Saturday 19 August 2017

Winterocereus colademononis Monkey Tail Cactus - update


                          Winterocereus colademononis cuttings back 18/04/2017.
                           Generously given to me in a swap from DaveW BCSS .


  Well here they are a year or so later , today they have lots of little shoots coming !
                                                     I,m over the moon !
                                            Mummabear's Cactus Greenhouse

More exciting news..my husband is painting my grotty old greenhouse..we had some cream woodstain left over and thought it would look nice as well as protecting the wood .
 Well the sun is up and shining again here in Mullion , we,ve got a church service (10am St Michael's in Mullion  ) this morning , then will spend the rest of the day pottering about in the garden .....walk the dog and hopefully find time to do some embroidery  .
 Have a great weekend everybody !

Thursday 17 August 2017

Sun is shining in Mullion !


Housework done . Veg garden - slugs ate my newly planted Kale seedlings ..crushed eggshells didn't work..I have one more pot of kale seedlings...will use slug pellets ( very sparingly ) this time ...covered with cloche and surrounded with chicken wire to protect my birds , hedgehogs and other wildlife ...I hate using them ..but if we dont ,then we will not have any vegetables . The labyrinth is looking good .
In the greenhouse my Monkeytail Cactus cutting is really beginning to grow away ! (Thankyou British Cactus and Succulent Society Dave )  ..so happy me !
I tidied up the Trachycarpus fortunii which I had moved from the compost area is looking great ..I trimmed the grass around it and pulled out a few weeds..much smarter . The last pic in the bottom right hand corner is the Pumpkin bed ..going crazy !
 So all is well ....


                                            The sun is shining in Mullion !


                                                     Lets go to the beach !

Tuesday 15 August 2017

The Church and Well of St Grada and Holy Cross - Grade


 Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven , so we thought it would be nice to visit the beautiful old Church of Saint Grada and Holy Cross .
                         You can click on the pictures to enlarge them .


 The gate is beautiful .....it would be lovely to see it repaired ...the wood looks good..just needs some tender loving care and a few bits replaced by a good carpenter  .


                                 We sat for a while and watched the Swallows .


                                                  Then took a look inside ...


The font is so old ..about 13th century..it looks as if it had been made and sculptured yesterday ! This is a very ancient symbol of  Mary , the most blessed Mother of God .


Not a very good photo of the font sorry , will get a better one next time I go there .


 It was a bit over cast outside and therefore quite dark inside . I had to use my flash to get these pictures .

                                       The flowers on the altar were so pretty .


                             The beautiful stained glass window over the altar .


 The bell tower is in need of some restoration . I hope they can leave the beautiful ferns though .
 The owls have gone from the organ  ! ..but I did see a hedgehog hiding on a pew .


 Then we walked to the Holy Well of St Grada and Holy Cross which is just over the other side of the field along the road ..if you are driving ,there is a little lay-by  in which to park your car .


It is tucked away over a Cornish Hedge , it's a bit of a scrabble down some scary steps with a rope to hold onto and soft mud to land into at the bottom ..but it is well worth it  :) You'll be glad you came ....it is the sweetest little medieval Holy Well  ! Bring a candle to light and put in the niche  .


Think of the people , who through the centuries , have come to pray here . The Holy water is taken from here , to be used for Baptisms back up at the Church we just visited .


I hope if you are on holiday here on the Lizard , that you might come and visit this Holy place .



                                           The Well of St Grada and Holy Cross


Monday 14 August 2017

Goonhilly


                               Goonhilly..lands of our early bronze age ancestors .
            Who cares if it's raining ? Pull on your wellies and go for a nature walk .


 Leave behind your worries , take your camera , your art journal , pencils and paints .                       Breathe in the fresh air and open your eyes to the beauty all around .


          The sound of the Stonechat , Skylark and Swallows..the Buzzard and Kestrel .


                            Lie down in the soft grass and watch the butterflies .


                         ......and just allow yourself to be delighted by it all .


 It was a spidery day today ,it seemed to me ....there were lots of these spiders each with their own funnel web home . Tickle the entrance with some grass and out they pop .


                                        The sound of a Bee on the Heather .
    If you zoom in on this photo , you will see another ,very beautiful and graceful spider  .


                                      ..and Bulrushes always make me happy .

