Dash to check on the Tomato plants ! 🌿🌦️❄️🌿

 

Beautiful sunrise this morning after a very cold night . Heavy rain with hail through the small hours .

I dashed up to the greenhouse to check my newly transplanted tomato plants were o.k. 

            All is well ! 

   

                       Jess's Giant Echium is getting taller everyday ! 

                                        🌿🌦️🌈❄️🌿

Update  -

Spent most of the day making space in the greenhouse for my Sweet Peppers and Cucumbers .

I had to move out everything ,mostly cacti, that were underneath this bench and relocate them to the other end .

Then put down these trays . The Cucumbers are going under the bench and will grow up and scrabble about amongst the Epiphyllums . Last year they were up the other end and no matter how I tried to get them to grow around the strings , they just wanted to grow along and be in with all the Epies ! 

Tomorrow is Cucumber day !

Today I just wanted to transplant my Sweet Peppers into larger pots and clear a space for them here beside Lord Buddha . 

   I took all the Pelargoniums out from here and down to the shed and gave them all some more water .They will be for hanging baskets and window boxes .

 Took some time out to have a walk over at Kynance and really enjoyed my pasty for lunch !

  The weather has been beautiful again today after that cold rainy night .

                  Sweet Red Peppers 

Now in their bigger pots and final position in the greenhouse .

Tomorrow I will also check how the ferns are under the bench at the back . 

There are buds coming on several of the Epiphyllums . One of which I have never seen bloom before !  Quite a rare one !

 There is a chair in there but I have had no time to sit down !

My arms are aching and I am so tired , but pleased with what I've achieved today .

 Yep , tomorrow I'll move in the Cucumbers , which means I can start thinking about sowing my Sweetcorn , Beans and Squash .

                                    🌿☀️🌤️⛅🌿

       

 

Bananas and Tomatoes

 

            Musa ensete maurelii  - not looking too bad . They have been under cover , but today I decided to drag them both out to catch some rain  of a passing shower .

...and of course , since I dragged them both out , It hasn't rained !

I will drag them both back uncover tonight . It is still too cold for them to be outside over night .

I plant them out in May depending on the weather .

          As promised , here's Musa basjoo ....the more hardy one . 

There are actually two in there . They are only babies , so I am pleased that they seem to have made it through the stormy winter months .

Today I transplanted my tomato plants into their pot/bags in the greenhouse .

I will top up the bags with fresh compost as they grow . 

At the moment I am starting some Cosmos on the bench above , but I will clear all of them out soon . The tomato plants have plenty of light through the glass around the bottom and sides . 

  I am growing Tomato Scatolone 2 a tall growing one with plum shaped fruits, which are said to have an incredible intense flavour  and Tomato Divinity f1 a semi determinate large cherry type - smaller growing and more bushy . 

    Both of these varieties are new to me .

  I have no luck at all growing tomatoes outside . I always grow mine in the greenhouse .

Eventually they grow up through the bench and the paracord rigging is all still set up from last year for the plants to wind around for support .

                                               🌿🌿🌿

That's the shed opposite the greenhouse , where I am growing leafy things for salads .

My grand daughter helped me to gather lettuce and baby kale leaves for salad with pizza today .

I'm looking forward to picking spring onions , celery and coriander - only just germinating .🌱🌱🌱

It's so important to teach the children how to grow vegetables and to have fun with it too !

       We had a bit of fun with my water pistols too . Yep ..got a bit soaked ! 🤣

         

         ...and checked to see how the potatoes are doing .

 Then went to the park , for more fun on the zip-wire !

Tomorrow I 'll move the Sweet Peppers and Cucumbers into the greenhouse .

   Then there will be space on the bench in the shed to start off the next wave of seeds . 

           Need to pace myself with all this !  

                            Weather - sunshine and showers ☀️🌦️🌈

                                             hugs Debbie x

Potatoes in Tubs - update 🌿

 Always a joy to see a squirrel here . We so rarely see them . She is enjoying some peanuts .We can see teats on her tummy and she is a little plump . I think she may be expecting or maybe even have a litter of kittens somewhere close by . 🤍

It is so cold today. The sun is shining but the wind is bitterly cold .  I did get a load of washing dry on the line though , which makes me very happy .

Potatoes in Tubs - update  🌿

For quite a while , I thought that nothing was coming up ; but wow look at them today !

     Time to earth them up !         I'm not completely covering them .

  This will do for now.

      I will probably give them another layer or two before harvesting them .

The children will be doing this and learning about where their food comes from .

Robin keeping me company in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture !  ☺️

Other news - It's just been full on , with bringing on the tomatoes , sweet peppers and cucumbers , picking the lettuce and baby kale leaves for salads .

Potting up some lovely new Hostas and getting things ready to move the tomato plants and maybe the Sweet Peppers into the greenhouse  .

 I need to make room to start sowing sweetcorn , courgettes , butternuts and beans in the shed . It is all go now !

 No time for embroidery .....note to self  " make time for me ...yes ME tomorrow .

                            Epimedium x perralchicum

The pretty Epimediums are flowering and I am splitting a few up . I want more !

  

 Pretty red heart shaped leaves  , spread by underground rhizomes  .The dainty flowers last such a long time . 

  

 First buds of the year appearing on the Epiphyllum ! And a Monstera delicosa that I rescued from someone giving free stuff away on their drive ! Goodness me that pot was so heavy and the plant about six feet long . I had a job getting it all into the car .

 It is now in the greenhouse on the side where all my shade loving , rain forest Epies , ferns and jungly plants are . 

              🌿🌿☀️ Very happy plant and very happy me ! ☺️🌿🌿🌿

Musa ensete maurelii are still undercover , I have started to give them a little rain water . I will drag these out and plant them up next month , depending on the weather . 

