Sunny Days

Hello everyone. 

Firstly, D and I want to thank you for all the encouraging comments about our doll house. We look forward to showing you the next room.

We have finally had a hot and sunny week here in our small corner, and both D and I have been taking advantage of this by being outside as much as possible. There is now a lot of colour appearing in both the front and back gardens.

These flowers are growing in the front garden.

Herbs and a courgette enjoying the sunshine.

Here are some of the plants currently flowering in our back garden.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we were working on the L-shaped part of the back garden outside the back door. Hubby has been very busy putting together another raised bed, which I quickly filled. He is now working on a second bed to match on the other side.

These last few pictures are of the alpine bed on top our dustbin area. It is pretty to look at and the plants have loved the sun this week.

On Monday, D, hubby and I took a trip to Bewdley, which is not far away from where we live.

Lots of people were enjoying the dry Bank holiday weather, and there was a significant increase in the sale of ice-creams that day. The highlight of our visit had to be watching the geese on the river. They were very noisy with their youngsters swimming nearby. The geese were also spectacular show-offs when coming into land, with feet first and bottom and tail feathers acting as the final brakes.

D has also been spending some time baking in the kitchen, and we all enjoyed her chicken, bacon and leek pie. 

I had half eaten the meal before remembering to take a photo!

As well as all the gardening, I have taken full advantage of the weather to do as much of the bulkier items of washing as possible, which included the covers for our three-piece suite. They dried brilliantly outside. It has been a good week here.

With the weather set to change again back to more rain, there will be more indoor crafting and some work in the greenhouse for us this next week.

D and I wish you all a healthy and happy week whatever the weather happens to be.

B and D xx

Amazing Birthday Cake

Hello and thank you for visiting this small corner.

Yesterday, one of D's friends invited us to share a birthday meal with her and her family, whom we know well. D's friend is a nurse, and this is the cake she had. The cake looked amazing with all those details. It was almost a shame to cut it up, but it was delicious.

We had a bit of a disaster during the week. We have not suffered any damage in the garden in all the storms and windy weather over the last few years -that is, until now. 

At the bottom of our garden is a row of the dreaded conifers leylandii. When we first moved into the house over 20 years ago, we had them cut down by half their height. They regrew very quickly to the same height they had been before but no taller. So we left them as they were, as they didn't shade the garden. However, this week, with only the smallest of winds, one of the central branches on one of them decided to part company with the rest of the tree and fall into our garden. No real damage has been done, and Hubby has been able to remove the offending large branch, which can be used as a new home for insects and wildlife at the bottom of the garden. 

In brighter gardening news, we have added another raised bed to the garden area we are working on. So now I have even more space to grow vegetables. I plan to grow some carrots there. My previous efforts to grow carrots have resulted in rather alien-shaped vegetables, but I will train them to grow straight by putting them inside old cardboard tubes with a sandy soil mix. Gardening can be trial and error, so I shall see how it goes.

Also, this week, I finally got around to a job that I have meant to do for a long time- splitting up some hostas from one large pot into several smaller ones. With some help from my hubby to get them out of the original container and a sharp spade blade, they are settling into their new pots. I have added some copper tape around them to keep the slugs away.

After the lovely sunny weekend we enjoyed in this small corner, it looks like the rain will return. On the positive side, that will give me plenty of time to be in the greenhouse, potting all the seedlings that must be in their hundreds by now. I have a chair out there, so a mug of tea and a biscuit will keep me happy for some time. 

Whatever the weather is like for you this week, have a good week x