~Garden peek~

It's raining, thundering and lightening quite heavily here tonight, so I'm glad I took some photos yesterday before all my plants get flattened...I love May and June in the garden before floppage and crispyness occur...
My back garden is a teensy small space as with most newer houses  (I wish housebuilders were forced to include allotment-sized plots) with poor soil and poor drainage, so most plants are in a built up bed at the back. I've been here 8 years now. The backgarden had the ambience of being on a ship's deck when we moved in - all badly-done decking and rope handrails - really awful.

A little look around then...

I love alliums, I had some at the old house too.

 They're planted with a large fatsia, a standard holly, aquilegias, geraniums,

sisyrinchium and euphorbias

I do like the combination of purple and lime green

 

 

 This is my secret corner behind the garage...

 This potted clematis is the best it's ever been this year

 I like mirrors in the garden and a few mosaics, tiles and statues...

 ...and old rusty fireplaces with mirrors behind them.

 Cut and come again salad leaves in a sunny spot...

 And my lovely fragranced 'Life Begins at Forty' Rose by the back door...

Then my picnic table (cheap ebay buy 4 years ago) painted willow green along with a metal bench and scrollwork green chair for sitting out in the warmer weather.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed that little look at my garden.

See you soon xx

~Gardening Giveaway~

I got a tiny bit of my gardening mojo back yesterday and today. Though windy and bitterly cold out of the sun, yes, actual sun,  it was lovely to potter about and see that things were starting to grow.  New green shoots on my clematis; it's the small things that cheer me up...

Tete-a-tete daffodils in a shady corner

Primroses (they must have liked the cold) and pulmonaria

Now that Spring is coming I'm wondering what the year has in store weather wise.  Last year was a dead loss for tomatoes and fruit in my garden. Today I sowed some tomato seeds in trays and have them indoors on a sunny windowsill to germinate - but normally I would have done this already.  I sowed 2 cherry types as I eventually grow them outdoors in wall-mounted troughs. First one were some new seeds I bought  'F1 Sweet 'n' Neat Cherry' from Suttons seeds.  8 seeds for blooming £1.99! Apart from that I decided to be frugal and have a forage for seeds in the garage In my seed tin I found some free seeds from a magazine last year - 'Red Cherry' by Fothergills seeds. I've also sown some seed trays with Cosmos 'Purity',  marigolds and Borage.

Time for a Spring gardening giveaway!

The giveaway consists of; gardening gloves, handmade Rosemary & Marjoram soap, an RHS Gardening Techniques book and some seeds from my tin (Marigolds, Foxgloves and Sweet Williams) - just leave me comment for a chance to enter.  (UK entrants only please)

For an extra entry please link back to me on your blog and let me know you've done this in a second comment. Closing date  12 midday Sunday 14th April.

Good luck!

~Simple Pleasures of the week~

Nearly the end of the school hols - I've been busy this week running here and there, at times feeling guilty for not achieving many of the jobs on my 'to do' list, but I have had a good Spring Clean and cupboard sort out.  The last few days I've been reminding myself to be realistic and take one step at a time and reflect on what I have achieved; whilst also taking time to enjoy small things...

Simple pleasures of the week...

Red toe nails...

Polka Dot flip-flops £1.50 Primark

My feet are smart even if I have gardeners hands! 

Updating son J's bedroom to be more grown-up...

Cushion made from Ikea teatowel 2 for £1.99

There's been some sewing time...

Vintage fabric cushions on the go...

Making a cushion for my daughter's friend who is moving to Scotland in 2 weeks...

Floral front

Wool plaid back

Flowers picked from the garden...

Foxgloves in the garden...

...and quality time and laughs with friends and family over the Jubilee celebrations, involving a glass or two of this...

Thanks to everyone for their comments on my last post about the caravan trip - Carol pointed me in the direction of Lucy at Attic24 with her 'Connievan' revamp which was lovely to read -  and reassuring that there are others out there like me who love lots of crochet and chintz in their caravan! Oh, and my wrist is much better thanks - a bit *pins and needlesy* but otherwise okay. We didn't get away this weekend due to the rainy and windy miserable weather, also daughter L is out in York for a meal tonight and I didn't want to be away...

