I've had a bit of a lazy day today, working at a slower pace in the welcome sunshine. The morning was quite warm but then the chill wind began to make its presence felt. I need to be able to record which kind of chairs I can sit in and for how long so I was forced to spend an hour basking in the warm sun in a sheltered spot by the scree garden. I was even in summer mode wearing my old shorts and flip-flops. Today's work was mostly a bit of this and a bit of that, weeding & tidying.
A feature in the new grass bed. Actually it's a marble table top that seems to have got broken, probably by somebody standing on it! Rather than just throw it away I thought I'd try an experiment with a tiny purple/grey sedum.
The first of the climbing roses (Mme Alfred Carrier), have appeared. The pink is a bit pale for my liking but I had to select a climber that could survive the conditions here and it is certainly doing well.
At the same time, 10 years or so ago, that I planted the roses on the house I also planted a Rambling Rector. This is the type of climber/scrambler that comes with a warning not to plant it unless you have a large building or group of trees for it to grow through. I planted this one on a boundary hedge that is made up of mature trees. (I had a quick look on Google images to remind myself what the flowers look like, white dog rose type, and some of the pictures showed 30ft trees covered with roses.) I check every year to see if it is still there and so far there haven't been any flowers. When I went to look at it today I was pleased to see that it has reached the top of its own tree and is scrambling into the neighbouring tree. No sign of any flower buds but as it is now in the sun maybe I'll be lucky.
All is quiet at home. Peter drove Linas into town this morning to catch a train to Plymouth. He's going to a gig -' I wrestled a bear once', going to a house party where he is staying the night and then they are off for an airsoft game tomorrow morning. I'll pick him up from the station in the evening. Poor old Peter is valiantly trying to keep the barbecue going in this wind, much dark mutterings, and has even promised me a grilled courgette. I've just heard him with the spare (air) rifle but we have lost the battle with the chimney jackdaws. We can hear the young squawking away so there is nothing to do except sweep the chimney before next year. At least we have stopped any other jackdaws from getting into the loft. They've moved into the rafters of the indoor riding school next door.
A feature in the new grass bed. Actually it's a marble table top that seems to have got broken, probably by somebody standing on it! Rather than just throw it away I thought I'd try an experiment with a tiny purple/grey sedum.
The first of the climbing roses (Mme Alfred Carrier), have appeared. The pink is a bit pale for my liking but I had to select a climber that could survive the conditions here and it is certainly doing well.
At the same time, 10 years or so ago, that I planted the roses on the house I also planted a Rambling Rector. This is the type of climber/scrambler that comes with a warning not to plant it unless you have a large building or group of trees for it to grow through. I planted this one on a boundary hedge that is made up of mature trees. (I had a quick look on Google images to remind myself what the flowers look like, white dog rose type, and some of the pictures showed 30ft trees covered with roses.) I check every year to see if it is still there and so far there haven't been any flowers. When I went to look at it today I was pleased to see that it has reached the top of its own tree and is scrambling into the neighbouring tree. No sign of any flower buds but as it is now in the sun maybe I'll be lucky.All is quiet at home. Peter drove Linas into town this morning to catch a train to Plymouth. He's going to a gig -' I wrestled a bear once', going to a house party where he is staying the night and then they are off for an airsoft game tomorrow morning. I'll pick him up from the station in the evening. Poor old Peter is valiantly trying to keep the barbecue going in this wind, much dark mutterings, and has even promised me a grilled courgette. I've just heard him with the spare (air) rifle but we have lost the battle with the chimney jackdaws. We can hear the young squawking away so there is nothing to do except sweep the chimney before next year. At least we have stopped any other jackdaws from getting into the loft. They've moved into the rafters of the indoor riding school next door.
