Bravery And Gardening For Life

 It turned into a lovely day yesterday, warm, sunny and thankfully dry. I went into the garden to feed the birds in the morning and there, they were two fox cubs sitting together in the flower bed! They both looked very pleased with themselves and quite happy in the sunshine, probably feeling just like me, relieved that the heavy rain has gone. The other sight that met me when I went to the aviary was little Todd the pigeon happily swinging on the cockatiel's swing in the sunshine. He's lost his fluffy look now and his face is looking more adult. He manages fine now, feeding and drinking in fact when I fill up the food bowls he's first in. It's decision time I think.

On the way to my Dad's house I noticed that the mural had been finished at the station. I love the way our large fox population in the area is celebrated. I know many people don't like foxes but in our area of London people seem to love them, our local butcher tells me he does a roaring trade with people buying off cuts of meat to give to them, no wonder they all look so healthy, 

My sister and I got all the jobs done that we needed to for him and we still had plenty of time to sit and chat and catch up. I had taken a book about First World War Victoria Cross winners of mine to lend to him, so can read about our newly discovered distant cousin Geoffrey Vickers. I had been reading it while I was sitting on the train and I felt completely humbled by the bravery of these young men. I can't imagine what it must be like at such a young age, being put in such terrible situations and then showing such courage. I think it will be a really interesting read for my Dad who is so interested in military history. 

Dad's garden was looking absolutely lovely. He is out in it so much at this time of the year, cutting back, dead heading the roses and generally making it look so pretty. It keeps him going and gives pleasure to a lot of people. I remember reading once that "Gardeners Live Forever." I know no one lives forever but I do think gardening can give an old person a real reason to keep going. My Dad always wants to see how a particular plant or flower will do each season. It is a constant in life when so many other things at the moment seem completely out of our control.

Talking of gardening that is what I must try and catch up with today, we have been spending so much time at the caravan and with all this rain everything is getting very wild. Definitely some hard work needed. Have a lovely day everyone what ever your plans. xx

Allotment Thoughts And Camping Supplies

 It was such a hot day yesterday, Tom and I tried to get the jobs we needed to get done out of the way early in the morning. We went to Lidl  to get food for us at the caravan and for youngest son and daughter for the next few days. We have to remember every animal and bird too as they all have to be fed and watered when we are away. The next job we had to do was locate another gas cylinder for the caravan as our one must be about to run out. It has been really hard, every place we go is out of stock, we were starting to get a bit worried, especially as I saw an item on the news a few weeks ago about camping and leisure items being really low in stock. It is a mixture of a couple of things apparently, problems with importing items due to Brexit and high demand because of everyone holidaying at home this year. In the end we located a bottle at the local garden centre but even then there was doubt if they had any of our size in stock. If any of you are planning  camping or caravanning holidays this summer when the children are off school I would really recommend not to leave items you need to buy until the last moment. Still in the end it was all sorted and we are packed and ready to go back to the caravan for a few days. It looks like it may be going to rain but we don't care we will still enjoy ourselves.

In the end I decided  it was far too hot yesterday afternoon to be out gardening. I will sort it out next week when I have more time. The roses have all come out everywhere and they are looking so beautiful, that is the only thing that makes me feel a bit sad about going to the caravan, I will be missing some of the beautiful flowers at their best. 

I'm particularly pleased with this rambling rose Cecile Bruner I have grown from a cutting from a rose my eldest daughter gave me several years ago. She often gives me flowers as presents and they are all really precious to me, so I'm ever so pleased this cutting has taken so well. I only took the cutting two years ago and it is a mass of buds this year. 

My little trees are continuing to grow. I am even considering applying for an allotment again so I would have more space for them to get established in pots before I decide how I will continue with growing them. We used to have an allotment which we loved but stupidly let it go when I was ill. Faced with more operations and treatment at the Royal Marsden I just felt overwhelmed with everything at the time and it seemed like one more problem so we handed it back but of course now I feel fighting fit again I regret it. The only thing that stops me taking one on is the thought of clearing another overgrown plot again, I'm not quite sure if I could face it. I'll have to have a think. 

When Scarlett and I were re potting more little trees last week I was sweeping up the compost and noticed one little acorn had dropped on to the floor. It hadn't actually grown yet but the acorn had split open and there was a little root growing. I put it in a pot and labelled it and yesterday I noticed it has grown about an inch. When I was telling youngest son he said wouldn't it be wonderful if you could take a photo of that tree everyday for years and put them together in a video to watch how it grows. I know I won't remember everyday but I'm going to try to each week and see how it grows. 

Sadly after youngest daughter got all ready to try and film the bats yesterday evening it poured and poured and there was not a bat in sight. Obviously bats don't like the rain. She is ready though so hopefully if we have another nice evening she may be able to catch them. We're all ready to go back to the caravan this morning. We have a portable TV with us this time so Tom can watch England play tomorrow night. (Didn't Wales do well!) I have doubts we will be able to get any reception but if all else fails I suppose he could go and sit next to the toilets and watch it on his phone! Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. Back soon. xx

The Roses Are Blooming

 There is something about being away from home for a few days that makes you return refreshed and ready to deal with anything. I always return with new ideas, new plans and hopes. My Mum always used to laugh at me when I as a child, I would always be tidying my bedroom, organising my school books or out in the garden training our poor little poodle with a view to entering Crufts within an hour of returning home from holiday and I am no different now. I had written a list while I was in the caravan of things I needed to take back with us when we return. Items that I thought while we were there would just make life slightly easier if we had and I spent part of yesterday getting them together. 