Saturday 12 August 2017

Gete-okosomin Squash --more pics !


 I just can't wait to have my first taste of this Squash variety - the Gete -okosomin  ,which has been carefully grown , it is said for as long as 5,000 years and kept pure by the Miami women in their vegetable gardens . I would love to know the names of these clever ladies  and say a big thankyou for their good work !
                                             It is said to be really delicious !


                             The name Gete -okosomin means the Big Old Squash .


 I'm being careful to keep it pure too . After hand pollinating them , here the petals are tied with a length of Bindweed .


                                          ......and here tied with a cable tie !


It doesn't matter what you use , the flower petals eventually wither and fall off leaving behind the now pollinated or set fruit  .


 I ,m just worried about slugs now and will be putting down more crushed eggshells .

                            One little baby Gete-okosomin..beginning to swell !

Last year I grew the Giant Banana Squash successfully so I know I can do this !
I know I,m a bit behind everyone else growing squashes , with the little accident we had earlier in the year , but hopefully , we should get more hot sunshine towards the end of August and into September to bring them on and I did put a lot of good stuff into this new Pumpkin bed ...Pumpkins and Squashes are hungry beasts !
 They also need a lot of space ! In this bed there are a few Sweetcorn , Two Cherokee Purple Tomatoes and one Gete-okosomin Squash and it is spiraling around the bed like crazy and now even trying to climb out !
 The weather has been a little overcast in the morning and sunny and hot this afternoon .
Lots of people coming over to our beautiful beaches in Mullion..lots of happy children building sand castles !

Friday 11 August 2017

Gete-okosomin update .

                 " The Birds and the Bees !"..lol ! ..only doing it without the bees !

                                                 Here we go again  !
I,m getting the idea of how to pollinate the flowers by hand now , with a view to getting pure seeds and there are more flowers coming along now , both male and female .
Tie up the petals the evening before the flower is expected to open .


 Tie them up with soft twine , cable tie , piece of wool thread or stick them together with masking tape . Here I used a nice long strong piece of Bindweed ..might as well put it to good use !

 A close up view of the male stamen which is covered with pollen.Isn't it beautiful ? !

Now I have more male flowers coming , I can pick one , pull off the petals from around the stamen and use it to wipe the pollen directly onto the female stigma .


           Last time I took pollen from a male flower with a cotton bud stick .


 You can do this , but this time I was able to use the actual male stamen .
Next , I had to get up very early ,before the bees....untie the flower...dust the stigma with the pollen on the male stamen.....tie up the flower once again .
 Very important ..I forgot to say it last time ..tie the flower petals up again !
 The flower will wither and drop off leaving the now set fruit to swell and grow .
I'm writing all this , so I can remember what I did , for when I come to do this again next year .  I hope it might also be of some help to you too .
 

Churches Together Carolaire Down at Poldhu Cove


                                      So much fun ! You were all brilliant !

Wednesday 2 August 2017

Rainy Foggy Day in Mullion Today


A very rainy night here in Mullion and a foggy old day too . ..but I make the most of it and take the opportunity to dig up the Dasylirion that I had planted back in the Spring to replace to Agave which had flowered and then slowly died .
 I had been growing this Dasylirion  longissimum up in one of the vegetable beds , surrounded with chicken wire .  It was doing really well there and I thought I,d plant it where I could enjoy it even more .


                                      Alas ! It has been nibbled by the rabbits !


 Never in a million years did I think that the rabbits would be interested in a Dasylirion ! Sigh ! So out it came and in with another Agave . I can not remember which variety this one is , but it is going to be a much bigger one than the last one I grew here in this spot . It has very glossy , dark green leaves and I think it is a much hardier one too .


 I arranged slabs of rock around it , as it is the wet that kills these more than the cold .
The rocks are arranged so that the rain will just run away from the roots .
Also the rocks heat up under the sun and pulse it back out over night .
In the winter I will put a large cloche over it .....in fact I put the cloche on later on this afternoon as the heavy rain continued .
  I began pulling the weeds that you can see behind it ...but then got carried away playing with the stones .

                   And then the sun came out ....and off we went to the beach !
Poldhu Cove was very busy with lots of happy families and I can recommend the Poldhu Beach Cafe !
We decided to drive a little further though today and visit Marazion Beach  .


                                                             Marazion .


                                                      St Michael's Mount .