A Week of Sunshine, Flowers and Happy Surprises
Weather continued to dominate our activities last week.
We continued to take our walks in the mornings, trying to avoid the hottest part of the day. Thursday was particularly warm and, much to Ruby’s disgust, the heat forced us to have a lazy day indoors.
Torrential rain had been forecast for Sunday, but in the end we were treated to little more than a light dampening. With the thermostat finally turned down, we decided we could ease up on the watering and turn our attention to some other jobs.
We also had the much-hyped solar eclipse, which, for us, turned out to be something of a damp squib.
The previous eclipse had been much more dramatic, plunging us into total darkness. A chill descended, accompanied by an eerie silence. This time the light dimmed slightly and… that was about it. I’m rather glad I hadn’t bought eclipse glasses or, worse, gone to stand in the garden with a colander on my head!
Home Garden
If you follow me, you may remember that one of our new clematis was battered by the wind earlier in the year and we feared it had died. Then a new shoot appeared and, although the plant is still small, it is now covered in flowers. The clematis it is paired with has made lots of growth too, so I’m looking forward to a beautiful display next year when the two will, hopefully, intermingle.
Martyn has put together a lovely display of pelargoniums in the garden greenhouse.
The greenhouse is also providing us with a steady supply of salad ingredients, which is always satisfying when we can simply pop in and pick what we need.
The garden has also provided us with an unexpected bounty. We have a small fig bush which, until now, has produced perhaps one or two fruits a year — assuming the birds didn’t get to them first. This year, however, it has really done itself proud.
Having been told that hedgehogs were finding it difficult to find enough natural food this year, we decided to put out some hedgehog food to help them along. What we didn’t expect was that a fox would also take a liking to it.
We now have a nightly foxy visitor!
At the Allotment
We are now prioritising watering on the allotment. Some crops have finished, while others never really got going. Rather than watering most days, we are now giving the plot a really good soak every three days or so.
This has given us a little more time to tackle other jobs. The weeds had certainly taken advantage of the areas we had been watering regularly, so there was plenty of weeding to do.
I tackled the strawberry bed and my next job will be to tidy up the plants and remove the runners.
We also weeded the brassicas, leeks and carrots.
The onions have now been lifted. They had more or less dried while still in the ground, but I have spread them out to finish off properly.
Martyn also lifted the remaining potatoes, which, disappointingly, were only slightly better than those we had already harvested.
Despite the mixed results, we are still managing to collect a few goodies at the end of each visit, so we certainly aren’t coming home empty-handed.
Out and About
Nostell
Previously, I mentioned the large sandpit that had been set up at Nostell. One day last week we arrived before it became populated, so I was able to get a photo without lots of children getting in the way!
They have also set up some of those seaside-style boards where you stick your head through a hole to acquire a different body. Nostell’s versions have a historical theme, which Ruby was keen to try out.
Unfortunately, her head wasn’t quite large enough!
I also overheard someone asking one of the rangers what had happened to the missing cygnet, so naturally my ears pricked up. The bit I managed to catch was that the cygnet was still alive but wasn’t returning to the lake. I’m taking that as good news, although I’m still trying to find out a little more about what has happened.
Finally
It was another week where the weather dictated what we could and couldn’t do, but there were still plenty of little things to enjoy. From harvesting onions and potatoes to discovering that our hedgehog food has attracted a rather unexpected visitor, there always seems to be something happening.
The garden and allotment may not have produced everything we hoped for this year, but they continue to provide plenty of surprises.
As always, until next time stay safe and stay well.