Then there was the garden! I know I like a wild look but it has gone a bit mad in the last week so I spent part of the day cutting back and weeding. The roses are starting to come out now and the Albertine rose on the arch has flowered for the first time. It is a mass of tiny buds so if I keep dead heading I will be able to prolong the flowering as much as possible. It is not a repeat flowering rose, this early summer display is all we will get so I intend to make the most of it.

Another rose that has just bloomed is the one my eldest daughter bought me last year for my 60th birthday. It is a David Austin rose called This Sceptred Isle after the speech in Shakespeare's Richard III by John of Gaunt. As John of Gaunt is an ancestor of ours she thought it would be fitting. 

Another rose in the garden I love is this one called Hot Chocolate. It is another rose that seems to have a burst of colour in early summer and then finishes but it is worth it for how beautiful it is. 

So much of my hard work has been ruined by slugs and snails, it is rather disappointing. There are certain plants and seedlings I won't bother trying again but there are others that have done really well. I'm not going to be disappointed, it is what it is, I'll just concentrate on the successes. One thing that hasn't done very well at all this year seems to be our fruit trees. Last year we had a wonderful crop of cherries and plums but this year it is all much later and definitely not so much. I'm sure it is because of the bad weather we had in early spring and I feel for fruit farmers who I'm sure must be having the same problem.  

When I feel disheartened with plants that haven't done so well, I just need to look at all my little trees and I feel cheered up. Scarlett and I re potted so many of  them last week and she was thrilled that they have grown from acorns and berries we planted last autumn. We still have more to repot and label today and it will be a fun way to spend the afternoon. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

A Bird Of Prey

 Although it was lovely and warm yesterday, it wasn't as sunny as the day before. I spent a lot of the afternoon, replanting seedlings and the free plug plants that were delivered a while ago. I mentioned that I had been sent an offer for twenty free Geranium plug plants, I only had to pay postage. Well they arrived and they were so tiny I'm not sure if they will ever grow enough this year to flower. I have re potted them all so only time will tell. I also potted a tiny little azalea that has grown from a seed I collected from my Dad's beautiful orange azalea last year. I really want this to survive so will be giving it extra special care.

When I was out in the garden I was talking to my next door neighbour. Strangely after writing yesterday about wildlife declining, he was telling me a bird of prey landed in his garden a few days earlier. I had seen a bird hovering in the air a few weeks ago and it crossed my mind it looked like a bird of prey but I dismissed it as not possible. He wasn't sure what it was and hadn't been able to get a photo but from his description we decided it may have been a sparrow hawk. Although I'm a bit worried for our small birds, it is something quite exciting to look out for. This beautiful photo of a Sparrow Hawk with it's prey was taken by Pierre Dalous and shared on Wikipedia.

Tom finished his shift yesterday and is now off for 17 days. He is so excited to not be going out every morning and crawling through traffic all day. Although we will be driving backwards and forwards to the caravan quite a bit at least we can mostly choose the times we travel to avoid the traffic. I have a feeling it may be quite busy everywhere but if needs be we'll just sit by the caravan and admire the view! Scarlett is coming this morning and we will be out and about in this lovely sunshine. I hope everyone has a really nice day what ever you are doing. xx

Getting Ready To Travel

 We went to B&Q yesterday morning and it was packed. It was very different to last time we went and made me realise how things are getting back to normal. Although coronavirus numbers are going up in lots of the country, in our area they are very low now and I suppose if it doesn't turn into hospitalisations then there is no problem. I spoke to eldest son last night and he is going back to work today as it is 10 days since his first symptoms. He says he feels fine, just tired but he has his own business and says he can't be a way from it for too long. Tom has his second coronavirus vaccination today and eldest daughter had her first one yesterday so it is nice to think we are all getting protected and am really grateful that we live in a country where we are so lucky to have this opportunity. I know there are many countries not so lucky.

It as lovely and hot and sunny at my Dad's house yesterday when we were working on the caravan. Tom and I worked away while my Dad sat on his bench giving instructions! The waste pipe from the shower room fits perfectly and the new jockey wheel was put in place and looks very smart. We managed to connect the water heater to the water pipes but need someone to connect the gas and then we hopefully will have running hot water, which will be a real luxury as last year we had to boil water all the time. We're nearly ready to use the caravan this year now and it's a lovely feeling. 

I have been working really hard on my Welsh lessons on the Duolingo app and today have been promoted to the Gold League. I have realised the leagues are really to show how hard you have been working, not how well you are doing as I'm sure I don't speak Welsh well enough yet to be so high up. Youngest daughter is so impressed with my progress she is learning Japanese, which seems even harder. She has travelled to Japan so is not a total novice but has still come on in leaps and bounds since she started on the app. I am determined not to lose the momentum whilst away in the caravan and may not have very good internet connection so have bought a second hand children's Welsh/English dictionary on ebay. I imagined it would be one of those little picture books similar to the sort I used to read with my children and Scarlett but it's much harder. 

However it has explained some very simple rules of the language that are not covered in the app. Much of youngest daughters knowledge of Japanese has come from watching Japanese TV programmes with English sub titles. I wonder if I could do the same with Welsh! It would probably have to be a children's programme though, I'm not sure "Do you eat bread and sausages?" or "I like drinking good tea." would get me very far with much else.

