It's Been a While...

 August is half way through and it's been VERY hot. I've been like an old trout in a deep bend in the river, lurking. Today it felt different. The poplar trees are going yellow and falling to the ground. The fig trees are also thinking they've had enough. It's still hot but not so hot!

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are almost ready.

Oh, and what's this??? It looks like mud! Yes, I couldn't resist a wee dabble. I've decided to build a shower room next to the compost loo. One mix a day before it gets too hot. It's nearly done. Then I have to figure out the roof.

The walls are quite thin but strong. It will do fine!

Good book came in the post. Full of scary stuff.

The guinea pigs are finding it a bit hot, too. They burrow deep into the straw and sleep.

 The vegetable garden is rubbish.... well, one bed is brilliant because I used a whole compost heap of compost on it and planted sweet corn and melons and water it copiously. The rest is over.  Swiss chard just keeps on.

So that's how it is in August.

June is fast fading.

 For some reason (or for many reasons) I have been a bit 'doon in the mooth', as they say... I've spent a lot of time alone in my garden and house. I love it. My refuge from the world.

I did a few home improvements and lots of spinning and knitting.

I had a bit of broken marble which I made into a surface beside the cooker. Very simple and satisfying.

The blanket. I had planned to make it bigger but it got quite heavy! So now it's just right for me on my bed.

On a visit to a beach I saw these sea hollies. I love their blue green leaves.

My sunny kitchen.

A bouquet from the garden.

This summer hasn't been too hot, so far. I am grateful. Tomatoes are ripening and pumpkins are swelling. Beans hang from their vines. Courgettes get picked before they get too big. I'm not growing a lot of stuff as the watering becomes a chore and I'm not in the mood for chores!

Heaven is Now

The jasmine and vines are now in full bloom and much else besides. So many roses! The magnolia will be flowering soon.

I made a stone wall and a raised bed for tomatoes, peppers and basil seedlings. That was fun. It is for my neighbours.

I painted the big window in the sitting room and got rid of the big table which I usually dumped stuff on. I think it's an improvement. 

The chickens love to eat the blossoms of the jasmine. As soon as they come out of their pen in the morning they run to the climber and jump up and snap off the flowers. 

I would say life is pretty sweet right now. I harvested the garlic. Some of the bulbs are as big as my fist! The onions also did well. Broad beans a-plenty. Peas almost ready. Carrots coming. Potatoes flowering. Tomatoes beginning to fruit. Like I say, pretty sweet.
 

April Showers

 The land is so green! The trees are all in full leaf and the grass grows as fast as I cut it. I have a retired cockerel come to hang out with three young chickens. He is perfect. Very calm and very beautiful.

Bonnie sits on her favourite bench.

A birthday party on the beach.

Some progress in Cob

A sketch of my bedroom.

The delightful donkeys next door.

The garden is beginning to look quite good. Onions and favas are ready. The garlic looks huge. Strawberries are ripening but not very sweet yet. They need a touch more heat. Lettuce is ready. And so it goes. I can sit by my pond and listen to life around me. Nightingales, cuckoos, doves, frogs, crickets, chickens. Donkeys bray nearby. There are also chainsaws and diggers and tractors but they go away, thank goodness.

A quick catch-up. The Lowdown on Lock Down

 And so on it goes. Most of this year we have been in lock down and I am so grateful to have the garden and my home to enjoy. It got really cold and some of my plants have suffered from frost, but I had a good fire going and was cosy. Then the rain which kind of keeps one in anyway. I even did some oil painting which I really enjoy even if the results are ... well, it's therapeutic!

My granddaughters haven't been able to go to school or playgroup and I think that's very hard for them. Even the local playground is out of bounds. No children are seen in the village. They are all indoors doing remote schooling via computer. I take the younger ones for walks around the lanes, observing the signs of spring and finding fairies!

