Fairy Visitors on a Sunny Sunday.

Thank you for your lovely comments about my tear and share bread, it's a bit of a family favourite here.

After some warm, but muggy days, we have some lovely sunshine. It's been a busy week here so it was nice to go and sit in the garden with the dogs and a book, soaking up the sunshine, a gentle breeze and birds chatting away in the background.

  I bribed my companions to come and sit with me, a couple of gravy bones each.

They know the drill well, 'sit' then come when your name's called.

Everything in the garden's grown so much since I took photos a couple of weeks ago. I bought these handy little dead heading snippers, a bargain at 49p (excuse how dirty my gardening gloves are, I suppose it shows I'm using them).

They even have a handy little pocket to keep them in, which is good as they are rather sharp.

The garden is starting to bloom more, colours getting bigger and brighter

The flowers are growing in the old bird bath. I'm pleased as there isn't much room, not much depth for their roots.

 Here are some of our fairy visitors, they've set up home in the mini wheelbarrow

A cute little tree stump and a couple of hedgehogs...

Just need a little greenery in their garden.

What a lovely signpost, this way to happiness...

I plan to have some more fairy visitors, just need the right places for them to move into.

Courgettes are growing well, I think we'll be picking a couple soon

I wonder if any of you knowledgeable green fingered people can help me? We have a couple plants that we can't identify? The first is this long, thin one.I picked it up from the 'dying' shelf in a garden centre and it appears to be thriving... whatever it is!

It also seems to be getting ready to bloom?

We have no idea what this is either. I love the deep reddish, mahogany colour of the leaves, and again, it appears be thriving...

Thank you for taking the time to read andI'd love any information about the 2 unidentified plants, and if you don't know what they are either then just pop by and say hello.

Take care
xxx

Flower Posies

After reading your lovely comments on my last post about my Sweet Peas, I thought I should get out there and pick some, so now we can have the loveliness of them continuing to flower outside and their delicate prettiness and perfume inside too.

 They aren't very long so I popped them in an old school milk bottle, this posy will sit on the kitchen windowsill

While I had the garden scissors out... wahhhh ha ha.... I thought I pick some more for the sitting room. We only have a couple of Sweet Williams that have flowered, but I thought they'd look lovely in my old jug

Popped some Daisies and Lavender in there too so it wasn't too sparse.

They look really pretty on the mantelpiece and it feels extra special because they grew in our garden.

We've built a second raised bed with sleepers. I'm really pleased with it and it's growing some sprouts, broccoli and red onions for us. I also put 3 sunflowers along the back.

We seem to be avoiding the slugs and snails this year (usually our Sunflowers are stripped bare when they get planted out), but they aren't thriving... the stalks look nice and strong, but the leaves, particularly the lower ones, are wilting. They get plenty of water, so I'm not sure why it's happenning - any advice very welcome.

While I was taking photos of the bed, I thought I'd take one of the Flamingoes... I love them!

Hubby really wasn't sure when I whipped them off the shelf, but has grown to like them. They make me smile when I see them.

Back to the dead heading and weeding then...

Take care
xxx

A Giraffe and This or That

I've barely touched my laptop recently, the weather has been so beautiful that I've wanted to soak up as much sunshine as possible. I'm to be found either in the garden or in an evening, in the conservatory with the doors flung wide open, rain or shine.

The garden is a riot of colour, I get so much pleasure from just looking at it. It's our first year growing Sweet Peas, and they're scrambling up the fence, such a pretty mosaic of colours, and they smell divine.

We shall definitely be growing more next year, perhaps all along the fence, it'll be beautiful!

I've kept my hook busy too, it's been so nice to have some time to sit and crochet outside. I've whipped up a giraffe, if I make another one I'll make the neck a bit longer I think. He he is sitting among the flowers

A cosy up with my Blythe beauties

And another one by himself, stretching his legs in the sun.

I've also managed to finish my shawl for wearing in the garden in an evening. It's been so useful to have something light to throw round my shoulders when we sit outside in an evening

I used the new Stylecraft doubleknit colours. It's a simple Granny Stripe triangle, clusters of 3 trebles except at the beginning and end of each row, which is 4 trebles.

Such a simple item and it makes me happy and keeps me warm.

As it's swinging between brilliant sunshine and torrential downpours, I think I'll stay inside now and catch up on some blog reading.

Take care
xxx

A Good Read and a New Friend

The beautiful sunshine didn't last very long here, I'm hoping it will come back soon, it's been more like early Autumn than Summer.

I did get a chance to finish my book though, 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' by Claire North.

It was a bit different from my usual reads, but it's good to try something different! Harry August lives his life over and over, always born in the same year to the same parents, each life is different though depending on the choices he makes. The intrigue comes when a message is passed back from young child to elderly dying person until it reaches Harry when a child tells him the end of the world is getting nearer.

There's intrigue, suspension and mystery, a thoroughly engrossing read!

Now to introduce my new friend, my beautiful, darling Delores. She's wrapped up tightly and safely as she's had a long journey from the California in the States.

Delores is my first customised Blythe doll.

Look at that gorgeous hair, it's so soft, I'm quire taken with her.

As a Blythe doll she has pull strings that when pulled change the colour of her eyes and direction of her gaze.

She went into the garden to check out the fairy houses

Sigh... my beautiful Delores. And as I was in the garden, another shot of our growing Sweetpeas

Take care
xxx

Beautiful Summer Day

The sun has been shining today on my little piece of England. The most important job of the day was to sit in the garden and appreciate all the hard work that's been done in it recently!

I must have spent a good couple of hours breathing the fresh air, reading my book and just generally enjoying the garden while the washing dried on the line It was so quiet I could just sit back and listen to birds singing, which in turn made my heart sing.

We have a few hanging baskets dotted about, I love the bright splashes of colour from these Petunias and Pansies.

We built a raised planter with old railway sleepers earlier in the year and a little fairy garden too (a few weeks ago and now).

It's filled out so much in the last few weeks

a second bloom on the Lupin

I love the Dahlia, it's covered with flowers now, this photo really doesn't do it justice at all

Nice and cheerful around the dog's kennel too

The poor things don't enjoy the sun as much as we do, Alfie in particular doesn't cope very well and doesn't seem to grasp how staying in the shade can help cool you down, bless him.

Just outside the conservatory doors so we can see it from inside

A butterfly settled on the fence

My Sweetpeas have started flowering, though don't seem to have gown very tall

My gorgeous Daisies

Inside for now, but I can still appreciate my lovely Lilies that were in the bargain section in the supermarket, not bad for 99p!

Take care
xxx