I'm going to try and do lots of gardening today as there is always so much to do. I have lost lots of my seedlings to slugs and snails sadly but I'm still hoping that some will survive after all my hard work .It's strange all my collected seeds seem to be doing quite well but shop bought ones not so much. This autumn I think I may not bother buying any, just start planning my collecting whilst all the flowers are coming out now, I hope everyone has a really lovely Bank Holiday Monday and is able enjoy this lovely weather. xx

Walking On The Sunny Side Of The Street

 It was so nice to have some sunshine yesterday again when Scarlett was here. We spent the afternoon in the garden planting out our little plants. I'm sure not all will survive but some will which I'm hoping will add add some nice summer colours. One little plant I put out, Scarlett and I had collected the seeds from when we were out walking last September. I had just written on the pot, "Little blue wildflowers collected by Scarlett" The plant has come up looking very healthy so I'm particularly looking forward to seeing if these flower and what they are. This autumn I'm hoping to collect more wildflower seeds while we are out walking and grow them as perennials in the garden. I have discovered that native wildflowers seem to be the plants that slugs and snails completely ignore. They also really add to the natural look I try to have in our garden. 

We went out for a walk in the morning and there was much discussion as to whether she should take her jacket. She was desperate to leave it behind as the sun was shining. I said to her "It will be cold when we walk in the shade." "We'll just walk in the sun then" she replied. I laughed as I remembered when my children were little we used to try and do that all the way to school and I would sing the old song "The Sunny Side Of The Street" while we walked. It's funny how you forget things, that suddenly pop back in your mind. I sang the beginning of the song to Scarlett and said "Alright that's what we'll do!" We sang it together as we walked along, even though we bumped into my next door neighbour who looked at us as if we had lost our minds! We managed to stay in the sun for the whole walk and it was lovely and warm. For anyone who doesn't know the song it is a wonderful old Frank Sinatra classic my Mum used to sing when we were little, but I remember the Doris Day version better, probably because my Mum loved Doris Day. 

I spoke to eldest son yesterday, who was still feeling quite miserable after catching coronavirus and has a really bad cough but he said he definitely feels a little better. I reminded him to drink lots of fluids and do deep breathing exercises every hour but he said it's very hard to eat and drink as he can't taste or smell anything. I reassured him it will get better but didn't like to say it can take months for that to come back. Youngest daughter is still suffering over a year after we all caught it. There are still  lots of things she can't eat as the taste has totally altered. It is a very strange virus.

Youngest daughter is off work today and we are going to the South Bank to have lunch. I haven't been into central London since before the pandemic and I'm really looking forward to the day. The sun is shining and we will definitely be walking of the "Sunny Side Of The Street" . I reminded myself yesterday to try and do that mentally no matter what worries there seem to be.  I hope everyone has a lovely day and enjoys some sunshine. xx

Snails And Fox Cubs

 All this wet weather is causing one type of wildlife in our garden to increase dramatically. Slugs and snails. Last year we had a thrush nesting in the hedge at the end of the garden and the parent thrush nearly cleared our garden of snails. It was like a snail graveyard, literally hundreds of empty snail shells that she had discarded were covering the garden. I could really do with her this year and if ever there is an example of natural pest control being the best it was this thrush. My one tree peony that has grown from seed in the greenhouse has been eaten by a snail and the culprit was even still sitting on the seed tray looking very pleased with itself. I have one cosmos left and only a few sun flowers, I have decided that dumping them all in the hedge at the end of the garden isn't far enough! The garden at the end of our garden is really overgrown but I can't quite bring myself to chuck them over the fence into someone else's garden so I'll have to think of somewhere else. It may have to be a car ride to the local woods for them!

After Tom had seen a fox cub looking through the fence the other evening, yesterday evening when I put some food out for them I set my camera up to see if I could catch anything. I was thrilled to see this short clip of one cub. 

 It seems quite big, so must have been hiding away for a while. I'm not sure if there is only one as youngest daughter was woken last night by fox cub noises in the garden and she said it sounded as if it was playing. I had hoped to set up my wildlife camera but the rain was so heavy yesterday evening I didn't fancy going out in it, hopefully I'll be able to today although there is more rain on the way.

I'm hoping I manage to get a bit of tidying up done in the garden before more rain arrives later. I will definitely be finding time for a some more Welsh lessons on my app. I have worked so hard all week, I'm top of the bronze leader board. If I stay near the top I will be promoted to the silver league tomorrow. We talk in Welsh so much at home now I nearly made a mistake and thanked the waiter the other day in Welsh! I hope it's improving and awakening little brain connectors that had long gone to sleep. It's definitely giving me a sense of achievement. Have a lovely Sunday everyone and I hope you manage to see some sunshine. xx

Business Ideas And Coronavirus

After early rain it brightened up a bit yesterday and for a while was quite sunny. While it was raining  I dashed about getting jobs in the house out of the way then straight after lunch when the sun had come out I went out into the garden. Everything has grown so much and weeds are appearing every where so I sorted out as much as I could then I re potted some of my little trees. I have taken such care growing them I don't want them to die through neglect now. I have about 10 little crab apple trees grown from one of our crab apples that has a lovely rusty red leaf colour. It is interesting as about half the trees are growing in the same colour as the parent tree and half are just plain green. I have read this and am looking forward to seeing how they turn out over the next few years. The oak trees and hawthorn trees all look exactly the same. I would love to have a bit more space to grow more trees and maybe set up a tree nursery business. It would be really eco friendly as I could grow from locally collected seeds and berries. I'll just keep experimenting for now and see how things turn out in the long run after coronavirus.

