens, but he is such a happy chap anyway. Thanks Shimonxxx
Awhh. What a cute little frog poking his head up among the water lillies ! 😀
And that herring gull chick is so fluffy and gorgeous. Pity they don’t stay that way.
But the garden is the star. What an array of fantastic plants you have there Dina. And I bet they encourage the bees and butterflies too. this week I found out that i have a bumble bee nest in my garden just under the next door neighbour’s outhouse. They are flying in one after the other like a squadron of planes.
Have a wonderful warm and sunny weekend. And if you can’t have that, then sit indoors and light a candle in that pretty hummingbird holder. What a lovely gift from a daughter to her mum 😀 xxx
I just love the frogs, and for some strange reason we always have lots of them, I’m always surprised given the ponds are small, most of them don’t hang out in the pond at all, usually they are in the flower borders.
Thanks Keggs, the garden is improving, the pups tore it apart and so it’s a case of re-building, I always try and plant for wildlife, so far so good, we have lots of insects and the butterflies will turn up as soon as the honeysuckle etc open.
The bumbles are doing well this year, I see so many more of them than honey bees, how lovely to hear you have a bumble nest too! Hopefully the sun will shine on you too! Hope the new diet is going well!xxx
Your garden is looking wonderful. And a lovely shower of rain so no watering for you. We haven’ t had any rain for ages here.
I know what you mean about the senior moments. It usually happens when someone is looking round the garden and asks you what something is. You know very well what it is but for that moment it goes out of your mind entirely. It pops back in the middle of the night and you have to resist the temptation to ring your friend at 2 a.m. with the name of the flower. Because you know they won’ t want to know in the middle of the night. In fact they never wanted to know that badly, you could have made something up.
I must say I like nothing better than listening to the rain hammering down, we’ve had some rather spectacular thunder storms as well, mostly though it rains overnight which is the perfect time!
Oh….WONDERFUL to hear you have the senior moments too…sometimes I read blogs and think, how on earth do they manage to spout Latin….I’m most jealous if a little peeved that the English escapes me. Hahahaha….I’d love to hear what the friends would actually say if such a phone call occurred, there would be blood on the moon I think. And why is it that the memory kicks in at night? Thanks Chloris.xxx
Your garden looks fantastic and such a peaceful haven. A real sensory experience…..I can imagine quite therapeutic, a place to practice mindfulness. You certainly have a gift xxx
I just love to be in the garden, especially first thing with a cuppa, all you can hear are birds and bees, it’s lovely. Certainly a place to practice mindfulness, it’s sorts the chaff from the wheat for sure.One day I hope to turn these gardens into a little taste of paradise, if the slugs will allow me that is!!! Ahhh, thanks for such a lovely comment Karen.xxx
All your hard work is really paying off – it’s been lovely to see how your garden is shaping up. Actually it looks pretty much finished to me, there’s some lovely areas of planting. It’s a good idea to net your veg patch off, I should do the same to mine but the tenants here who overlook the gardens wouldn’t like it. They like to see all the veg growing – and who am I to spoil their fun! 🙂 Can’t believe it’s been raining up your way, we’ve had wall to wall sunshine for the past week … the very week that I’ve had time off work! Fab!
Thanks Caro, I am surprised how quickly the back garden is knitting together, I’m looking forward to seeing how much can grow in one year. It was a dust bath this time last year, so far the dogs aren’t wrecking it too much.
Lol….I’ve only netted sections, I went out before and noticed that every leaf has been stripped from my broad beans, but the pods are intact! How lovely of you to be so considerate re the tenants….I’d have them collecting slugs each night!!!
Wonderful to hear of your good weather, long may it continue and if you get rain let’s hope it’s overnight!xxx
You have a lovely blog. I found you through Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, and am so glad I did. Your gardens are beautiful!
Thanks Karen, and for visiting. I enjoyed browsing your blog too.xxx
All looks very lovely – must be such a pleasure to be out in your gardens- lots to look at and beautiful scents and anticipation of things to EAT even! I love the little froglet peering coyly up from the pond and the water lily is a real treasure of a flower.
Well done you … all your hard work paying off 🙂
Poor old loony Sam having to be kept on the lead…. if only he’d learn! :)) Awwww bless ‘im….
Candle holder with hummingbirds very pretty and unusual and how sweet of your daughter to buy it for you!