 Musa basjoo is the more hardy one , planted outside . Mine is only a baby but seems to have come through the winter . No pic...I'll show you tomorrow !

I shall leave you with a photograph of some of my lovely Cowslips  .

 

           Weather -  ☀️ It's been sunny , blustery and blinking cold ! ❄️

            

                                          love Debbie x

                  

                                       🌱🌿🕊️🌿🌱

  

Storm Dave on the way 🌧️⛈️🌧️

 

Yesterday evening we took our evening walk along the cliffs . It was hard work walking against the wind !

                                              🌧️ ⛈️🌧️  

So apparently , that wasn't Storm Dave yesterday . 🤔  No .... Storm Dave is still on the way .⛈️

It's going to hit the northern parts of the U.K. and Ireland later today . 

It could still be pretty windy here in Cornwall overnight .

This is going to be a severe one , so  please take care everyone , especially if you're driving  .

I suggest not walking along the cliff footpaths today and keep well back from the sea .

                                                🌧️⛈️🌧️

                                                          

More Stormy weather 🌦️

 Walking against the wind this afternoon .  Storm Dave on the horizon just brushing past the Lizard coastline . 

Stop to study shaggy lichens thriving on ancient rocky boundary walls .

Ruby buds of Thrift waiting for a bit of sunshine . 

Then home and off to the shed to prick out and pot on Cosmos seedlings .

I really should have sown each one into it's own 3"pot . I accidently dropped the seed packet and too many fell out !  

Two days later they have all come up !

I put two in each pot and a few to give away .

I have put them in the greenhouse and I hope they'll still be o.k. tomorrow .

If these don't make it I still have more seeds to sow . I love Cosmos 🩷

I couldn't find the right type of string to tie the sweet-pea and bean frames , so I cut up strips of old stockings . 

                                       Ooh la la !               Perfect ! 

Tomorrow is forecast to be gusty and later on in the day we may get severe gales .

I like to get the frames up while the earth is soft to push the poles in .

I won't be sowing beans just yet though . Maybe towards the end of the month /beginning of May and this depending on how the weather is behaving .

I need to make space on the shed bench  . The Tomatoes ... sigh ..I am just champing at the bit to get them into the greenhouse , but really ought to hold back while these wild weather fronts keep rolling in .

 Hmmm ...... we'll see ...

              Things are beginning to stir .🌿 The Tree Ferns are awakening .

 

                                                         🌿🤍🌿

                                                             🌿🩷🌿   

                                                                  

                                                           🌿💛🌿

Having a Rest Day - Perpetual Nature /Botanical Watercolour Journal

 

                    Cosmos is germinating !  🤗🌱🌱🌱

   I've not done very much in the garden today , aching from doing too much yesterday ! 

Ricardo had a long morning at the dentist , my daughter took him , so I had some precious time to myself .

I checked all was well in the shed and remembered to add some perlite to my tomato pot/bags in the greenhouse .

It helps to get air into the compost . Glad I didn't plant the tomatoes out just yet .  

                       I gave it a good stir  .

                              I thought I might never get back up again !  🤣🌿

That mission quickly completed , I then set off to have some nice quiet time to myself doing some watercolour painting .

I  promised my good friend and therapist Hannah , that I would make time for myself , to do a Perpetual Nature/Botanical Watercolour Journal . 

I used to enjoy painting wild flowers years ago , it's very calming and I love this idea of painting something each month that I have come across in the garden or on our walks .

I have had all the bits and pieces for a long time , but just kept hitting the brick wall , couldn't get started or whenever I felt in the mood to do it I would be needed elsewhere , or there was too much noise .

I need absolute peace and quiet , nothing but the birds singing in the garden or the rain on my window .

So , at last I had some time . 

 I sat down to make a start .....but first I had to peel off all the wrappers and labels .I was originally going to do swatches of all the names and colours and numbers . And then thought that would be nice  but take forever to do .

When I was into cross stitch , I was very strict with myself to keep the labels on the skeins with all the numbers on and I have a swatch card that I made for myself all the numbers , names and colours . But now I do needle-painting or freestyle embroidery and I use my embroidery threads like paints that I choose by eye .

So I gave up with doing a paint swatch card . I will just try them out before I use them on my painting .

Rosa Gallery water colours are gorgeous !

 So are Winsor&Newton  .

But ....

           Icky , sticky and fiddly !  Next time I'm going to buy tubes instead of pans !

And then , when I was finally ready to paint . Ricardo comes home  .

Had to make my poorly boy soup and nice very soft rolls .....and treacle pudding and custard .. paracetamol and a cup of tea .....and do the washing up  .

I left him dozing in his armchair  .

    .....and went out into the garden to gather a few Violets .

It is surprising how intimidating a blank sheet of watercolour paper can be ! 

But ...

This time I smashed down that brick wall !  I could hear my dance teacher saying "Just do it !" 

            April looks a bit shaky , I might try and tidy that . 

With just one very annoying half an hour  ( he woke up ! )  being called to figure out how to make the photocopier work and make him another cup of tea and paracetamol  .

I thought I'd finished this , until I noticed a teeny tiny snail .

          I must paint him in ! 🐌🌿..... and then take him back out into the garden .

          We are very excited as our granddaughter is going to be on the news tomorrow ! 

                       Goonhilly Earth Station .....not far from us ..and ....

                 🌕  Something about the NASA  Artemis 11 Moon Mission   🚀

                       That's all I know at the moment .

                                    Hope the weather is good for the launch !

                                                    Peace and Love 

                                                            🤍🕊️

                                                         Debbie x