One of my favourites, our aquilegias are growing beautifully now, but these are a plant that can take over if you are not careful so when they have finished I think I may have a bit of a clear out and save seeds for next year.

Eldest son phoned me and his friend who is working with him on the coaches taking people from India to quarantine hotels has caught the Indian variant of coronavirus. He said he is at home but feels really unwell. I was horrified. I have worried and worried and eldest son said "Don't worry we have no contact with the people who are travelling." Well his friend has caught it somehow. Luckily as they work at opposite times they have not had any contact for several days. Now I feel like phoning eldest son a couple of times a day to make sure he is OK but don't want to be appear like a panicky mother. He is the only one of us not to have caught coronavirus and the rest of us have all recovered so I'm sure he would too but I worry as he lives on his own. I will be so glad when all this is over. 

Scarlett is coming this morning and I'm really hoping it is dry as we love getting out for our walks. I bought four more flags to finish the bunting and they have arrived so if it rains at least we can finish that. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Money Saving And Stormy Weather

 The weather has been very strange this spring. We had a brief lovely warm spell and then very cold, frosty dry weather with virtually no rain and now May is making up for that. We have some sunshine followed by such heavy showers if you are unfortunate to be out and about in it you get soaked through. I have been caught several times out with the dogs and its not much fun. I did manage to re pot sickly tomato plant which is now looking wonderful and re potted some of my apple trees even though the whole time I was out there, I was accompanied by rumbles of thunder in the distance. There was an article on the news yesterday with Prince Charles calling for us all to plant a tree for the Queen's platinum jubilee next year. I hope Her Majesty will be impressed with all my efforts! My trees are doing so well and actually seem to be really thriving in all this rain. This adverse weather has caused everything else in the garden to be much later than other years though. Youngest daughter was showing me photos of the roses in our garden from three years ago yesterday. There were quite a few in full bloom looking beautiful, but this year nothing yet. There are lots of buds so something will happen soon but it's just taking it's time.

I have been continuing with my Too Good To Go Bags and they have been really successful. Everyone says they have tried new foods they never would have thought to try. Who would have thought sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella would have been such a hit with our quiche the other evening. I have saved so much money on our food budget this week I'm on track to buy a new drill for Tom out of saved money that he has had his eye on for a while. The bags wouldn't do for vegetarians as there is always a lot of meat which I freeze straight away for the rest of the family but there is usually one vegetarian item for me. I'm also quite enjoying the walk down just before nine, I rarely walk that way so am getting a totally different view point of out area in the evening. It's much busier in that direction and it has a  different feel to our little row of shops but already I'm bumping into the same people and having a little chat with people I see each evening. I just can't resist having a little chat! The sky was so dramatic when I walked down last night I had to take some photos.

I scanned lots of photos yesterday which was very time consuming but a good job out of the way. Even though I am very pleased to have got through so many, this morning I really must try and get further with the caravan awning curtains as our break away is getting closer. I hope the weather improves, three dogs in a caravan with this rain would be a bit of a challenge! I'm going to my Dads to do his shopping today and my sister and I will be able to spend some time with him all together inside his house now. How wonderful, I just hope nothing gets worse again to spoil this freedom we are having. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Getting Through A Very Rainy Day

 Yesterday felt like a bit of a right off in many ways because of the weather so I kept busy inside. I designed my new pin board for the caravan which I am really thrilled with and just hope it turns out as nicely as I had planned and ordered the new item I need for the old Robert's radio. I will definitely be taking it to a repair cafe when all they start up, but until then I'm keeping my fingers crossed my plan works. I just hope my brain waves work! I get these ideas, usually when I'm out walking the dogs and have time to think and often they come to nothing but sometimes they work out well. I love it though as I feel so enthusiastic about things when an idea comes to me and it can get me through the darkest of rainy days. I often see items on the news about mindfulness and relaxation and I always think that's not really for me. It's new ideas and being busy that get me through. 

For a short time in the afternoon the sun came out and I went out and fed the birds, changed the ducks pool and checked the greenhouse. All this wet weather has really brought the slugs out and I have to do a snail and slug "sweep" in there every day as they have been munching on some of the seedlings. I carry them out and dump them in the hedge at the end of the garden, no doubt for them to return the next day, I'm sure I recognise some of them! I have bought my cosmos and sun flower seedlings into the house as I have lost so many. This reminds me why I should try to grow plants in the garden that slugs and snails just ignore, it is so much less trouble, I have to battle through with my dahlias yet! After only an hour this was what the sky looked like as I was returning into the house.

Within five minutes and after a large clap of thunder that set Layla off barking and barking this was the sight in the garden. I was very glad I got inside in time.