The weather is lovely here and I am chuffed that I have some honeysuckle just creeping up the veranda and a climbing rose… both rather faint-hearted but I live in hope!xxxx
It is lovely to see the back finally taking shape, I didn’t think it would grow as fast as it has…I’m hoping it will be really mature by the end of summer.
Daughter is a little sweetie, she often gets me surprise gifts and flowers and has lovely taste, I do love that candle holder, so pretty.
Poor goofy Sam lad…..the funny thing is how he just accepts things, he doesn’t seem to mind when Annie is off the lead and he isn’t.
Here’s to your climbing rose and honseysuckle creeping around the diamond thing!!!! Thanks Arose.xxx
Fantastic images. Great to be in summer even if it’s raining cats and dogs.We had some bad weather here in NZ. Worst in decades in the north. The south cops it regularly.
Thanks Peter, oh, I do hope your weather improves.xxx
LOOK at all the colour in your garden! I love the blooms you’ve got scattered about mixed in with lush foliage. I especially like your combination all-purpose plant name with a few extra vowels thrown in for good measure 🙂
How fun to have a new pub to visit and food to try and scenes to enjoy. I love it that Sam and Annie get to join you on these adventures.
It’s been quite good this year, ever since the crocus emerged there has been plenty flowering which is also good for the bees. Lol…my all-purpose plant name is being used FAR too often for my liking!
Sam and Annie are always so happy when they come out with us during the evening, their little eyes light up and we can tell they are second guessing which pub walk they are going on. They know them all now!!Thanks Anne.xxx
You are quite the Bird Mama. :o) Your garden looks glorious! Tons of rain here, too. At least that one peony is worth it. Funny that it only gives up one big bloom. 🙂
Lol….each year I think I may get a second blossom…but no chance!!! At least the rain saves us from watering which can take hours even with a hosepipe! Shame it beats the flowers down though. Thanks Casa.xxx
PS I know how you like bears… so check out PS Whimsy – Behind the Brush
http://pswhimsy-behindthebrush.blogspot.ca/
She has some great photos!
Oooooh….thanks Glo, I have visited and was SO impressed, how wonderful it must have been to see them in the wild like that, it gives me goosebumps just looking at the pictures!xxx
Your garden is looking lush and lovely! Your torrential liquid sunshine must have been refreshing for the plants, as long as they weren’t flattened!
What a lovely glow from your hummingbird candle holder ~ a sweet surprise!
What a cute fuzzy chick ~ great camouflage for sure.
Take care as those crows and gulls start to take aim! Yikes! ….
Torrential liquid sunshine, I LOVE that!!! A few took a beating but apart from the tall cornflowers most of the plants have bounced back.
I love my candle holder it really is cozy when it gets dark outside.
Lol….we are far too wise to give the gulls and crows a break….says she touching wood!!! Thanks Glo.xxx
What a stunning garden! Beautiful 🙂
I split and re-planted my peony last year and although there is a lot of growth on both plants, no flowers as yet (I know they don’t like disturbance) BUT my friend assures me that some chicken manure pellets will work wonders…worth a try?
Rose H
xx
Thanks so much Rose, a garden is an ongoing project isn’t it, I love the endless evolution, no two years are ever the same.
Chicken manure pellets eh? I shall certainly give that a whirl! Thanks Rose.xxx
Obviously, one is not to be lulled into a sense of security by pretty baby Herring Gulls. Is your skeleton hibernating for the summer? Your Water Lilies will love wet weather won’t they.
My Peony Rose bush didn’t produce a thing for three years, then it tentatively put out a bud or three. Then I accidentally hacked it when trying to get rid of a rose tree that I never wanted, it caused problems, and the peony bush pushed out an abundance of buds and blooms. It has done ever since. Trouble is, the Peony Roses bloom at a time of Summer gales.
It’s all looking good.
The herring gull chicks are manageable when tiny, but goodness, they grow so fast and can be very irate in captivity, but they do well and we rarely lose one.
Y’know, I may take your advice re the peony, this one seems set in it’s ways and could do with a shake up. Oh…what a shame, I do hope you don’t lose your blooms this year. Thanks Menhir.xxx
Looking just glorious, Dina! I love the lady’s bedstraw…at first I thought it was like my mullien, but then I googled and read about it…I think I may order seeds! 🙂
How sweet of your daughter to give you such a perfect treat! I love it!
I envy you the new pub; sounds so wonderful. That’s one thing we miss living out in the country.
