Happy Xmas :)

Just want to wish all you readers a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Fingers crossed for a mild winter so we can keep gardening :)

Time off

Well, Christmas is next week so we are going to be taking some time off work. Hopefully will give me chance to get on with some good blogging!

Am wondering how the winter is going to be. Here in the UK you just never know whats happening as the weather is so unpredictable. A few years ago we had 2 unusually snowy winters in succession. Haven't really seen any of the white stuff since. I remember a January being so cold we couldn't even get a spade in the ground and took the whole month off. I was chatting to a friend yesterday and she commented on a holly that usually has many berries, but this year the blackbirds have already stripped the plant, same with my pyracantha, I wonder if they can sense something we humans can't? Stocking up for a cold one maybe.

Are we all ready for Xmas then? No tree for us this year as will be visiting family. I really cannot trust the cats to be in charge of something that offers shiny baubles that move when you give them a push with your paw and if you keep pushinf maybe they will fall of and break....I see a lot of potential damage so best avoided. Dont worry, they aren't left completely, our neighbour feeds them twice a day ane we arent gone for long.

Found some cat related Christmas vids...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn2h3_aH3vo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj2ceEcpbgg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB90NjT51gg

Hahaha!! Happy Xmas peeps :)

Some Autumn pics

As ever, am finding I haven't enough time to get on and do everything I need to do. To keep you tuning in, heres a few Autumn pics from last few years. Some were taken at the Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire, well worth a visit and there will still be plenty of colour to see.
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-5Y4F5K

Here in this part of Devon, beech is the predominant species of tree and hedge, they have a beautiful golden colour right now and really shine when the sun shows its face. Travelling to work is a joy, driving through golden beech tunnels, shame I can't take any pics!

All change!

After much nagging, Mr.M has finally removed the rather lumpy green mess some may have called a lawn! This has lead on to lifting all the plants in our (thankfully) small ornamental garden, which meant clearing the veg area to hold the plants. One job needs many more to get it done! Have yet to lift all the plants but we will get there eventually. Then there is the issue of the broken fencing to tackle. One thing at a time.

I am hoping the new lawn will be laid very soon. Three cats and a dogs mucky prints in the house is not pretty! Unfortunately the weather has taken a damp turn, its all about the rain down here so won't make laying turf easy

This Autumn has gone from beautiful unseasonal sunshine to miserable grey almost overnight. Already, work has had to be postponed. Some gardeners will work through any weather, but this can cause damage to lawns and soil structure and you tend to work more slowly. It is so hard to judge whether it is worth getting tools sorted, driving to site with one of my helpers, when the weather is this unpredictable. Thanks to various weather forcasts, decisions can be better made but living next to Dartmoor means it can change so quickly. Always be prepared with wellies!

Heres a few pics I have recently taken while out and about.....

I have had this Pinus Mugo in a pot for so many years. I guess it should be repotted but it seems happy enough being a little bit neglected.

Spotted these Aeoniums while on holiday in Cornwall. Bought a fab small specimen which I then gave to a friend as her garden is much more suitable. Tha was her xmas pressie!!

This bright Pyracantha was growing in our garden when we moved in. The blackbirds will be along soon to help themselves to these plump berries.

Still flowering, still more buds to come on this pretty, hardy fuchsia. I helped myself to a cutting from my local park. Did nothing other than stick it in a jar with water and watched it root. Then potted it on till big enough to plant in a large pot. If you are new to propagation, go for fuchsias, nothing technical here!

This is my favourite plant in my garden, a very bright hardy Chrysanthemum Mrs Jessie Cooper. Wow, does this bring colour to a dull day! Also fab as a cut flower. Love it!

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple', found in my friends/clients garden. Also known as the Smoke Bush due to its fluffy plumes of flowers. Beautiful Autumnal colours.

Love them or hate them, Cortaderia sellowana or Pampas Grass, really are showy plants. The cream panicles of flowers stand proud against the (now gone) blue sky.

Time for a break

Well, we are off to Cornwall for a holiday, which I haven't yet packed for...
better get on with it then!!

The weather has turned a bit cooler now and a bit cloudier, which is fine by me as there is a woodburner where we will be staying :)

Talking of weather,  heres a link to a great photographer and stormchaser I just discovered. His pictures are amazing :)

http://www.extremeinstability.com/

Not sure I want that kind of weather for our holiday! See you soon x

Foraging for Berries

I took the dog out the other day for her afternoon walk on a patch of land near our house. A fellow dog walker was picking elder berries, not for jam, as I have done, but for making cordial for her son who has allergies to various manmade ingredients in regular cordial. She told me the recipe was on a website called Eat Weeds and here it is

http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/elderberry-cordial-syrup

I have just had a quick look and the site looks very interesting :) will delve in more when I have some spare time.

A few years ago I went a bit crazy with making preserves as, like this year, there was such an abundance of free food. Hedgerow jelly was a hit with crab apples, blackberries, rosehips, hawthorn berries, sloes, all free to pick. I have not had the time this year (any spare is taken up with crochet!). I did have a walk though the fields with the dog yesterday and spotted some berries.

Blackberries

Hawthorn Berries

Rosehips

Sloes

 

 

 

Only this morning there was talk of a bumper crop of hedgerow berries on the news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29249685

Though not all fruit are doing so well. Two of my clients have very little apples this year - and its not my pruning!! A number of people have mentioned this same issue, maybe something to do with the wet Spring? You never know what nature will throw at you.

Well, there's going to be a lot of well fed creatures this Autumn, including our new addition of a squirrel that has taken up residence in our heavily laden hazel tree. The fella better watch it though, the dog loves a tree rat and I have now discovered Ronan, our big ginger cat, reckons he can take it on, though I really hope he doesn't corner it as squirrels can cause a lot of damage with those sharp claws!!

Get yourselves out there and pick your free food. Just please be sure you know what you are picking.

Pause For Thought

Nearly 3000 people died this day 13 years ago.

The One World Trade Centre is now complete.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29148536

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24055725

One World x