It looks like it is going to be another day of rain today, I can't believe I was moaning about how dry the garden was in April. Tom is off work for two days and he has a spot at the dump booked tomorrow as we are getting rid of my Dad's old microwave for him. He is obsessed with getting the loft tidied up which I can't really be bothered with as we can't see it. I have managed to get so much sorted out in the house during lockdown and now the boxes have all gone to the charity saleroom, I'd rather not have to sort out any more for a while but I suppose it is a way of passing this rainy day. I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday and you manage to avoid this heavy rain we are having. xx

Growing Trees From Seeds And Not Reading Clearly Enough

 It was a nice sunny day yesterday and I managed to get quite a few small plants in the greenhouse planted out. I planted meadowsweet, poppies, echinops and hollyhocks, all grown from collected seeds last autumn. They are all plants that bees love so I'm hoping will attract more to the garden. I had kept some of the geraniums I grew from seed last year in the greenhouse over the winter and I put them out now too. This left more space and spare flower pots so re potted some of the trees I  have grown. I potted oak trees grown from acorns from the oak tree in my Dad's garden and plum trees from plum stones from the plum tree in our garden. I still have lots more to re pot so I'm going to clear an area at the side of the duck run as my tree "nursery". I was really pleased as, after I was starting to wonder if there was no hope, my Silver Birch trees are starting to come up. I planted them last September and there had been no sign of life. They are only tiny but I'm hoping they survive. These are the oak and plum trees. Some of the oak trees still haven't got leaves on yet but I had put two acorns in each little pot so they had to be separated out.

Our garden is really filling out now. I hate gaps anywhere! I still  have lots of plants to put out and 24 free (almost) geraniums coming. I have bought some seeds before from a company called Thompson and Morgan and they often send me emails about offers and the other day I received an email from them saying I could have 20 free geranium plants, postage was £5 so it didn't work out totally free but it as still a good deal and should fill any gaps.

I had ordered another £4 bag of food and and Tom and I walked down to the local garage together at 9pm with Tom telling me how much he had enjoyed his sandwich and Danish pastry at lunchtime. When we got there I realised I had chosen the wrong petrol station on the app and it was the one on the other side of our town. We had to walk home and then drive to collect our food with me apologising the whole way. I'm not making that mistake again! Even though we laughed about the state of my eyes I was really cross with myself. There wasn't such a good selection either which was interesting to compare but still lots of food for today and Tom got his Danish pastry to take to work so he wasn't too fed up. When we got back it had got dark and now I have worked out where the little solar panel is on the bee he has finally lit up!

Scarlett is coming this morning and I'm sure she will want to help me in the garden today. I was hoping we may be able to have our lunch sitting on the bench by the aviary after it was so lovely yesterday but the weather forecast is not as good and showers are expected so I may have to rethink. I hope everyone has a lovely day and enjoys what ever you are doing. xx

Garden Bees And Looking For A Whale

 Tom and I left really early to walk the dogs yesterday and were out for our walk before 9am. Incredibly it was still really crowded. I find it hard to believe on this walk, through the horse farm and following the walls of the old mental asylum which is now the prison. We never saw another person and it was the walk we took the dogs on several times a week before the pandemic. Now we have to stop at least ten times to put the dogs back on the lead while a large group of joggers runs past or our latest stress while we are there, mountain bikers! I'm not knocking mountain bikers, eldest daughters partner is an avid one who dreams of him and Scarlett spending time "off road" together when she is a bit older, but surely there must be a better place than a little narrow path through woods and fields. I'm terrified daft Layla who runs around in circles will knock someone off or even worse little Cassie will get caught in the wheels. I think we are going to have to have a complete rethink of where we go walking. Youngest son is always reassuring me "Don't worry Mum, they will all have got bored with this cycling and running soon and be back on a beach in Spain." Much as I am glad people are trying to keep fit, I really hope so! 

When we got back I started tidying up in the garden. There was still a lot of debris around from all the windy and rainy weather. I also pruned back some of the large shrubs like our Snowberry and Forsythia which have really grown in the last few weeks. Our garden is full of trees and large shrubs, we get so much pleasure watching them flower each year. We have really noticed everything is very behind this year. Google photos are always reminding me of photos I took a year ago, two years ago and even ten years ago, and everything was much further on a few years ago. My Dad has a beautiful yellow azalea and I photograph it every year. Google was reminding me in the last few weeks of all the beautiful photos of it around the beginning of May but this year it is still only in bud. I suppose it has been very cold this year.

One thing I have noticed is our Whitebeam tree. It is quite a large tree in our garden and I do slightly worry it has got away from us and will cost a fortune to ever prune now but birds love it. It is strange though some years it is a mass of white flowers, covered with bees for weeks and in those years it is covered with red berries in the autumn which the birds love. Some years though, including last year there is not a single flower on it and I am never sure why. This year however, despite all the late frosts, it looks to be covered in buds. It is something that really lifts my spirits, it is so beautiful when in full flower so I am really pleased.

Talking of bees I put our little solar light bee up on the arch yesterday. I love it, it looks so cute bouncing around in the breeze. I'm sure Scarlett will love it and I will get her to give it a name. 

I've been following a story on the news about a poor whale trapped in the Thames at Richmond Lock. The fire brigade and the RNLI manage to wrap it in inflated giant "bubble wrap" (that's my idea of it not a professional one!) and took it further down the Thames to try and release it out to sea. Sadly the whale broke free from it's "bubble wrap" and has escaped before they could take it to safety. Now it is lost in the Thames and they are appealing for people to look out for it. You wouldn't think you would be able to lose a whale in the Thames in the middle of London but there you are. I'm going to be worried about it all day and I really hope those wonderful rescuers who are trying so hard to help it manage to locate it before it is too late.

