It's been a Muddy Boots Kind of a Day !

 

                          Believe me , they got a whole lot muddier , my hands too !

      Weeding was a whole lot easier after the torrential over-night rain and I needed a break from shovelling woodchips . 

I managed to weed and tidy up three areas . I'll come back to do the edges tomorrow .

My hands are still stinging from the darned nettles !

 I took off the yellowing lower leaves of this Chamaerops humilis  which made space for a nice clump of Voodoo lilies that  my daughter gave me from her lovely garden .

She also surprised me with a huge bag full of Dahlia tubers .....dinner-plate ones ! 🤩💚🌿

So I got them potted up , labelled and wheeled them away to the porch to get them started .

          The  gifted clump of Voodoo lilies and crocuses (I think)  .

         I am so in love with Voodoo Lilies ! Look at it ! Look at it !  Screams !   

Woodchip Mountain

" I'll just try and aim for three wheelbarrow loads and see how I go ." I told my husband  .

                            I did fourteen wheelbarrow loads .

                                         In the pouring rain .

Down in the Fern Garden I can see that it is going to look really nice . It really highlights the green of the ferns and mosses in there .

I just got on , shovelling , wheeling and dumping , soaked to the skin . At least the rain was keeping me cool .

                                                     (how I feel)

I reversed out of the gate and walked into the other wheelbarrow knocking it over ..... sigh  🤣

Time for lunch , soaked to the skin . Not sure if I will continue this afternoon , mainly because all my gardening clothes are dripping wet , wearing my old cagoul just to look sensible really , it certainly isn't waterproof anymore .

My walking boots are soaked and covered in mud ...... I need a new pair of wellies ! 

Feel like dancing !

 

                                             Today I feel like dancing  ........

                              .....but I have a ton of woodchip to clear first !   

If I just climb up here , I can show you .....it's down there in the Fern garden ..that's where I want to put the woodchip .

Look what I found !  Up there in the nook of a branch of the tree on the right hand side ....

Look ...hang on ..I'l just climb around here and get a better angle on it .....

                           ..... a sweet and natural , tiny bird bathing pool ! 

                         Anyway . This is where the woodchip is going .

Why is it ? That whatever I want to do , there will always be something that needs doing first ! 

In this case  - clear away all the weeds .

I keep trying to stay focused and tell myself that it will be lovely when it's all finished .

                                          Time for Elevenses !

   And then , I must get cracking on with it .....as I have been told that there is a second load of woodchip coming this afternoon !    

Feeling better 😊

 

                                                Moved all the seedlings up to the shed  . 

Tomatoes and sweet peppers and cautiously a couple of cucumbers . I had to bring back in the ones I had put in the greenhouse. Those are back upstairs on my bedroom windowsill to recover . The cucumbers in the shed are fine . I will sow some more . I had a very generous packet of seeds and I really just wanted to see how early I could start them .

It has been lovely and warm here the last couple of days ....but I guess the nights are still too cold  enen though I did throw newspaper sheets over them .

The lettuces are quite happy though . Sprouts and Hollyhocks ....lovely sexy red ones  ❤️ !

Spring Onions North Holland Red and Lilia . Millions of Spinach . More tomatoes Alicante and Super Sweet 100 F1 because they do so well for me .

Lettuce "Flashy Trout "  because it is such a beauty ....tasty too ! Sprouts can't remember which sorry ...but I am growing lots for " leaves tastier than cabbage "as recommended by Steve Richards of Steve's Seaside Kitchen Garden +Allotment Channel on Youtube . 

Celery "Blush" because it's pink . I have a perennial Celery in one of my vegetable beds that my good friend Kat gave me . I will check to see if that is coming up tomorrow . I love it slithered finely into salads of mixed leaves . Oh ! Roll on Summer and salad days !

Kat is brilliant at growing things . Very knowledgeable , great for advice . She has an "edible garden " which due to covid and the lockdown , I was unable to go and see . I hope I can go and visit it sometime soon . 

Those are more Flashy Trout Lettuces waiting to be pricked out and potted on . I've also grown some nice crispy Romaine lettuces ..the red ones did not germinate and I thought they were supposed to be the hardier ones .