We have had more rain which is a blessing after the years of drought. Still not the same amount that used to pour out of the sky when I first arrived. 24 years ago it rained nearly every day for 5 months! It was very muddy and my youngest son learned to say 'deep' standing in a puddle with the water pouring over his wellies!

The land is everywhere green and lush with chamomile, including my roofs. The garden has been dug over and some vegetables have been sown, but the slugs and snails have been voracious and sometimes I feel like quitting the whole b*****y thing! But I don't. I put cuttings into pots and they either make it or not. Usually they do.

The little pond is still a delight. It has a tiny solar fountain which keeps the surface rippling. There are at least six frogs living in it and the little fish.

I am helping a friend to build his own cob castle. I find it so exciting that it is possible and massively satisfying to build with the clay soil from beneath our feet.

The guinea pigs are doing well. Baby Jesus is almost as big as the adults. He scoots about very quickly and is very shy. I say 'he' but I don't know if he's a boy or a girl! They follow me into the garden squealing delightfully, knowing I will pull some long grass and dandelion leaves for them. I thought the cats were becoming too interested in them but it turns out that mice have started to nest under their straw so that they can eat the left over seeds of their food...

All the fruit trees are beginning to blossom. Who cannot be thrilled by the sight? Let's hope for a gentle easing into spring and an easing of the lock down. I miss the cafe culture!

Good Bye 2020

 It's been quite a year. Plenty of time to think about lifestyle and aims and ambitions. Plenty of time to do handy works and enjoy the views. After the outbreak of fear mongering news reports I felt a kind of peace at being obliged to stay at home. I know I am fortunate in my choice of home.  I got used to wearing a mask (more or less, it will never feel normal) when in the shops. My granddaughters missed about 6 months of school. My daughter made life-changing decisions. Dear Johnny died, but not of the deadly virus.

It was a very hot dry summer and autumn but then, finally the rain came! Hooray! The kind of rain that actually makes a difference. Now all the hillsides are green and the slugs and snails are on a wave of indulgence. I've given up trying to grow brassicas until after the winter... 

The guinea pigs are still free and surviving. I got another one from a local lady and then, just before Christmas I saw this tiny little guinea pig running about. Baby Jesus! So now I have four. They are so sweet.

I have started to plaster my kitchen/bedroom as I think, although it works, it's a bit rough. So with a fine mixture of sieved earth and donkey poo I made a beautiful plaster and began to apply it. Now I need the 4m ladder to reach the high spots, so I've put that on hold. It's very tricky above the stairs... but what I have done looks really nice.

After wanting a plate rack for years and struggling with how to buy or build one myself (carpentry not being my forte) I suddenly had a brainwave and built one into the clay shelves.

My seven-year old granddaughter has just learnt to knit so I feel very happy for her. My father knew how to knit and crochet. When we were kids we were always asking him to make dresses for our trolls! It's a great skill for all ages and gender.

I love how my house blends into the landscape. The roof is full of grass and some nasturtium leaves are growing up there, too, so there may be a riot of colourful flowers in the spring.

I had my 63rd birthday and feel grateful for my life so far. Lovely friends and family and good health. I wish the same for everyone over the coming year.

Good bye 2020. Welcome 2021.

Autumn Notes

 I have spent the last few weeks digging out couch grass. Not every day! But there is a LOT of it. I guess it's because I took a year off gardening and tried no-dig as well. No-dig only works if you have perfect compost soil and not invasive weeds like couch which grows deep down and keeps coming back. So anyway, the soil is looking good and I put tons of the stuff, (the couch grass), on the roof. It makes a fine thatch.

We had a day of heavy rain when we got the tail end of storm Barbara, which really perked up the ground, but since then there's been hardly a drop. 

The view from the garden.

All ploughed and ready for rain...

Old Rammed earth wall, maybe 70 years old. It's amazingly resilient stuff.

Bonfire night!

Jotul installed and ready to go but it's not cold enough yet. I love it's simple elegance and efficiency.

Now it's November. Let's hope for health and sanity.