I am planning to re pot several of my plants that have got too big for their pots today so am hoping for a nice day weather wise but I have a back up plan of starting on the second curtain for the caravan awning if that's not possible. I hope everyone has a lovey day and if your in London keep your eyes open for the whale! xx

Windy Days And Pink Hair

 It remained blustery and quite cold yesterday. When the sun came out it was warm but out of the sun it was freezing. I kept my greenhouse closed all day as I didn't want a big gust of wind suddenly blowing all my plants over. When I was travelling over to my Dads there was blossom blowing off the trees everywhere, it is very sad.  He has a beautiful ornamental cherry tree in his back garden and the poor thing has been so battered by the wind, his lawn was covered in blossom. I'm really glad I took this photo of it the other day when it as looking so beautiful.

Yesterday while doing his shopping one thing I realised now is the roads are so much busier. I've almost got used to them being quieter but now everywhere seems almost busier than before and the narrow pavements were packed with people and children. It felt ever so strange and although I've been looking forward to this it's going to take some getting used to. When we got back we had a cup of tea and some of the delicious home made cake that one of his neighbours made for his birthday. All his cakes are lined up in the kitchen even though he's given us some wrapped up in tin foil to take home, he's still going to be eating cake all week!

I spent yesterday evening dying youngest daughter's hair pink. She loves to change the colour all the time and thinks spring is the time to go pink. She looks after children with autism and they are all eagerly awaiting the new colour today. She has warned them it's going to happen but not the colour so they have been trying to guess. One of the little boys apparently said to her "I hope it's not pink, I hate pink!" Oh dear.

The weather looks better today, brighter and less windy but it is still quite chilly. I think I better try and tidy up the garden today as it's looking a bit messy after all those gales. One thing I am very pleased about is sickly tomato plant. I cut off the dead leaves and new ones are really growing now. All the keeping it warm and talking to it seems to have worked. I hope everyone has a lovely day and the sun shines on you for some of it. xx

Green Walls And Skyscrapers

 I walked into Sutton yesterday morning. On nice days I always try and walk there, it's two miles which is just a nice stretch out I always think and I vary my route so I see different things. I always look in peoples front gardens as it gives me ideas. I love to see how people have pruned different plants for different effects. Sutton is much busier now but I went first thing so there were no queues yet. The old Cock Inn sign at the top of Sutton has had a new paint job recently and looks lovely. The old Inn which was a changing point for the London to Brighton stagecoaches has long gone but the sign still remains and I love to see the little piece of history still being looked after. 

Thinking about getting gardening ideas there was a wonderful item on Gardeners World on Friday about trees on skyscrapers in Milan. Apparently Milan has one of the worst pollution problems in Europe. To try and tackle the problem trees have been planted on two buildings. The project was named Bosco Verticale, or in English "Vertical Forest", because together the towers have 900 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 perennial plants, which help mitigate smog and produce oxygen. This photo on Wikipedia taken by the photographer Darsheni shows how they look.

Although I obviously couldn't do anything on this scale I love the way Wilkinson's in Sutton have added a living wall outside their shop. It was one of the ugliest buildings in Sutton, a typical concrete 1960s soulless sort of building yet it has become a real haven for nesting birds. I'd love to have a go with something similar one day, but then Tom and I talk all the time about building an eco friendly house on our own plot of land. It's a real dream of ours.

I bought two plants in Wilkinson's in the end. A red Camelia for the shady end of the garden by the new rockery and a Ceanothus. One of the houses I walk past has pruned one into a tree and it looks stunning when it is in flower. I'm going to keep it in a pot for a while and try and do the same, it will probably take years but never mind.

It's a very special day today, my Dad's 90th birthday. Sadly because of the restrictions on groups still in place we can't have the big family gathering we had hoped for but we are going in relays over today and tomorrow so everyone can get to spend time with him in his garden, so fingers crossed the rain keeps away. I hope every one has a lovely Sunday what ever you are doing. xx

Struggling With Technology

 It as a really sunny, bright, cheerful day yesterday. When my sister and I arrived at my Dad's house, he was sitting out on his bench in the front garden. He loves to sit after he has worked and gets to chat to so many people as they walk by. He always says "I don't know them from Adam, but they seem to know me!" It makes me laugh, it's not just neighbours, it's local school children, delivery drivers and even groups of cyclists all in their cycling gear wave and call to him as they go past. So many people are so kind. Now he can get out and about again he had been to the local garden centre to buy some hanging baskets and they looked so lovely we all sat and admired them for a while.

A couple of years ago my Dad went on a course to help him get to grips with the internet and technology. It was one day a week and was one to one which really helped him. The young man who was teaching, set up a WhatsApp group for him and my sister which we still use all the time. We send him photos throughout the day and even though he makes mistakes sometimes (don't we all!) he manages to do the same. We get photos of Millie his cat watching TV, and new plants he has put in the garden! It is a really good way for him to feel connected throughout the day. When I tell my friends we have a WhatsApp group some of them say "My Mum or Dad could never manage a mobile phone!" I think that is a shame. Trying new things is what has kept my Dad young.

Today is Ed Balls day. Youngest son tells me each year of the fact! Apparently the poor MP Ed Balls, obviously struggling with technology, tried to search on Twitter to see what was being said about him, and just tweeted his own name by mistake. It amused everyone so much, it was retweeted millions of times. Luckily he finds it very amusing and goes along with the joke, which is just as well as today is the tenth anniversary of what has become an annual "Ed Balls Day". I think we should use this day to remind ourselves as we get older that we should embrace technology and not be scared of it. If we make mistakes who cares. My Dad often sends back the photos we send him but because he willing to give it all a go, his days are much more fun and connected with the family than they could be. 

