'What Katy Did' And Other Stories

The first autumn storm of the year was responsible for a disturbing nightmare, in which the allotment apple trees were stripped bare of their fruit, providing a veritable feast for the occupants of the wasp nest lurking nearby. Yes I was away from home so was greatly concerned about their welfare. The crop on our three year old trees had been looking promising so it was with some trepidation that I ventured to my plot on Monday afternoon. Here much to my relief there was the sum total of one apple on the ground. Cupping and gentle tugging of those fruits still on the trees did not produce much, as the majority of the fruit was still clinging to the branches, so a decision was made to leave them be although more unpleasant weather was forecast. I returned to the allotment on Friday when in the space of just a few days apples were coming away easily. Rosy red 'Katy' is still wearing a few fruits but the 'James Grieve' crop has now all been removed.

'Katy' or 'Katya' as she is originally called coming from Sweden should have been ready to pick in late August but was late. Of the three apples varieties we planted she is my least favourite taste wise and does not have a long keeping period. Although she looks great and has had a few compliments on her appearance I now wish that I had chosen another variety.

'James Grieve' is a much older variety (1893) originating from Scotland. The fruits are quite large and will keep for a couple of months. This is a dual purpose apple but I think that this year's crop will form the basis of apple crumbles. This has produced the smallest yield of the three trees but the fruits are much bigger so I suppose it's a case of less is more.

Finally still to yield its fruit is my favourite 'Sunset', which was introduced in 1918. If you enjoy the taste of 'Cox's Orange Pippins' this should appeal to you. It is thought that 'Sunset' may be a seedling of 'Cox's Orange Pippin'. This year it is bearing a lot of fruit although the apples are on the small side. I should have been more ruthless with the thinning out in June instead of being so greedy. I'm hoping that these will soon be ready to pick. I must try to remember to do a head count this year.

There are plans to try and fit in a couple more fruit trees on the plot. No definite conclusions yet but here might be at least one other apple variety in the mix. It will have to be dwarf rootstock as large trees are not allowed. I would like to grow a local variety and will be consulting 'The Apple Source Book' for ideas. Whether I can get a local variety in a dwarf rootstock remains to be seen. Although our three little trees will certainly never provide us with all the apples we use, they provide us with much enjoyment and are most rewarding to grow. If you are thinking of adding any apples trees to your plot of earth this autumn, the Orange Pippin site is a most informative resource with detailed descriptions of some six hundred varieties. Not sure which variety to go for no problem as the site allows you to short list varieties, then see an on screen comparison. Do you grow apples and if so what variety or varieties tickle your tastebuds?

End Of Month View ~ October 2012

A repeat of last October's weather was sadly not on the cards but on the whole the month passed with less rainfall than we have had for several months. In fact we even managed the odd consecutive couple of days without any of the wet stuff! It would be premature to celebrate as with winter not far away the garden and allotment are both absolutely sodden.

Starting with the allotment the good news is that I think that my plot passed muster when it was reviewed - I say think because you do not actually get formal notification to inform you. Anyway no more letters have come my way so I am highly relieved. Hopefully the elements will be kinder to us in the next growing year. I've tidied up bar from removing the debris of the courgettes and sweet corn, which will soon be assigned to the compost heap. I have garlic ready to plant which I'm hoping to get in this weekend. I also plan to sow some broad beans in pots and overwinter them at home before taking them up to plant at the allotment come spring. The two strawberry beds which we cleared are already sprouting forth fresh couch grass growth, so will need to be watched over with an eagle eye. We have decided that two strawberry beds is one too many so will be downsizing. I've been pouring over the catalogues and books making notes of varieties that I would like to grow. I am now at the stage of shortlisting the candidates.

The main jobs to do on the to do list overwinter is to clean and tidy the shed as well as to do more laying down of membrane and wood bark as the original stuff we put down has worn thin. We also plan to some more rabbit proofing - one of the local factories fills skips with surplus plywood boards which are kindly left for the public to help themselves to free of charge. Just right for what we want to do. 

Back to the garden where I'm still debating which trees to plant in the newly created gabion garden area. No orders have been placed yet though so I will need to move sharply to get them planted this autumn. I also need to plant the bulbs which have been arriving in the post as well as occasionally coming home with me. I am determined to get them all in by the end of November. On day last last week I went through all the pots in the cold frames and inspected everything which will overwinter there. I am so glad that I did as in doing so I discovered a myriad not only of slugs but also their beady glistening eggs, which would have morphed into trouble in the spring. Now the plan is to move round the corner and tackle the greenhouse which is a job that I would prefer to do on a dry day. 

If I stand at the back of the greenhouse in one direction I look out at the ash tree, which you can see part of in the above photo. We inherited it when we moved here and reckon that it is probably at least 60 years old and and at least a good 60 feet tall. As well as providing shelter for birds and other wildlife it provides us with a good degree of privacy from the neighbours behind and above us. Both Veg Plotting and Wellywoman have recently written excellent posts about the ash tree fungus disease, which already present in Europe, has now been identified affecting ash trees in East Anglia and which could potentially threaten up to eighty million ash trees in the U.K. I am sure that there will be many people keeping a close vigil over their ash trees in the coming months. I will report back here on the state of our tree.

