Sowing the Giant Redwood Tree Seeds Today

Nothing makes me happier than sowing and growing beautiful trees !
Today I sowed the seeds of the Giant Redwood trees all the way from The Valley of the Giants , very precious indeed .The most magnificent and tallest tree on the planet !
  I gave them a little holiday in the refrigerator and then planted them  on the surface of some nice molehill earth , that I found in our meadow . It is said to be good to grow seeds in molehill earth .
  I gave them a nice handful of horticultural grit to cover and set them along side my young Oak tree babies .
 It is the 1st February today , the weather is mild and misty and should be perfect for germinating them , although some may not germinate until next year . If we should get a cold spell of weather that will be all the better for them too .

Early Flowering Epie update - It's opening !

               It's opening and I think this is Epiphyllum " King Midas " .
                            This is a lovely orange /peach coloured one .

                             My first Epiphyllum bloom of the year 2020 .
                                                  15th January .
                       It is still not fully open ..... but I am delighted with it !

Red sky in the morning ......

 Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning ! Storm Brendan is on his way .

Update  --   So we have had severe gales ....but  not a lot of  rain until about 4 o'clock this afternoon ,when it rained extremely hard for about 5 minutes , it was such a deluge that you couldn't see through it ! School run time - I felt so sorry for all the children coming home from school ! 
       ...... and then it stopped , no rain , no wind .
The bad news is it's coming back tomorrow !

The other thing that is on my mind , is that all afternoon and during that roaring wind and heavy rain , we could hear someone's dog barking over and over and over again . It must be tied up outside , it sounds like it is barking "help ! help ! help !" It carried on barking non stop until just a short time ago .   So sad for this poor animal .  It is happening on a regular basis now too . Heartbreaking !
How could anyone be so cruel . Man's best friend deserves better than this , bring your dog in and give it some love !

Early flowering Epie update however ....

 
      The early flowering Epiphyllum however , is really taking it's time !

                        It is very slowly beginning to lift that top right petal .
            The sun is shining again today , I,ll take another look a bit later on .
                Will it be red , pink or white ? Hard to tell at this stage .

Snowdrops !

                                         The Snowdrops are blooming !

                                                 And Daffodils !

                                                  And Violets !

                              Lots of them too in the hedgerow !
           It's Spring here in the far South West of Cornwall !
                                 I'm sending it up your way !

10pm in the Greenhouse - Epie watching

                                             10pm in the greenhouse .

                                   A couple of petals have opened out !
                                         

 I will be dashing up to the greenhouse again in the morning early ....I,m afraid I,m just too tired to do the midnight shift !

Wolf Moon Mullion 2020

 And so the lovely sunny day continued and I took many photos of the lovely flowers on my Marlothistella up in the greenhouse .

 We took a walk along the field towards the Marconi  Monument  , blue sky and sun shining , but a chilly breeze . I wrapped up warm with gloves and my scarf around my ears . So it didn't bother me .

                                            The Marconi  Monument .

 He however , didn't bring his gloves or scarf ....the wind played a tune as it blew over those little holes on his crutches !  It was so funny ! lol !
  He was glad we had come out for some fresh air , but I could see his ears turning blue , so we turned round and walked back to the car .

                              From the car we sat and watched the waves .

                              Lovely just to sit and watch them rolling in .

                                     Time for home and a nice cuppa tea !

                                                        Wolf Moon

As we came into our lane we were thrilled to see the first full moon of the year rising up over our little cottage and the vegetable garden . My photo just doesn't do it justice I,m afraid . I really hope you had a good view of her rising .
 

 Meanwhile up in my greenhouse the Epiphyllum ( which is meant to flower in May ) bud is swelling and I noticed that it's sepals are beginning to open backwards .
 I wonder if it will open during the night as many Epies do ?  To be pollinated by moths I suppose  .  Maybe it is responding to the Moon .
  I am going up there in a minute with my camera and torch , to light a couple of long burning night lights , to take the chill off the air ....and take a look .
 I'll let you know if she blooms !

Marlothistella Full Bloom Happiness !

 It has  been very mild here on the Lizard in the far South West of Cornwall .
                                                Mild and foggy .

                       I,ve been waiting for weeks to see these buds open .
  They just will not open until the sun shines and even then it has to be around mid-day .

 This morning at last , the sun appeared with the promise of a lovely sunny day !

                                                  Today's the day !

 Marlothistella uniondaensis , a little sweetie , all the way from the Little Karoo in South Africa .

           A little bit of a challenge to grow here in the U.K , but worth it !

 Grown from a little cutting my brother Martin gave me . It's doing really well and filling this pot . I don't think I need to re-pot it just yet though , but have to consider it's long tap root .
 It is branching out nicely with it's lovely stumpy caudex , but I,m not trying to show that off particularly...maybe I will when it gets much older and bigger .

                    It is the darling of my greenhouse , my favourite of all !

Epiphany 2020 - The Blessing of the Chalk - Wassailing

 Epiphany - the day the three wise men came to visit the Holy family and little Lord Jesus , bringing gifts of gold , frankincense and myrrh .
  The service was just beautiful this morning ....
The scene of the Nativity is changed to include the three Wise Men and the straw is taken away , as Father explained that the Holy family are by this time living in a house , so the Bible tells us .
 There certainly was a beautiful atmosphere in our little church heightened by the sweet perfume of Frankincense .

  Father Paul introduced us to an old custom , that of " The Marking of Houses with Chalk Blessed on the Feast of the Epiphany ".
 The bowl of chalks were Blessed on the Altar and everyone was invited to take a piece , at the end of the service , with which to mark above the doors of our homes .
    This in turn would bless everyone on their way in and out .

                                              20 + K + M + B + 20
 The numbers representing the year 2020  . The letters are the first letters of each of the three wise men . Kaspar Melchior and Balthasar . In between are four crosses and a short prayer asking for protection and grace for all who dwell here is said .
   I think this is such a beautiful custom .

                ..........and my first visitor is my Blackbird Birdie-girl !

The weather is still quite mild and we cracked on with some gardening  jobs .

                                            Painting sheds and gates .

 Lopping and pruning and pulling out brambles and big clumps of tough grasses .

 I like to see the new red shoots and leaves on the Photinia "Red Robin "bushes and prune them back quite hard .

     It didn't look like I'd done very much , but that wheelbarrow was full !

                                                        Groan !

                          Little Robin singing heartily up in a nearby tree .

No rain today ,but the grass is still too wet to pull the lawnmower over . Maybe I,ll do that tomorrow if it stays dry .

 Took a look in the greenhouse on the way back . All looking well .

                  Marlothistella is beginning to open it's buds  , very slowly .

  ......and the Epiphyllum bud hasn't dropped off yet ! In fact it is getting bigger !

       Came in to have some of my husband's delicious home made Squash soup .
                          Always good when you,ve worked hard for it !
                                           This was really good !
After this we took down the Christmas decorations .... sigh ...... tomorrow I must get some flowers to cheer the place up again !

 Oh ! Then our lovely Sunday drifted into evening and as the sun set we suddenly remembered that we hadn't Wassailed our Apple Trees !
 

  So on with our wellies and back out into the garden , with torch , a hastily scribbled song sheet and a can of cider .
  We sang our wassail and made a din to scare away all evil spirits and gave a goodly drink to our precious Apple Trees in order to be sure of a bountiful harvest this year .

                                       Oh ! Here we come a wassailing
                                          Among the leaves so green .
                         Here we come a wandering so fair to be seen.

                                      Love and joy come to you
                                      and to you your wassail too

                                  And God Bless you , and
                              send you a Happy  New Year
                      And God send you a Happy New Year !