There is actually rain forecast today, we haven't seen rain for weeks! The garden really does need it. I think I will get on with some inside jobs today that I have been putting off for a while. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Middle Class Fly Tipping

 I managed to get quite a lot of tidying up in the garden finished yesterday. At this time of the year if I have a spare half hour I will go out and do one task in the garden as there is so much to do. I'm good at shutting my mind to the bigger picture and just doing one task as otherwise it's so overwhelming. I choose one bush that needs cutting back and don't look at anything else. Our garden is so packed, if I see one gap in the soil I think what can I plant there, it's the only way I can stay on top of it. The Cosmos and new Hollyhock seeds I planted are starting to come up in the greenhouse and sickly tomato plant is growing a few new tiny leaves. I  put it out in the sun in the afternoon and then bring it back in to the kitchen windowsill when it starts to get cold. When I was queueing outside the Co-Op yesterday I bought another tomato plant and a trailing petunia. At £1 each I can see standing next to the display outside the shop is going to be very tempting!

While I was out walking Tess yesterday evening, I came across a box of children's books at someone's front gate with a "Help Yourself" sign on it. All old books, I couldn't resist taking a few, I wish I could have carried more! 

At least the people in this house put a sign there but I still felt a bit embarrassed taking them and did a little grateful wave to the house as I walked away in case they were looking out! Eldest son doesn't care at all when I used to sell on ebay he would regularly phone me up with questions like "How much can you get for a game of Operation, is it worth me taking it for you?" It did remind me of an incident that happened a few years ago. 

I was walking Bud in a very well to do area with enormous houses. By the front gate was a lovely little wooden and wicker child's chair. Scarlett was just a baby at the time but I thought how nice it would be for her when she got a bit older. I dithered and dithered about whether I should take it and in the end went and knocked on the front door and very pleasantly asked if the chair was free to take. "Of course it is" answered the woman "It's what we call middle class fly tipping!" She managed to make me feel as if I should doff my cap and say "Thank you M'lady" as I took it away! I can never walk past things by front gates without thinking of it as middle class fly tipping but it is quite a good idea. I've noticed during lockdown, with charity shops closed, it has really increased and I have to be strong to stop myself sometimes as I have a house full as it is, but the books were different, I can always find a gap for a book. Scarlett loves her little chair and has used it for over two years carrying it from here to there all day so it was well worth it.

It's another bright morning and I'm off to my Dad's house to do his shopping and all the other little jobs that need sorting out. I hope everyone has a lovely day and gets to enjoy some sunshine. xx

The Young Have Arrived

 It was another lovely sunny day yesterday after another cold start. Poor Tom, leaving at 5am everyday at the moment has to wear a warm coat and then spends the rest of the day having to lug it about. I decided I would try and fix the Roberts Radio. In the end I used a plastic wire connector to connect the new battery terminal wires and it worked, the radio has power and it switches on! However very disappointingly I still can't get any sound. The must be something else wrong with it. I'm not giving up yet though, I'm going to do a google search to see if I can find out what else the problem may be and another search on trusty YouTube. 

In the afternoon I gardened and weeded and cut back. The garden waste bin is collected tomorrow and am I the only person who feels that because I have paid for it to be collected, it must be full! While I was "slaving away" as youngest daughter called it, she lay on the sun lounger working on her tan and giving me a running commentary of what the wildlife was doing. Our vixen has kept a very low profile in the last few days but the male fox has been up and down all the time. While we were out there she suddenly appeared. "Is that our vixen?" said youngest daughter. "She looks different" When I looked at her she stared back in the usual trusting way but she looked thinner and strangely dirty. She must have had her cubs. I wonder where they are they must be very close, probably just behind the fence I think. I set up my wildlife camera as really want to catch them on film as soon as they emerge out. Last year after the cubs were born the male fox disappeared completely for a few months so I'll be very interested to see if that happens again. Here is the male fox keeping an eye on us.

The other interesting observation youngest daughter noticed while she was lying there was the magpies are busy in and out of the nest now in the cherry tree so their eggs must have hatched. What I feared has happened and we appear to have no other small birds nesting in our garden this year because of them being there but I suppose they have a right to nest too. They have such a bossy way about them I do have to laugh.

It seems both sets of parents have had young over the weekend. It remains to be seen how well the next few months goes for them. I'm going to look into what food I can put out for the magpies to give to their young as if I can minimise the chance of them stealing young from other birds nests it must be for the good. 

It's quite overcast and chilly this morning and apparently we have more cold weather on the way. As my Mum used to say "Never cast a clout till May is out!" I'm going to be working this morning, then trying to fill the garden waste bin to capacity this afternoon. I hope everyone has a lovely day today what ever your plans. xx

Coronavirus Vaccinations And Tomato Plants

 Scarlett really enjoyed being here on a Saturday too. We watered all the plants in the garden as everywhere is really dry. We haven't had rain for quite a long time now, I can't even really remember when it last rained. Luckily I had my little helper with me and all the plants got watered. There's a lot to water now. I can't quite bring myself to put my seedlings out yet, after all the hard work of collecting the seeds and growing them, I'd be ever so upset if they were killed by a late frost.

