Hello, and thank you for your visit here.
Although the festive season is rapidly approaching, I am trying hard not to be pulled into the activities before December begins. Some people are much more organised than I am, but it will likely be Dec 1st when I get started. I have a few things that I can show and share with you then. In the meantime, I still feel the beauty of Autumn days and added this sweet hedgehog to my little display. It is a lovely pattern that I finished in a few days.
On Friday, it was a beautiful, dry, and sunny morning, and I was eager to get outside in the garden. There is always plenty to do out there, and I spent a very pleasant hour or two in the front garden, weeding, pruning, and generally tidying up. By lunchtime, my back was beginning to complain, so reluctantly, I called it a day. Unfortunately, I can't always do as much in one go as I used to, but that's life.
The soil was very wet after some heavy rainfall, so I cut back some undergrowth to reveal bare ground, which will help dry the soil out. There is still plenty more to do in the garden, but that can wait for another day.
While I was outside, I noticed that there were still some lovely colours in the front garden. The Mahonia has been an absolute delight for many years and seems to shrug off the extremes of all weathers and the major pruning it gets fairly regularly from me. When it becomes too tall and ungainly, it gets cut to about 18"/45cm, and within a few weeks, it grows strongly again. This morning, I also spotted the bees enjoying the blooms and nectar.
On the other side of the garden this pretty Hebe has been flowering with pretty lilac blooms. It too has been treated to the same pruning treatment as the Mahonia in the past. It is planted in a raised bed so the drainage is pretty good there.
Another favourite plant at this time of year is the Callicarpa bodinieri (Beauty Bush). It is still a young plant but has survived this year's weather well. It has a long season of interest, with pretty tiny pink flowers and bronze purple young leaves in Summer and these wonderful purple berries in Autumn, which last well into Winter.
Incredibly, these plants are still flowering and fruiting their hearts out in mid-November, but I am thrilled that they are doing so.
As I look ahead to the coming week, the weather forecast is mostly dry days, which means I can get outside for a while. I also have some crafting to work on when daylight starts to fade.
Whatever your plans are this week, enjoy x