Tag: garden

Gardener

I came across some photos from when I moved into my little house last night. It seems like a long time ago now. Well it was over a decade ago. The garden looked so neat, tidy and manicure – a far cry from the lived in version now. I know I’ve let things grow a bit too much. It’s gotten quite out of hand. I love gardening. But in recent years, I haven’t had as much time or inclination to get out there and keep on top of it. I’ve prioritised other things I guess too.

The photos were a stark reminder of how bad it has gotten. The former owner is probably turning in his grave at the state of it. So this afternoon I made a start by mowing the back lawn. I’m going to try and spend a bit more time out there. I really need to weed my driveway. It’s more grass than gravel.

Having new neighbours is a bit of an incentive too. My garden won’t ever look like a Chelsea Show Garden. I’m not that good a gardener. I do prefer the more natural look. I do think it needs some more hard landscaping though so thinking about that.

I spent a fortune on my last garden. I absolutely loved it. I was gutted to see that the people who moved in had ripped it all out.

Still today it was Lawn 0 – Pip 1. Which was a better result than the football. So glad I rushed to get everything done before kick off…

Iris

How pretty is this iris? It bloomed overnight and greeted me this morning when I went to get the bins in. Oh the glamour.

I was due to have a ‘walk & talk’ this morning. That turned into a ‘sit in sunshine & talk’. Afterwards, I took a moment to look around my garden. So much has bloomed in the sunshine. It seems my garden is solar powered too.

Gecko going

What a productive May Day bank holiday it’s been. Burned a few calories that’s for sure.

This morning I spent 2.5 hours at the yard. Wanted to poo pick and pull some ragwort that’s sprung up. It’s so satisfying!

Then this afternoon, it was cleaning out the greenhouse. Got a free sauna in the process. Possibly the hottest day so far this year, so I decide to spend it in a glass box.

It appears I’ve had guests in the greenhouse. Found next doors’ cat asleep in it. Not sure who got the biggest shock – me or him! I also found two tiny lizards. They were only about 5cm long. Super cute! Not a clue what kind they are.

It took a lot longer to sort out than I thought. But then it hasn’t been cleaned out for a few years. It’s looking nice and neat again now. Planted lots more veg too.

As there was still petrol in the tank, I spend another hour on the brambles. Bit of a glutton for punishment there. It looks so much better for it.

I do love an outdoors day. It’s very rewarding indeed. I shall sleep well tonight.

Thicket

I may have got a bit carried way this afternoon. I was sat having lunch in the conservatory and got rather fixated on the swaying branches. Another tree was growing up behind the holly. It had reached the top of my neighbour’s garage!

In the wind today, it was swaying around like one of those inflatable men you see outside garages. The ones with long arms. They’ve probably got a proper name, but you know what I mean.

I’ve been meaning to cut the other tree down for ages, but seeing it flailing about in the wind spurred me into action. Nearly 3 hours and a lot more trimming, tidying and wedding later, I felt rather satisfied with my efforts.

Of course I looked rather windswept and like I’d been dragged through a hedge backwards. But then I kinda did.

Scaredy cat

Dodo wasn’t impressed with the thunder today. He climbed up onto my laptop stand and wasn’t moving.

Made it a little hard to work. At least he wasn’t after my mouse. He did that overnight as I woke up to a ‘present’. Thankful I didn’t step on the remnants.

Hugo, on the other hand, was tearing round the garden in the thunderstorm.

Tidy bush

I had a rude awakening this morning when the front door went at 8am. It was the gardeners for next door. My lovely neighbour had popped round on Monday to ask if I wanted them to do my garden while they were doing his. He’s 98 and flipping amazing.

The front garden has been annoying me for a while now. It gone very wild. So took it as a sign that I needed to get it sorted.

He told me they were coming on Thursday. Seems he got the day wrong. So there’s me walking round the front garden in my dressing gown with the bloke talking about what needed trimming. Not really my forte, so left them to it.

Of course, then I had to listen to hedge trimmers, choppers and all manner of garden equipment. It was slightly distracting and a tad hard to concentrate.

The kittens were less than impressed. Especially when one of the blokes’ dog came through the ‘cat hole’ and ran round the garden. He was having so much fun, he didn’t want to go back.

After they’d left, I thought I’d best go and do a bit of weeding now I could actually see what’s there. Well till the rain came again.

Oh well, at least I have neatly trimmed bushes (insert your own jokes here).

Camo-cat

Dodo has made himself a lovely nest in the daisies. He was so camouflaged it took me a while to spot him. I was going to try and cut back the geraniums and daisies but decide it was probably best to leave them for now.

That and he was sulking after I gave him a wormer. I haven’t dared tell him that he’s getting the flea treatment tomorrow.

Oasis

I had breakfast and lunch al fresco today. My garden is usually a little oasis of calm. I love sitting listening to the birds.

Not today. Today there was a lot of noise. Seemed everyone was using the nice weather to get out in the garden too. There was a cacophony of lawnmowers, power tools and even a chainsaw!

If you can’t beat them, join them eh! I resisted the urge to join the noise. But went and did some tidying in the borders instead. The ivy had gotten a little out of hand on the back fence. So it needed a good cull. Still got a way to go with it though. It’s looking much better though already.

Bressingham

Today Colette took me to Bressingham Steam Museum and Gardens for my birthday outing. It’s become a bit of a tradition now to visit a garden for our birthdays. Thankfully there are lots of gardens for us to visit locally.

First trip here for both of us. I’ve seen the sign on the A140 as I’ve been driving past. It’s a lovely place to stop at.

The gardens were stunning. Very varied and lots to admire. We walked over 2 miles round them. Then we popped into the museum. They had a train carriage where they used to sort the post. And a Dad’s Army section with lots of memorabilia from the show. It took me back to my childhood growing up watching the show.

I love it when you find a gem of a place to visit.