~Teapot and Teacup gardening~

Succulent plants, such as sempervivums ('houseleeks') are ideal for container planting in
vintage crockery odds and ends.  I have a stone trough outside planted up with succulents and alpines, but they are also ideal plants for sunny indoor windowsills - mine are happy in an unheated conservatory in Winter, and spend June to October outdoors in a sunny spot. 
From one of our 'miscellaneous boxes' from a local auction (£1 for a box of random old pots and kitchenalia) came this gorgeous old teapot, missing it's lid. It's a beautiful Gibson's Staffordshire pottery teapot in an unusual hexagonal shape. I used a well-draining planting mix of 50/50 horticultural grit and compost, and just repotted the offsets that my other sempervivums have grown.  They root easily and soon grow over the container sides.  This one flowered beautifully in the summer...

If you look closely you can see the spindly roots that the baby plants are sending out.

I do the same with pretty teacups...

...dressing the tops with grit for drainage. I don't drill holes in the china - just make sure you hardly water them - do not overwater them or they will rot. They make lovely home-made presents too, or for a fund-raising plant stall. Does anyone else plant up bric-a-brac odds and ends?

~Autumn Harvest~

Is it Autumn? Or Summer? Or Sprautumn? (My primroses are flowering again!) I like things to stick to the rules sometimes, so I am out of kilter with this warm weather. And it makes me grumpy because I don't like being too hot whilst working and commuting. One of my clematis has flowered consistently and confusedly since June; and looks as knackered as I feel at the moment! Have had a sort out in the garden this week and not done too badly considering my plot is tiny. Small vegetables are the order of the day when you've got lots of containers, pots and troughs.

Day off Thursday may involve a bit of chutney making!

Thanks for your lovely comments about my Macmillan tea party, I appreciate your kind words x

~Time for (afternoon) Tea - 2nd event! for Macmillan ~

What a busy weekend...After baking on a hot Friday afternoon I welcomed very generous guests to my kitchen (and garden) where we had alfresco tea and cakes, with all proceeds from the afternoon tea and the raffle going to Macmillan Cancer Relief. I loved the Fountains Gold  cheese sandwiches with homemade (and homegrown) green tomato chutney. Dry cure ham sandwiches were delicious with homemade piccalilli too...Fine Yorkshire fayre!

St. Clements drizzle cake with candied lemon peel...

Mini Victoria sponges...

Scones with cream & local tayberry jam and cherry bakewells...

Pretty vintage china...

Crocheted doilies in pinks and greens...

A lovely time was had by all - and we raised £130.86 for Macmillan.

Many thanks to my friends, family and work colleagues, and special thanks to my lovely friend J for helping on the day and being prepared to wear an apron and a flower in her hair!

~A treat for a 21st century Land Girl~

I treated myself on the way home from work today. I am lucky to work in York, but my route home takes me past tempting emporiums of lovely things! Sometimes (not often though) I do give in. My treat today was this mug - a must have for me - an enamel 'Dig For Victory' mug by The Thoughtful Gardener. It will be a great keep-my-tea-hot-whilst-camping mug as well as when I'm gardening.

It was from Blossom & Walker; a shop I can highly recommend if you're visiting York and North Yorkshire. It's near Monk Bar on Lord Mayor's Walk. And then afterwards you could cross the road and have lovely tea and cake at Me and Mrs Fisher - though I didn't do that today - I will save that treat til next week!

~I put Basil in the Ratatouille~

Whenever I make Ratatouille, I think of Manuel's stricken face that his adored pet rat (Basil) was in the ratatouille - in fact I've just had to watch it on YouTube - glorious 1979 Fawlty Towers!! We've had a lot of heavy rain here in North Yorkshire today and the garden certainly needs it. The Jack be Little pumpkins are coming along nicely; they are snaking along a truss of string in front of the warm conservatory wall...

...the tomatoes are in wall troughs, again on a sunny wall - 'Tumbling Tom Red' (bush/hanging basket type tomato) which is always reliable and even more importantly tastes fab, and 'Ildi' a last minute sowing of some seeds I bought a couple of years ago at a show. They produce masses of tiny yellow, pear-shaped fruit - I've probably crammed too many in the troughs, but it works for me.  I keep them well fed (twice weekly) and watered (daily)so they do just fine.

