Spring Bits and Bobs

Well we're truly into Spring weather now with March winds and April showers, and in between dodging the showers I have managed to get a bit of time in the garden this last week to continue with the tidying, weeding and mowing.

The camellia continues to be the highlight of the back garden with its beautiful, rich rosy pink blooms and glossy dark green leaves.

Some of the flowers are turning brown now but there are lots of buds still to open. 

My constant companion in the garden has been enjoying a few rays by the pond with his friend Frog, the battered stone frog.

Some of the tulips in pots are flowering now

and I still have a few spring plants to put in....a couple of pretty wind flowers and a sweet smelling dianthus

We are still eating kale from the garden......after years of growing our own veg I still get a kick and a feeling of satisfaction when I need go no further than the garden for some vegetables for dinner. I think it's because we had a long spell of 10 years or so when we didn't have the space or time to grow any veg other than a few pots of tomatoes and buckets of new potatoes on the patio.

The little blue scillas are up in the gravel...they seem to naturally prefer the gravel to the border.

and the first of the azaleas has started to flower...this is a small one with pink flowers.

The primulas I planted back in February are still going strong and providing some cheerful colour on the porch.

The wind has been battering the daffodils and other spring flowers, so I always seem to be rescuing a poor flattened bloom to bring indoors...this strongly scented hyacinth is in our bathroom at the moment in a battered vintage marmalade jar.

On the creative front, I've been stitching away whenever I have a few moments on the cross stitch sampler I'm making for my daughter.

I've made a start on the roof now, and embroidered most of the wording, although I need to re-do the 21st Birthday bit as the spacing ended up wrong! That's what comes of ad-libbing without having amended the chart first!

I've also added a row of birds and hearts.

With family over for tea on Easter Sunday, I spent most of Saturday baking with my daughter and amongst other goodies we made a Passion Cake with marscapone and lemon curd icing ( icing recipe from Annie Bell's Gorgeous Cakes book) and homemade scones to eat with jam and clotted cream! Yum!

Still a bit leftover to have with my morning coffee today!

Last week my daughter and I had a brilliant trip to Hastings, with fish and chips on the beach and lots of pottering around the little streets and steep, stepped passages of the old town, admiring the beautiful old houses and cottages and views of the sea. 

I shall share a separate post in the next day or so as we took lots of photos of the quaint houses.

We also poked around the old junk and antique shops although as I'd bought these two little vintage leather suitcases only a few weeks ago I was very good and only bought a couple of vintage blankets.

I need to give them a bit of tlc but they are full of nostalgia - they might have been children's cases or the larger one may have been a weekend case, but they conjure up all sorts of visions of days gone past.

I hope you all had a good Easter weekend, and are enjoying the Easter holidays if you have children. Fingers crosses for some warmer days as even though the sun is out intermittently, there's still a chill wind in our part of the world.

Edited to add we have just got back from a long country walk where we saw our first bluebells of the year!

Thankyou for visiting me here!

A Taste of Things to Come............

Sissinghurst

.............with these chilly mornings and evenings, reminding us that sadly, summer is on its way out and Autumn is just around the corner.

As much as I love the change of seasons, I'm not yet ready for Autumn. 

I still yearn for a few more weeks of warm, balmy days, wearing sandals and dresses, without the dark and stormy skies and the threat of rain, and without the cool winds which, yesterday evening when walking the dog, were so sharp that I could almost have done with a warm hat. In August.

At least these cooler days are perfect for gardening. I have neglected our garden this year - my excuses have been its either too wet, too hot, not at home, or just simply not in the mood. 

But now its cooled down a bit I have at last found my gardening mojo - just a tad too late for summer plants but ideal for weeding and clearing borders, and adding a few new plants for late summer and early Autumn. 

So today that's what I've done - weeded and cleared borders, and whilst I was in the garden I had company in the form of this dragonfly, which seemed to like perching on the sundial. It kept flying off then returning to the same place.

Now that I've cleared some of the borders, I need to put in a few new late summer /early autumn flowering plants. 

On our walk this evening we picked up a few from a plant stall set down a quiet country lane outside someones house, which I'd spotted earlier today on the morning walk. 

We went armed with cash and carrier bags and came back with these three lovely beauties for a fiver.

Two Rudbekias - I think?

Aren't they gorgeous?

And the most beautiful dark orange dahlia (or is this a chrysanthemeum? The flower says dahlia to me but the foliage more chrysanthemum like?).

We also picked a few windfall cooking apples from the orchards. 

The farmers are starting to get the crates ready in some of the orchards, so it won't be long before they pick some of the varieties.

The last few evenings we've been picking more blackberries too, which around here in Kent have been ready for weeks - we spotted our first ripe blackberries back at the end of July.

. These photos with the first few ripe ones were taken on the 30th July - much earlier than last year. 

So we've been picking them on and off throughout August. 

Perfect to go with the apples. 

Just love blackberry and apple crumble!

I still have a Sissinghurst post to do, following on from my last post.

Sissinghurst

But I'll share a couple more photos now as this is what made me think of buying those particular plants today - this lovely display in one of the gardens at Sissinghurst, my favourite from this visit - the hot borders, all reds, yellows and oranges - they were stunning.

Sissinghurst

Sissinghurst

More next post!