So far, having a great garden year…the blooms come and go so quickly. My poppies and peonies and irises are almost finished blooming already! Still, it’s heavenly being out with them all every morning…
Thinking of you and sending love…and I also know my flowers’ names and hate when I forget them, but I do…till about 3 A.M, when they explode in my brain with utter clarity. Sigh. 🙂
How wonderful it would be if you grew it from seed too, it’s starting to flower now and the insects just love it. It also stands without support and does well during drought, it’s such a good structural plant too.
What a shame you don’t have a local or two that you can walk too with the dogs, I love being able to take ours out with us and their happy smiling faces are a joy to see, they always know the routes and could take us home if we ever got too tipsy, lol….
Oh, you just can’t beat going in the garden each morning and seeing what is out, I discovered a little pink rose today, I have no idea how it arrived though!
Hahahahaha….it’s not just me that has the senior moments then, that’s comforting. Big hugs and love to you.xxx
Amazing, a peony that withstands rain! Didn’t know there was such a thing. Your garden is looking good!
I take it yours don’t close then? What a shame, so many of our flowers close in rain or shade, and they tend to last longer than flowers that don’t. Thanks Jason.xxx
Ohhh such a 1001 night’s garden 😉 You shall feel like Sherazade 😀
you’re unbeatable!!!!
What a marvelous comment!!! Sherazade eh? smashing that! Thanks Claudine.xxx
Once again an action packed post. I must first make comment about the hummingbird candle holder. I love it:). The gardens are looking fabulous, as are the dogs, golden woods and fluffy chicks.
We have had some torrential downpours as well. All quite tropical:). Thank you, Dina. Xxx x
I thought of you the moment I opened the package and think of you every time I light a candle, it does give off a warming glow.
The weather is very tropical isn’t it, that’s Britain for you, ever changing and totally unpredictable. Thanks Janet.xxx
Super post…Your Garden is certainly looking lovely….Those senior moments visit all of us at times…. 😉 That Pub looks/sounds like a great ‘watering hole’……..Enjoy the Summer…sun and all….Hugs! xx
Thanks Bushka, the new pub has beautiful surroundings so lovely for the dogs and only 40 minutes each way. Sighs….a curse on all senior moments!!!xxx
Wow it’s looking fab-u-lus!!!!!
Thanks Mrs, you’ll have to pop up for lunch!xxx
You have a lovely garden and your photo’s are lovely
Thanks Linda, and thanks for visiting.xxx
Your garden is looking fabulous. It’s so hard to believe that the back garden was only planted up in autumn, it all looks so mature. You’ve done a fabulous job with it all. Your little hummingbird candle holder is lovely, I do love my scented candles and have them all around the house. Lovely to see Annie and Sam enjoying themselves, it’s a shame that Sam can’t come off the lead, but I can see he’s got a good length so he still gets to have a good sniff around, and keeping him safe is most important.
Thanks Jo, mother nature certainly knows how to grow eh…..I’m really surprised how quickly the borders are filling out, I didn’t want to pack too much in too soon, now I can see where the gaps are.
Oh, I too love scented candles, especially in the winter, I go through so many of them but you just can’t beat them for pure relaxation can you?
Poor Sam, we let him off in enclosed areas and on the beach but when in the countryside he is completely overwhelmed by scent and disappears in a flash. Hopefully he’ll calm down when he’s a little older and more used to all the different animal scents.xxx
Your garden looks really lovely.
Thanks Sue, the back is a huge improvement on last year….here’s to it growing!xxx
Oh your garden is looking LOVELY – all that hard work you did earlier in the year has really paid off. Amazing how quickly the plants have filled out isn’t it. And you have a water lily already – ours hasn’t even got buds on yet – at least I don’t think so, I’ll have to go and check. Your humming bird candle holder throws out a lovely golden light – a bit like your photo of the woods – and that little chick is ADORABLE – what a little bundle of fluff. Enjoy the rest of the week – hope the sun shines on you.
Thanks Elaine, those little hummingbirds on the candle holder are the closest I’ll ever come to them, sadly! I’m really pleased to see how the plants are filling out, especially in that felled tree border as the soil is so poor after years of leylandi roots and needles, I can’t wait to see the climbers covering the fences, looks like I may finally have a nice back garden one day.
Herring gulls are the sweetest, fluffiest little things when they are young, I do love them.xxx