 More courgettes too - hence the ratatouille - made with homegrown basil (poor Basil) , parsley and garlic. It tastes absolutely gorgeous, we had it with plain couscous made with butter and a glug of good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Recipe: Chop 3 onions and cook slowly in olive oil and a bit of butter for 5-10 mins, then add 4 chopped cloves of garlic, careful not to burn it.  Add 3 large courgettes (chopped), one red pepper (chopped) and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 mins. Add approx 100ml of vegetable stock (I use Marigold Swiss Bouillon). Then add a handful of chopped parsley and basil, a spoonful of homemade chutney/red onion marmalade and 2 tins of supermarket Value chopped tomatoes. Simmer with the lid on for about 1 hour.
That's it! - cheap as anything and enough for the freezer too.

~Birthday Weekend~

We had a family garden party at the weekend to celebrate my husband and daughter's birthday.  My little girl is 16 today, 4th July, and I'm wondering how that went by so quickly.  I am so proud of how she has grown up into such a gorgeous girl and I'm hoping she has a fantastic time at her Prom tomorrow night here at this country house hotel,which is also where my Dad was born when it was a Maternity Hospital after the war.

~Shopping for Essentials~

I try to be frugal in many ways in my daily life, but I do lapse and have a splurge on my dearest favourite things from time to time. I treated myself to some 'essentials' whilst at Gardener's World Live and the BBC Good Food Show this weekend.  First purchase was Thunder Toffee Vodka - absolutely delicious and I can't wait to think of a dessert to use it in next time people come round. Next purchase was a plant for my shady quiet corner of the garden; Heuchera 'Electra' from Heucheraholics in the floral marquee; whose stand I loved.

And finally we visited the David Austin Roses stand; who had an unmissable offer for 2 roses for £25. I chose Rosa 'The Pilgrim', a gorgeous pale yellow rose with scents of tea rose and myrrh.


Rosa 'The Pilgrim'

We came away happy, carrying our purchases in their sturdy David Austin sacks. Roll on next June!

~To Cath or not to Cath~

When planning to spruce up my bedroom, I read Miss Thrifty's blog about the Albany Millie wallpaper that's a good lookey-likey of Cath Kidston's Antique Rose wallpaper. About £6 per roll cheaper, granted, but after much deliberation  I decided some things are too important and gorgeous to pinch the pennies over; so I succumbed!  When I got to York's Cath Kidston it was out of stock- aaaagh!, but the ladies there were lovely and helpful and ordered me 3 rolls from a London branch. Husband says it gives him headache; but I absolutely love it and think it was worth the extra pounds.

Excuse the unironed rumpled bedlinen...

Time to get ready and pack for a half-term break now. Have got my patchwork hexagons made from vintage fabric scraps all ready for a bit of beach al fresco sewing...

....and will try not to worry too much about my plants - I've sunk some upside-down drinks bottles and watered them well, so we shall see if they survive.

~Garden Salad~

I've grown veg for about 6 years now; despite loving gardening from my late twenties I was hesitant to get growing veg, for fear of failure I think - of doing it wrong somehow. Once you've started it dawns on you that that's the joy of it; that each year crops grow differently and results are dependent on nature as well as you.This year I gave up my allotment (sob) as it was unrealistic for me, so now I'm being more creative with my little garden - spinach, salad leaves, kohl rabi, tomatoes, squash, strawberries, runner beans, courgettes, garlic, leeks, herbs, chillis - amazing what you can squeeze in! And have room for flowers and perennials too. So tonight, it was in from work, out the back door with scissors and colander, and 5 minutes later you have a garden salad all cobbled together from what you find outside. Cheaper and tastier than something out of a plastic bag methinks.

If you're about to have a go I would definitely advise a John Seymour book (an old one from a Car Boot Sale if poss) which is sound basic stuff to learn. Try not to get too carried away, like super-enthusiastic me two weeks ago, who was seduced by the sun and planted everything out. I normally wait until after Chelsea, which reminds me -can't wait for Chelsea coverage tonight with Sarah Raven.  Most of my veg plants look a bit wind-whipped and forlorn at the moment, will it have taught me a lesson? Probably not.