Morning Walk about the Garden

 

    After several mowings  , the Labyrinth is looking much better now . 

This morning it is overcast and I think the weather continues to be unsettled for the week .

Update on Jessie's Giant Echium 🌿

                               It is still growing taller ! I can see big fat buds !

     How this has remained standing through all the Winter storms I have no idea !

Meanwhile my self sown "normal sized " Echiums are popping up all over the place ! These will probably flower next year .

The Agaves are looking sensational ! I'm hoping Agave salmiana var ferox (the one at the back ) will flower soon .

 There are some Sweet peas and Black-Eye Suzies in the red tub .

Good morning  little Monkey-puzzle tree  🐒  Look but don't touch .  Branches like razorblades !

                                          But SO handsome !

Chamaerops humilis - a little bit wind scorched , but flowering .

Azara serrata - Is one you must put on your want list . 

      The honey fragrance of these golden flowers is just Heavenly ! 🐝

        The Tree fern is stirring  .  I pushed my camera in for a closer look ......

    

       Have a lovely day and take time to stop, look closer and enjoy your garden . 

                                                              🌦️☀️🌦️ 

Spring Restore Labyrinth

 I spent most of yesterday restoring the labyrinth ,which always needs a good ol' tidy up in the Spring . 

We've had so much rain and the ground too wet to cut the grass , but I managed to give the labyrinth it's first cut of the year yesterday morning . The lawn mower stopping and spluttering as I went around !

These precious grass clippings were cast onto the two vegetable beds that are covered with the Autumn leaves , shredded cardboard and seaweed . 🌿🍁🍂🪱My good earthworms will , this process  into lovely crumbly compost for me . 🪱🍂🍁🌿

Next I went about kneeling on a cushion , pulling out weeds and grass that in some places completely covered rocks . 

I have more of this still to do .

I haven't put rocks all around the labyrinth  , just in a few strategic places that mark the formula . This helps me to keep the whole thing in shape .

Next job is to rake the dead grass / thatch out of the pathway walls . A little bit as and when I feel strong enough to do it . This raking out of the thatch job makes my back ache . So little and often is the way to go .

As you can see we had a visit from Jack  Frost this morning . ❄️ Only the second frost of the Winter here , we rarely get frost . I am always delighted to see it ! 

                                   It makes everything look so beautiful .

                                                      ❄️🌸☀️

A Chilly Morning

 

                     A chilly morning . No frost , but a very heavy dew  .

Warmed up the house by making Leek 'n' Potato Soup and Apple Crumble . 

               Using our own Leeks and Apples . Smells so good !  

                                                        💚🍏🌿

💛 Sunrise this morning ☀️

 

Good Morning ! A slightly chilly start to the day , but look at that lovely sunrise and blue sky . 

It's going to be a lovely day ! 

                                                              🌿☀️🌿  

Labyrinth update

 

Not much of a sunrise this morning . It is quite overcast and cooler . 

The labyrinth is looking much tidier now. Husband did a great job ....he just missed a bit  !

Got to keep it looking smart for the piskies !

Labyrinth update -January

 

 So today , while the sun is shining , I am tidying and getting the labyrinth back into shape .

It always looks like this at this time of the year . 

I have just been sweeping off the heavy dew that we had over night . The lawn mower won't cut through such long wet grass ! 

I have done the sweeping and now come in for a cuppa tea while the dew drops soak away into the earth .

I am making out the pathways again as they have become a bit out of shape .There is nothing worse than a wonky labyrinth ! 

I have also pulled off grass and moss that has grown over the rocks . 

O.k that was a very nice cuppa tea .  Now back to work !  🕊🌞☮🕊💓🕊

Labyrinth

 

            The sun is shining once again ! I think it is a gardening day !

To one side of the vegetable garden is the labyrinth I created in 2008 .

People often ask me how I made it ? Well I marked it out with canes , sticks , stones and a bag of flour !

I marked it out and cut the pathways all in one hot afternoon , before my husband came home from work ....because he didn't know ... not any idea in a million years that I was going to do this !

I knew I had to get it done before his car came up the drive or he might not like my idea and put me off .

It was so so hot this day and I got heatstroke and fainted on the grass as I finished it . 

A cup of tea soon revived me and I stood and looked at it . 

Over the years it has changed , matured I suppose you could say . People give me their ideas of what I should do or add to it . 

Here you can see I went with the "why don't you add rocks ? " idea . It was hard work finding and lifting them . So I have only got a few rocks mostly at the main formula points .

                            Very hard work !

I am still not sure about this as , I worry about little people tripping on them .  

"Why don't you plant long swishy ornamental grasses all around it ? "  And I was shown a picture of one where they had done that and it did look fabulous too , but I have ornamental grass elsewhere in the garden and the thing is they spread and in the labyrinth I personally would find that very hard to control .

"Why don't you plant flowers into it ? " Primroses have found their own way into it ...I like them and I did try a few bulbs in the centre , but they all disappeared eventually , a wild geranium also found it's way in there , which is still in there . I like wild flowers . They mustn't be too tall or they will get cut down by the lawnmower when I cut the paths.

It has been fun trying all these different ideas ......it changes a little bit every year .

                  

                     And her mood changes with the seasons .

Labyrinth Restoration update

                   Before and after...although still much more to be done .

Labyrinth Day was on May 4th this year , it is always on the first Saturday of the month of May when everyone walks together at 1pm in their own local time in a meditation for world peace .
  I don't tell anyone what to believe about a labyrinth , only to walk in , listen with your heart and see what it tells you .  . . . see for yourself  .

 I was moved to make this Labyrinth in about 2007/8  and it was on the World Labyrinth  Locator until I got very sick and was unable to have visitors .
 My husband (the under gardener )kept it looking fairly good , but used a strimmer on the path walls which allowed the grass to grow over the rocks .
 I am much better now , not as much stamina as I used to have , but better and doing more in the garden again and caring for the labyrinth again .
So this morning , after mowing the labyrinth pathway , I thought I'd tackle the grass on the labyrinth walls .

 The grass has become long , matted , attached to the rocks and very hard to pull off .

            My wrist is aching now terribly after  all the tugging and tearing .

   Underneath this one was a beautiful piece of  red Serpentine rock .

There is so much to do . Today I will just make a start in the centre of the Labyrinth . Maybe from here I will get some good pulses of Earth Energy to keep me going !

I saw a little shrew , the gardener's friend, they eat insects, slugs, spiders , worms , amphibians and other small rodents . He was too fast for me to snap on camera , but ...I thought ...a precious moment just for me .

Here in the centre of the labyrinth is the "Heart Stone " a little pot for a candle and the stone where a Cornish Piskie lives .

I am thinking about putting some small plants in here , very small ones , Alpines maybe .

                              I love the wild flowers and the Lichens .

 That's all I can manage for today . I think to myself as I replace the little votive candle .... and place a few flowers for Mother Earth .

                       ..........An arrow to encourage folk to walk in ....

 The way in , is also the way out ...there is no getting lost on the path of a labyrinth unlike in a crazy maze .

What questions would you carry in to the labyrinth ? And what answers will it give you ?

                                   Shhh ......sleeping Cornish Piskie .....