Living in a Box

Going Potty

I put a notice on our local freecycle site - asking if any kind soul had plant pots they don't need. Well...a lovely young family wanted to get rid of these !! I cannot imagine why.

But...thanks to their kindness, I am the lucky recipient. Aren't they wonderful. I am so happy and so grateful. Of course, the minute we got them home this afternoon, I was quick to break out the potting soil.

Pretty geranium - New Century "Violet"

Delicious lemon thyme - and friend lobelia

Little Rosemary - she'll grow !

Now...of course...I need to buy more plants to fill the rest of them ! Oh dear.

Marvellous Day !

The tiny raised bed in the back left corner - all planted up.

(I will get to painting that fence this week !)

We have had the most marvellous day today. The weather is just glorious ! In fact, it's hot !! We worked in the garden, went to church, worked in the garden, had a birthday tea for our youngest granddaughter, worked in the garden...and we are going to continue working in the garden till nightfall. Wouldn't you call that a marvellous day ?

Allow me to introduce you to the beautiful Marguerite. Isn't she grand ?

The rubbish continues - bagged and dumped !

Happy Birds !!

My hubby is just wonderful. Look at this lovely bird feeder he came home with !!! I am thrilled. I couldn't be happier if he brought me diamonds. Uh...well..okay...who am kidding ? I would be happier with diamonds. But I'll take the bird feeder for now !!

It is about 5 feet tall. I'll take a proper photo of it in situ. I just love the thatch on the little roof. It reminds me of Africa. Did I mention that I grew up there ? I lived all over Africa for 47 years. In fact, I have only been back in the UK for the last 5 years. A big change !! So, when I feel homesick, I can look at my little bird feeder and feel very happy.

Garden Happenings

I have been very busy all morning, digging and planting. So enjoyable - I was born to be a gardener. It is the most satisfying thing I do (and the most energetic - I have aches in muscles that I didn't know existed). It's coming together very quickly - well, it would, wouldn't it, in such a small space ? But...as small as it is, it's been a lot of hard work. I have had to replace so much soil with good compost. I could actually start a pottery with the pile of clay thrown in the corner. It has to be bagged and dumped ! Thankfully, the weather has been wonderful all week - and looks set to continue for another week. Wonderful.

There is more to do. The filler between the pavers is almost dry. I need to sweep and wash them all off tomorrow. I am still working on the shade side of the garden - digging to quite a depth and removing half the soil I turn over. I am really tempted to go with acid-lovers on this side . I'll give it some thought over the next day or two. I also need to finishe painting the fence !! Blast. As you can see from the photos, I have been planting. Of course, with such bare ground, the temptation is to overplant - not allowing enough space between each seedling. I am trying to contain myself !  Mind you, I could always dig out when things get overcrowded.

The garden is going to be a hotch-potch of flowers and veg !! Lovely. I've always wanted an English country garden - who knew I was going to achieve it in just a few feet square ! 

Lemon Thyme

Delicious looking herb, isn't it ? I love it. It makes a very useful groundcover but I'm growing it in a small pot in the sun. The smell is wonderful. I could just bury my face in it. I'll be using it for cooking when it's a bit bigger. I LOVE herbs.

Rosy Pagoda

Now isn't that a beautiful sight ! It's the Clematis - Rosy Pagoda, and that is a photo of mine with the flowers about to open. Gorgeous. I speak to it every day. It's in a pot as I don't want to make it a permanent dweller in this garden. When we buy our own home eventually, it's coming with me. At the moment, it's only about 2 feet high, but I expect it to grow well this year as I will be taking extra special care of it.

Digging Away

The weather today was absolutely glorious. I just couldn't spend any time in the house - the call to the garden was far too strong. So I spent most of the day digging loads of compost into the tiny beds. Such great fun ! There is nothing more relaxing than gardening. It's a great stress reliever (it does bring on backache though !) Granddaughter (nearly 3) helped me ! She really enjoyed herself. The garden was her sandpit for the day. She can't do any harm yet - but I'll have to watch her when the seedlings go in.

The sunflower corner is ready for planting up. That was a lot of hard work ! I have seeds, but I am going to see if I can get some seedlings from our garden centre tomorrow. Much easier - and I have a lot of birds raking around looking for seeds. They may eat any seeds I put in.

Tomorrow, I will have to clean the house !! It needs some attention after the holiday weekend. In the afternoon, I'm off to Millet's Farm  (it's about 2 miles from me) and taking the grandchildren with me. There is a lovely play area, a beautiful little lake,  lots of farm animals, ducks, swans etc. There is also a wonderful garden centre and Farm shop. A good afternoon's outing. I'll take photos.

Gone Potty

While Baz worked on the paving all day today (and has finished it although he says his back is broken), I potted up some bits and pieces. I bought annuals and summer bulbs at our local garden centre. Great fun !!

At the far end of the garden (hmphhhh - where is the far end ? A few feet away !!!) here is the checkerboard effect I want. I am planning on growing veg here and there in the spaces. It doesn't look much now - but wait till I'm finished ! I've been researching growing veg and flowers together - and in small spaces. This just might work, but I won't know until I try it. In the corner, I plan on sowing sunflower seeds - giant sunflowers. Just to cheer us up.

Of course, there is still so much work to do. I bought bags and bags of compost. The soil is awful, so compacted. I can't wait to get stuck into it and add the compost. First though, Baz has to cement between the paving slabs. He'll get to that some time this week.

Paving Slabs

Here's Baz cleaning up the paving slabs. Do you know he's only 4 years away from 60 ? (*whisper*we both are). Yes..incredible. He's always kept himself fit and healthy. It's really handy to have such a strong hubby - quite useful !

Making Changes

The tiny back yard is about 26 x 18 feet. Miserably small. I am so sick of it. Half of it is covered in paving slabs, and the other half is lawn - which we can never use as it's a bog !! So muddy. It drives me insane. For 2 years now, I have had no pleasure from using this garden. It's been useless. But hopefully all that is about to change.

Last week, I started painting the fence green - I love it !! And also made a start on flower beds around the edge of the garden. At the moment, I'm only planting annuals. Yes, I know that shrubs, trees and perennials are the backbone of the garden, and I will plant a few shrubs over the summer....maybe in pots though. I'll see. This garden is happening from scratch, and it will work out very expensive if I try to do too much at once. Slowly and cheaply does it !

We also have decided to lay more paving slabs, and to have an area with a checkerboard effect.  I wanted all the lawn removed !!! I know...I know...I really would love a lawn, but when it's only a few feet square, and it's mud all winter, and desert all summer, it's hardly worth it. I can see the end result in my mind, but had a hard time explaining what I wanted to Baz (hubby). Anyway, he agreed to do whatever I asked, and he's been working at it all day today. What a job ! Backbreaking.

The first thing to do was to get more paving slabs. I asked on our local freecycle site, and kind souls responded immediately with all the pavers we'd need ! Baz made 4 trips to fetch them. He could only carry a few at a time in the car as they are so heavy. It's a good job I'm married to a big, strong boy !

The next awful job was to dig up all the lawn. It was so wet, and so hard to dig into. I left the digging to him, and I helped by bagging it all up.

So there it is, outside, against the fence....the lawn...packed and bagged. It's a pity we can't bag up and discard all the problems we carry around with us, isn't it ?