Catching up

I can’t believe how quickly this year is flying by. One minute we were baking during a heatwave and a drought, now it’s slipped quietly into autumn with lots of rain, chilly winds and cool temperatures.

Given how much time the front garden [new build] has taken up has resulted in the other gardens being neglected. During the drought I noticed that there was barely any water in the pond so set to clearing it out. It truly was terribly overgrown and the surrounding areas were covered with nettles and ground elder. I was astonished to discover that almost all of the pond was full of water lily roots and soil. In the end, hubs had to hack it all out, quite the job it was.

Now, at least the birds and can pollinators can have a drink and the frogs seem far happier. I did split the water lily before I put it back in, I’ll have to keep an eye on it size now. Once I’ve cleared all the ground elder roots I’ll have to think about what to plant, a job for spring methinks.

The new build in the front garden ground to a shuddering halt. I think it’s been about six weeks since the builders were last here. We still need a fence completing, a raised bed capped and a shed/Wendy house/office building. They are returning tomorrow thankfully and this time will stay until the job is completed.

While we’ve been waiting for them the lawn areas have now been turfed by my good self with hubs laying the topsoil….

much to the dogs satisfaction. I did fear for the new turf during the heatwave and drought but thankfully both new lawns have grown well.

On the rescue front we have new pigs, beyond cute they are. They stand by the gate waiting for their meals, how quickly they catch on!

Below are four wee hoglets taking their first drink, the staff are delighted as they won’t have to take them home anymore! Along with hedgehogs we’ve also had lots of bunnies admitted this year, such beauties, the lot of them. Our resident rosella is still going strong and continues to endlessly chatter and charm us all.

Apart from the tomatoes and brassicas which the cabbage white caterpillars got, as usual, it’s been a great year for the veggies. I still have plenty of potatoes, carrots, onions, kale, runner and dwarf beans along with garlic, beetroot, courgettes, pumpkins and spring onions. As an experiment, I’ve sown carrots and brassicas in the new raised beds in the front along with onions and garlic which I know will do well over winter.

I grew all my courgettes and beets in pots this year, they did surprisingly well.

I’ve also been enjoying the onions grown from seed this year and simply can’t believe how many pears we have. We can’t reach the top of the tree so have to wait until they fall off, in the main the dogs get them first, big pear fans they are!

I spotted a peahen with two tiny chicks recently, can you see them?

And Finally…

I don’t know what’s going on in blog land recently. I’m finding it impossible to comment on some blogger blogs and don’t receive email notifications from any of them. I’m also having problems with people receiving my posts too even though they are subscribed. Sighs….Daughter is going to have a look at my blog tomorrow so hopefully she can sort the subscription issue.

Until next time, take care and stay safe guys. xxx

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14 Comments

  1. Hi Dina .. I love what you have done with the dog friendly circular lawn ! LOL … he just couldn’t wait until you got the turf in so he could stretch out and take command of the area ? .. things are looking very good over there but I totally understand your frustration with not getting the job done in a timely fashion.
    Yes ! this year has flown by … more so this month I find .. we are having amazing weather right now .. it was 23 degrees today while I was deep into garden work .. 5 hours later I drag myself into the house and to the shower .. I just want to lay down and not move for a month ? LOL
    I can’t believe how much you grow with the veggies … you are amazing to do so much and get things done !
    Thanks for stopping by my blog … I’m having a hard time keeping up with that myself.
    Take care and stay safe !
    Joy 😉

  2. All righty, then! I seem to have subscribed successfully — we’ll see how it goes. I was so sad to read about Curly Cat, although I haven’t read that complete post yet. I have some catching up to do. Thanks so much for being such a faithful reader at my place. I’m glad I finally snapped to and came looking for you!

  3. Great photos! The four wee hoglets won my heart.
    Amalia
    xo

  4. I have just re-subscribed as I’ve not been recieving your posts for a while now, although your comments are coming through to me ok.You did really well with you rturf laying and the dogs seem to appreciate it, hope the builders turn up on time to finish off! You have been doing ever so well with your veggies once again, well done.x

  5. Garden tasks are never ending and you’ve been tackling some major ones such as clearing the pond and working on the redesign. Then there’s the gathering of produce and days working at the rescue place, dog walking and playing with little’un. The time goes by and I’m catching up with you. I do get notice of news, but leaving comments can be problematic. Thanks for leaving your blog name so I know it’s you. Take care Dina. Lots of love, Linda P.

  6. I always enjoy it when you invite us into your garden, my idea of magic. And yes – time flies!
    Amalia
    xo

  7. I am still getting lovely comments from you. I am sorry that notifications are not working for some folks, I am getting them just fine on Feedly. Working out the settings can be a nightmare. If you use any Apple devices make sure you don’t have cross site tracking prevention switched on as it can stop you being able to comment on some blogs, it is in privacy preferences.

    Your garden sounds like it has produced amazing amounts of veg for you despite all your work. I am sorry to hear it ground for a halt for so long, that sounds really frustrating, I do hope they came back and stay until they have finished this time!

  8. Isn’t it frustrating when workmen abandon you. The circular lawn looks great. Pigs are intelligent creatures aren’t they?

  9. lowcarbdiabeticJan

    Blogger is still proving problematical from time to time …
    Your garden is looking good, full marks for the turf 🙂
    So pleased you have had a lot of vegetables this year, can’t beat home-grown.

    Aww those little pigs are just so sweet.

    Take care, my good wishes.

    All the best Jan

  10. Glad I checked your blog today, dear friend! So happy to catch up with all your news and beautiful photos. Is that Sam lounging like a king on his green space??!😍

    The garden looks wonderful; what a task to clean that pond! It sounds like a bountiful garden, save for the darn cabbage worms. I’m going to try beets in a pot next year; will have to find out a little more about that!

    Excited to see the results of Phase 2 of this fabulous building project!

    Oh, those little animals all look so precious! It would be hard not to give a kiss to this sweet pigs, and what a magnificent bird! Blessings to all at the rescue for their hard work on behalf of our fellow creatures.

    And great joy and peace to your autumn. XO

  11. It’s all looking and sounding good, and I hope that the builders do finish the work.
    Glad to see that you had a good year with the vegetables and pears given how dry and hot it was.
    Interesting selection of animals at the recue centre.
    Thanks, and you too. xx

  12. How annoying that your builders went AWOL for that length of time. I’m very impressed with your turf laying though and you seem to have veggies galore. The courgettes are slowing down here now – quite a relief actually :O) – so we’ll soon be on to leek or squash soup instead. Those hoglets are adorable, as are the mini pigs and bunnies. Well done too on clearing the pond, it sounded like no mean feat. xx

  13. Hi Dina, I haven’t been getting notifications of your blog posts, but I did get a comment you made on my blog post, so here goes, I’m going to try commenting again. I absolutely love your wee hoglets, but I can imagine they would be high maintenance when they are very young. I’m so pleased to hear that your Crimson Rosella is doing well, they don’t ask for much in the garden, here in Canberra, and tweet away gently despite big birds flying by. Best wishes for autumn and all your projects.

  14. THERE you are! I was wondering if the projects just swallowed you alive. So sorry to read about the delays in the front garden work. Delays seem to be in the cards everywhere. I like that lush circle of green and it seems the dogs agree.

    Those little pigs had me smiling. The black and white one reminds me of my Samantha, somehow….

    Nice job on those pot-grown veggies. Maybe because it’s so hot here, I’ve not had a lot of luck with beetroot in pots. Do you grow the golden kind? Those are my favorite 🙂

    Hope you get your tech sorted, my friend. We’ve missed you.

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