Happy New Year all ! Not such an amazing sunrise that I,d hoped to see ...but a Song thrush was singing his heart out as I walked across the meadow .
A misty , moisty morning here in Mullion this New Years Day .
A couple of old trees have come down in the recent gales , I took a walk up to have a closer look .
The ancient Elder Tree, which is in the middle of this picture , is such a beautiful tree . She has rambled over and along the Cornish hedge here , but some of her oldest branches have been slowly splitting and and have finally fallen apart . I know there are many superstitions about cutting down an Elder , but she needs some help , that her new shoots can flourish in good health .
Here are some close up shots of her dead wood .
Even her dead wood is beautiful .
I think I will clear away these pieces of dead wood , until it feels right and she looks happy again .
The hollow stems are perfect for hibernating insects and small mammals .
I ,ll make sure there's no-one at home before touching these and these will be left in a wood pile just for Mother nature .
Beautiful purple fungus .
I look across to the vegetable garden and wonder . Can I do it all again ? There is still plenty to harvest here . I stand and do more wondering .
I,m itching to begin sowing seeds and have been busy sorting through seed packets and reading my seed catalogues and books .
The worms are busy munching through the mulches of leaves,manure , cardboard and sea weed ... I will be growing lots of Squash here . They really seem to do well here and we love our Butternuts !
I decided to do some work cutting down these old Hydrangea bushes which have become too big and have grown into my Blackcurrant bushes .
I want this whole area to become a much larger fruit bush zone / garden .
There are some Raspberries rambling about in here too , but the real nuisance are the vicious Brambles .
I have to do it now because the Blackcurrants are beginning to flower .
I have to be careful that the Brambles don,t damage these buds , as I drag yards and yards of it through the Blackcurrant bush's branches .
I didn't want it to damage me either ! Those vicious darned prickles ! Ouch !
The Blackcurrants bushes are now fairly clear of the bramble branches but still I have their roots to dig out . I,m thinking that we might need to have a bonfire on top of them to clear those roots properly .
I still have one more Hydrangea to clear..and that one is the worst one !
So riddled with Brambles !
By the way I do love Hydrangeas ( except for blue ones , I hate blue Hydrangeas ! lol ! )but generally I do love them and we have lots more of them in other parts of the garden .
I just want lots of lovely soft fruit bushes up here in the veg-garden .
I stand up to stretch out my aching back . There is still drifting mist and I can hear the foghorn down at the Lizard .
Primroses are beginning to flower , but I think we have more much colder weather coming . I can feel it in my bones .
I put away my tools and close the gate .
I bring in some more logs for the fire .
It is the rule now , that no one comes back into the cottage without a few logs or kindling to add to the pile .
Best to bring it in now rather than have to go out to the shed when the weather is bad .
After all that hard work I make myself some Cheesy French Toast , sorry there's no after picture of it as I was SO hungry ! It doesn't look so good in this picture ,but I can assure you that after adding more grated cheese and giving a good soak in this cheesy eggy milk and gently cooking it in the frying pan with a chunk of butter ...it was scrumptious doodley doo !
Other things coming into flower today , Camellias .
This thing !
I cant remember it's name , but this will be in flower for most of January . I love it !
And some pretty primulas .
Sigh ....a nice cup of tea ......
Time for a nap !