After lunch my eldest daughter picked Scarlett up, sadly the house they were looking at was no good for lots of reasons. It was such a lovely day I decided to walk into Sutton to get my second coronavirus jab. I had the AstraZeneca again and explained that I had, had a temperature and a headache after the last injection. The nurse advised me to take two paracetamol before I went to bed, which I did, and I have been fine. Maybe I would have been anyway, but so far I feel very well and am so relieved they are both out of the way.

On the way back I bumped into a man who works at the Co-op. He was telling me that they have had lots of tomato plants delivered for £1. We had a chat about what we were both growing and how it was all doing and I said I would pop down later to buy a couple. As the evening went on I forgot about it then at about 9pm I remembered. As I felt tired by then, Tom said he would go, he loves seeing what they have reduced at the end of the day, usually cakes he finds I've noticed! He was very pleased to have bought the last tomato plant left. "It looks a bit dead" I said trying not to appear ungrateful. "I thought you would be able to bring it back to life!" I'm not sure about that. It's in "intensive care" on the kitchen windowsill but I still I think I may watch for the delivery lorry going by today and then run down an hour later and see if I can buy a few more. 

I've got some spare time today so I think I may have a go at fixing the old Robert's radio. My fingers have been itching to do it but I have needed a day with some free time. I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday what ever your plans. xx

Trees In Urban Areas

 After a cold start it was another lovely sunny day. Scarlett and I sit and plan our day while we eat our breakfast. She loves it as we have a bird feeder hanging off our dining room window that is the House Sparrows domain. We have a constant stream of them all day and I'm sure they eat more than the aviary birds but Scarlett just loves them as they are so entertaining to watch. Already planning her trip to the bakers she asked "Will you be buying a wholemeal, square topped, sliced as well as my cake?" They don't miss a thing do they!

After our walk and the trip to the bakers we ate an early lunch as we were so looking forward to spending the afternoon in the garden. Scarlett  is happy to sit and watch the birds and help as much as she can when I'm doing little jobs around. 

She is fascinated by all the little trees growing. Of all the things I grow, I get most pleasure from growing trees. I can't think of anything nicer than being the person who started a large old tree that is still growing, years and years after I am dead and gone. What a simple but wonderful legacy to leave. Someone years ago planted this beautiful ornamental cherry tree opposite our house and I see people constantly stopping to admire it. 

There has been much on the news in the last 24 hours about the spread of trees in the UK. It was really interesting. There are more trees now in urban areas than in the countryside. Large farming areas such as Lincolnshire have the least trees in the country, where as the boroughs of Camden and Croydon, the second being just down the road from me in London are in the top twenty places in England with the most trees. If we are lucky enough to have a garden I think it is important we should try and plant one if we can. I feel really sad when I'm walking the dogs and see front gardens completely paved over. When I was a child all little front gardens had a lawn, flowers and often a pretty tree. I remember when we moved down to Surrey in 1967 the first thing my Dad did was to plant some trees in the garden of our new build. My sister and I were thrilled when we went down the road a couple of years ago to see the lovely ornamental cherry tree he planted was still there in the front garden. I wonder if the maple and apple trees are still in the back garden. 

The survey said that Surrey is the county in England with the most trees and that is where I am off to today to do a bit of family tree investigating. It is a lovely day so I'm really looking forward to it and I'm going to make sure I admire the trees while I'm out and about. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans. xx

New Garden Buys

 We took all the boxed figurines to the charity salesroom early yesterday and even though I felt guilty, once they were all gone I felt so much better. They may not be my taste but I know there will be someone out there who will like them. Then we went on to the garden centre. Other than going last December to buy our Christmas tree we haven't been for over a year. In that time, what was a family business has now been taken over by a large chain. Local facebook groups have not stopped complaining but I thought I would go in with an open mind. I must admit it has totally lost it's individuality and the farm shop has even become a Sainsburys Local. I was talking to one of the staff and she was telling me that every area has been franchised out to separate companies and so no one who works there has any idea where anything is. You couldn't fault the staff though, they were all really helpful and friendly. The home sections were nice with a big selection, but the plants seem to have doubled in price. I have become a bit stingy with growing so much from collected seeds and roses from cuttings so there is no way I would have paid the prices. I did buy a little Pieris for the rockery as it said it liked shade, for £4, but it was tiny. 

I bought this garden clock with a thermometer on the other side. It will be so useful so when I am working out there I can just glance up to see the time.

I bought some new solar lights for the aviary. Over the winter our last lights snapped on a windy night and I chose some really sweet ones in the shape of bees. You can't really see them in the first photo but I took another one of the detail of one. 

The other item I bought was a crystal wind spinner. It's so pretty in the sunshine. I may try and get another one for the end of the garden. It was only when we were on our way home in the car I realised I had completely forgotten the compost. How annoying. I'll have to check out the prices online.

One thing that happened yesterday was a total surprise. When I went up to the end of the garden to check the birds first thing in the morning the figure I had put in the rockery of a runner was missing an arm! The fox had bitten it off and carried it ten feet away to the other side of the garden. Well, I thought that figure certainly isn't bronze! I'm going to try and repair it but I can't help but wonder if anything at fox level may get chewed up. At least I didn't spend any money on it! Yesterday evening the new lights lit up beautifully. I suppose the fox will be able to see what it's chewing now!

Scarlett is coming today and I'm looking forward to showing her what we have done in the garden. It's rather a shame I can't do any planting with her but I'm sure we'll find something to do. I hope everyone has a lovely day and has time to enjoy some of this lovely sunshine. xx