I'm trying to stay focused , not get carried away growing too many varieties of things . Just grow my reliable favourites and grow them well .

I hope we don't get the uncomfortable heat and drought that we endured  last year .

Out in the vegetable garden I have harvested all the tops of my Purple Sprouting  Broccoli  .

So now they will produce even more lower down the stem . We absolutely adore PSB ! 

Today is Mothering Sunday  and the weather has been very kind to us . My grandchildren came over and gave me beautiful red tulips and a lovely tray of mixed Universal Pansies .

We had a lovely time racing around the labyrinth and laughing so much !

                                             Grandma is exhausted ! 

It has gone oh so quiet now they have all gone home . I am  going to spend the rest of the evening doing some stitching beside the fire  .

To see what I am stitching , you can visit my Cornish Needlework Basket blog .

Hope you have all had a lovely restful weekend . May this fine weather continue ☀️🌿💗

Violets , Comfrey , Primroses

 

   

                                                                          Violets

                                                                          Comfrey 

                                                                            Primroses

          Delighted to find the Rhubarb coming up ....not so delighted to see those weeds .

Dahlia bed update - nothing really . I have just covered it over with cardboard and grass clippings and leaves etc to keep the weeds down and feed the earth a little until I come to plant out the Dahlias .

It would have been better to have done this back in the Autumn , but I hadn't taken out that Willow tree stump then . 

Anyway , when I come to plant out the Dahlias , all this grass and cardboard probably wont be broken down yet still . I will take it all off and wheelbarrow it to somewhere else in the garden .

I lopped a couple of branches off the Photinia "Red Robin" to make room for our garden seat . I'm glad it just about fits in there .

I am still working on clearing the Ivy that comes in from under the fence . That is just a never ending battle . I think that it is good just to let the neighbours know that I am working on it and hope that they are too on the other side of the fence . The Ivy must irritate them too I guess ?  However we are in the countryside here and where the bottom of garden meets the hedgerow and woodland trees , it has every right to be there . It is home to nesting bats and birds .

Here's the big old pine tree at the bottom of my garden . Can you see the three woodpeckers ? It gives me such joy to see them .

Watching papa Woodpecker feeding baby on the lawn . 

And here's mama Woodpecker just pulled a grub out of the lawn .

Over this Winter the Ivy on the tree appears to have died back quite alarmingly ....I hope that no-one has put down any chemical weedkiller , especially as there is also Honeysuckle and a Kiftsgate rose which had almost reached the top of this magnificent tree . 

  The Owls are up there at night and a pair of Ravens usually make their nest up there . The Buzzards come and would like to make their nest here , but the Raven's always win !

Husband did a nice job of cutting the labyrinth for me . It looks great .

The Agaves and Sweet peas are still under wraps . It is still quite chilly at night .

I am not well these last couple of days .... earache . Just waiting to see if I can get an appointment to see the doctor . I have already been to see our pharmacist , who advised me to take paracetamol every four hours  and ring the health centre today if it hasn't improved  .  I'm in so much pain . 

Wrapped up warmly we went for our walk ( and to try take my mind off it )  . We could see fire blazing over at Predannack  and smoke billowing across and over the cliff .

  The fire-brigade have now put this out . They think it was started deliberately  .

We were quite a long way away from it , but could see the flames . Very sad that someone might deliberately do this .

What else ...hmmm......the rabbits grazed my autumn planted onions to the ground , they are now under cover and really don't look too good at all . They didn't touch the Garlic and it is looking great . I am very pleased with my Garlic this year .

                                      Husband took us for a drive over to Falmouth .

                                                     To watch the waves .

              and explore the rockpools .....but I am in to much pain to enjoy it .

             and  why would someone do this  ? 

However we noticed a team of men from the council who have been working hard , smartening the place up with new railings with things on . 

Things I am guessing might be for flags ? Anyone know ?

No dolphins ,  sharks , whales or mermaids today  .

On the way home I snapped a photo of this old engine house ...two ugly red signs spoil the picture and spoil the view . I know they are there for safety reasons and you (or your dog )wouldn't want to fall down one of these deep holes , but aren't views like this what we all love about our beautiful county of Cornwall ?

Can you tell I am not my usual happy self  ? 

See you later 😞