Our summer

I've just read a post on another blog about how the seasons are starting to change and thought it would be a good idea to document some of our summer. This will be a picture heavy posting-I have made the pictures as small as I can but if you click on them they will enlarge. It's mainly garden stuff so if thats not what you like to see and read about then step away now and I wont be at all insulted x.

I may have mentioned before (!!) that we moved in May. Before this it had been years since I had been responsible for a garden (and to be honest even then I hadnt taken much interest). D has never really had a garden so the pair of us are novices. We  moved to a house that probably had quite a bit of money and care lavished on it several years ago, and then for the last few none at all and the garden is pretty much the same. We have ideas of what we want but we are realistic and also think that this first year we just need to see what we actually have!

So, when we moved in, there was huge holly trees overhanging the lawn. This meant that the lawn was dying because it was so dark, no pictures of this but you get the idea. So we chopped and chopped, D got some big hedge loppers and then an even bigger set and we have been saving the thicker branches for kindling (probably for next year). 

As summer went on, things started to burst into flower. We have lots of roses but these are the only pictures I seem to be able to find

 We were both really surprised by this (showing our lack of knowledge) but there are actually two different coloured-and sized- blooms on this plant. After speaking to people in the know we find that this is actually common..aaah well.

Then, our next development was a plant that I was convinced at first was a gladioli, wandering round my garden doing Dame Edna impersinatins during this time, I'm hoping you can see why this poor confused novice gardener would get it so wrong yet again..

They do kind of look like gladis don't they?

The days went on and things started happening to them-did I mention these things were huge-almost to my shoulder!

 

 Before finally, they flowered! Aren't they pretty?

A much more knowledgeable friend was able to name the floer and its a Campanula...who'd have known-not us obviously!

Lastly, when we moved in there was a large bush at the end of the garden and it had some tight round buds on it, then, one day they burst open into something I have never seen (not saying much)

 

   Again, we were reliably informed that these are a type of Buddliea (a globe Buddliea). We have a couple of the more usual sort of buddlieas in the garden- I also know them as 'butterfly bushes' as they are particularly attractive to them and we have also noticed that they are popular with bees and during the really warm weather they were absolutely full of buzzing flapping beauties.

Amazingly we have had some success with our vegetables-I planted lots of seeds anticipating an earlier move than we actually had and many were lost in the move and the days and weeks afterwards where I was simply overwhelmed by the house and unpacking that came with it. However, we have now started to harvest courgettes-an old favourite that even I can grow! Even more excitingly, I noticed yesterday that we have some tiny tomatoes just appearing on our bushes. It wont be a glut but they will be tomatoes we have grown and from seed. I had done this years ago but everything feels new and more importantly is very appreciated by D rather than someone who couldnt see the point when there are shops..hmm. I have other vegetables on the go but caterpillars seem to be taking hold so I'm not sure what will happen but as I had manly bought them as seedlings to grow for the chickens it wont be any great loss if the wildlife that gets them is slightly smaller winged creatures. 

Finally, as I said earlier, the seasons definitely seem to be changing and a couple of days ago everything felt very cold and miserable and my proclaimation that we wouldnt light a fire until September went right out of the window! 

And here I sat rocking, and dreaming..

and a little bit of crochet.

Infront of this..

not a great picture I know, but here it is before the blaze was even dreamt of, 

I feel so lucky to be living in this house, that seems just right for me and D. I know we will be happy but that does not mean I am living in some sort of Pollyanna world. There are horrible things going on, people we love are deeply hurting at the moment, both physically and emotionally. Some of them will get better and one day will not hurt. Some of them will never get better but also one day will not hurt anymore, that hurt is for us. We have moved to a different area from one that we knew, we have moved further from some family and closer to others. We have taken a financial 'hit' in that I had to give up work before it broke me, but this enabled us to move areas and I am lucky that D never blames or hints at how the reason we are financially worse off is my 'fault'. Hopefully, I will get some work soon, or one of the irons we have in the fire will start to come to fruition and help us. We are healthy and happy and I hope you and yours are too x