Friday 25 June 2021

Photo Scavenger Hunt :: June #4 … Summer

Hi there everyone šŸ˜€

Astrid has chosen the word … Summer … for the photo scavenger hunt this week. I’m sure there will be lots of different interpretations of what this means to people.

Summer for us is normally spent at home. Whilst we holiday in the UK four or five times a year we like to try and avoid going away during the height of summer for a number of reasons … We like to avoid school holidays at all costs … because of the crazily inflated prices of holiday cottages and because we prefer to visit places at quieter times.

Avoiding going away in the summer is also one of the costs of keeping on top of the garden. We put so much effort in during the spring … it seems a shame to be away during the summer and miss it at its best.

This year will be a little different as we do have a week away with mum at the beginning of July. Fortunately we have a very kind neighbour who is very good at watering.

As we were lucky enough to have a glorious day this week, this week’s entry for me is a snapshot of the garden as it is now …

Here is one of our favourite spots to sit …
… and these are the views from there at the moment …


This is a bit of a more formal spot to sit and is good if we need shade … it’s where we tend to sit to eat if we have friends round …
 … and these are the views from there …

We have a pot full of these self set poppies that have sprung from plants we were given last by good friend, which are just beautiful ...

This is Melittis melissophyllum ... more commonly known as Bastard Balm … we bought it from the nursery at Felley Priory when we visited with mum a few weeks ago …

We also picked up a pot of mixed irises and tradescantia … actually dug up out of the garden. We have only had one iris flower but the tradescantia is still going strong …

This is my ‘plant theatre’ … bought from Hidcote Gardens a few years ago, when visiting with a friend. We keep changing the planting on it but seem to have settled nicely now with a selection of alpines and other bits …
We had our first strawberry harvest this week … a little bit later than usual but looking good and tasting of sunshine ...

… and last but not least these are our new lanterns …
We never have much luck with lighting in the garden. We have no power so have to stick to solar powered lights, which haven’t been that successful so far. We have bought 16 of these and placed them all round the garden. I have to say I was impressed with the light they gave off last night … it looked a bit like Heathrow airport ...
They do give off a lovely pattern though …
We just need some more nice weather now so we can have people round, share some food, have a drink  and make the very most of it šŸ˜€

***********************************************************************************

8 comments:

  1. I love the look of your garden and it's...........FLAT. The sign on the shed should be on my DH's, seeing he is a Yorkshireman, living in Oz of course now. You've given me some ideas too. Possibly won't take part in this one as I've been so behind. Have a great weekend, take care & hugs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha … there is a slight slope but yes in the main flat. We bought the sign, along with another one … The Scotsman … when in holiday with friends in Cornwall. We bought them in Tintagel and just had to have them as Martin is from Yorkshire and my friends husband is from Scotland. Martin has also worked in the railway all his life. The Scotsman is on our second shed. You have a lovely weekend too and hopefully see you back next week šŸ˜ƒ

      Delete
  2. Love it all. I agree with your thoughts about avoid going away when the schools are closed! I dislike crowds, noise etc etc. As you say, why go away and miss all the hard work you put into your garden earlier in the year. I like to water by hand, that way I get to see the flowers daily. I like the look of the solar lights. I tried to grow tradescantia years ago but it died.... the poppy is my favourite photo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Yes we are really pleased so far with the lights … hopefully they will last a fair while, though I think we will take them in for the winter. The poppies are a real treat … more so for being totally unexpected. I shall collect seeds this year and sprinkle around the garden so fingers crossed we will have them next year too šŸ˜ƒ

      Delete
  3. I love your garden. It has come on so much since your last set of photographs. I loved it then, I love it even more now. No wonder you don't want to leave it in summer. You have so many gorgeous accoutrements, especially that fantastic mirror 'window' and your new lights are amazing. They throw such lovely patterns at night. No wonder you are pleased with them. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thank you … yes it’s almost unrecognisable to a few months ago, it’s really filled out. We do have this every year … March time we get a bit despondent not being able to imagine it looking anything other than brown then all of a sudden it does it’s thing and does give us a lot of pleasure … and hard work of course. We do seem to have bought a fair few extra bits and pieces over the last year but hey we’ve not been able to go anywhere and spend anything on anything else. Thank you so much for your lovely comments šŸ˜ƒ

      Delete
  4. Oh wow, I'd want to stay there all summer too! It looks so lovely and inviting, like a secret garden.
    I prefer going away during the off season too, but with kids in school, that makes it a little difficult.
    Thanks for joining in and enjoy your summer, you're off to a great start!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you … enjoy your summer too šŸ˜ƒ

      Delete

Thanks for taking time to comment on my blog. I love to hear what people think about what Martin and I have been up to.