On a happier note I am sure that there is much good news to share, plans in the making and great new plantings in over at other 'End Of The Month Views', kindly hosted each month by Helen over at ''The Patient Gardener's Weblog'.

From The Confessional

A fanfare of trumpets, a roll of drums, a celebration was called for. What for you may well ask, to which the answer was to mark a rare event this year - a weekend without rain! I set about to make the most of it spending as much time I possibly could outdoors. Sunday was especially productive as I had no other demands on my time. It was a day that really reflected '"the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" - swirls of morning fog slowly giving way to a still and sunny afternoon. The mercury did not rise to any great heights but it was the ideal weather for pottering. I spent some time in the 'Not Waving But Drowning' border dividing a too big for its space 'Solomon's Seal', thinning out a boisterous clump of geranium phaeum and contemplating other moves. Then on to the greenhouse and the area behind it where I made a start on clearing away some of the debris before it can haunt me in the spring. The day was punctuated by one or two discoveries which made me hang my head in shame, namely ;

• A tray of stunted, overcrowded nicotiana mutablis seedlings which had never got pricked out. The fact that they still survived is a testament to the amount of rain we have had this summer. If you have not come across this before it is a most attractive half hardy annual with lightly scented flowers, that subtly change colour. The flowers are initially white, then change to a dusty rose before morphing into a deeper magenta, so that with time the plant bears flowers of all three colours. Now this has survived overwinter here before, although not last winter, so I have prised the seedlings apart and planted a dozen of the sturdiest ones into individual pots. They will overwinter in an unheated greenhouse so may survive my neglect.
• A clump of brunnera which was lying on the ground behind the greenhouse. This had been dug up in early spring but for some reason had never been potted up. Again the abundant wet stuff must have kept it going. It is now has its roots in a pot - whether that will be too much of a shock to the system remains to be seen.
• Perhaps the worst horticultural crime of the year was the pot containing a physocarpus opulifolius 'Lady In Red', which I had tried for size in the 'Not Waving But Drowning' border. You know what it is like when you are not sure whether a plant is the right place or not. Well I took so long in deciding that the poor plant has rooted into the ground. A careful extraction is now required. 

Finally I have to finish by admitting that those happy and healthy looking squashes you can see at the top of this post did not come from the allotment plot. Much as I would like to take credit I must be truthful - they were bought from a supermarket this morning ~

 

Give credit to our local branch of Morrisons - they stock a good variety of British grown squashes most autumns. As the season progresses I'm sure that they will have other varieties in store. I did grow squashes from seed and planted them but whilst mine festered the plants that I gave to my allotment neighbour thrived. He has taken great pleasure in regularly showing me their progress but has told me that at least one squash has my name on it.

What about you - have you got any guilty horticultural secrets that you would like to share with the rest of us? 

      

Wordless Wednesday ~ 26th September 2012

'Double Dipping'

This 'double dip' autumn continues broken only briefly by the first frost last Sunday. Any thoughts of lifting the dahlias had to be put on hold as I was heading south for a few days. I have come back to find frazzled leaves but still need to lift them and find them a des res for the winter. Other than that most other things escaped damage and it has turned mild again. Before I went there was time to sow a few pots of sweet peas. The sowing I made in October was most disappointing as only seven seeds germinated out of fifteen. I am not sure how old the seed was but I picked up a packet of a new introduction 'Prima Ballerina' and hope that they fare better. I have never sown sweet peas so late in the year so yesterday I switched the heated sand bench on in the greenhouse. Maybe some bottom heat will encourage them to get going. I must order some more sweet pea seeds for spring sowing - definitely 'Matucana' but also want to try some different varieties. The catalogues have been arriving in dribs and drabs including the arrival this week of Elizabeth MacGregor's new catalogue which I am really looking forward to browsing through. Somehow online catalogues are never quite as satisfying. I have had a quick flick and am tempted by a few plants.

Himself has been busy this weekend relocating the bird box that we fitted with a camera earlier this year. We were hoping to be able to watch 24/7 live action from the nest but it was not to be. We were initially encouraged to see leaves and twiggy bits arrive and held our breath in vain for some time. Our most exciting moment was when we saw a wood louse scuttle across the floor of the box. So we have decided to try another venue next year and have finally decided on its location. The box will be spring cleaned next spring and a few starter leaves added for encouragement. Maybe there will be fledgelings to report on then.

Meanwhile the leaf sweeping goes on and on. I have been wondering when the leaves in the photo are going to relinquish their hold and where they will land. The tree - a cherry blossom belongs to our next door neighbour - it had lost all its foliage on the same date in 2009. So for all the talk of a premature start autumn is still going strong.

End of Month View ~ October 2011

It seems as if somebody has pressed the pause button on my EOMV border as it does not seem to look that much different to what it did one month ago. Ok the dahlias are now only sending forth the odd flower but other occupants are still going strong. Geranium 'Bob's Blunder' is still flowering his little socks off along with the chocolate cosmos and verbena bonariensis whilst one of the penstemons is getting its second wind. I have transplanted the thyme division that was waiting in the wings last month but I am afraid the bulbs have still to go in. I also now have some sturdy little dianthus plants to add to the border. These have grown from slips that I took from my parent's garden earlier this year - I don't know their name but they have the most wonderful fragrance. I am not sure whether to plant them out now or leave until spring - decisions, decisions.

It is still good gardening weather. We still have to have our first frost and October 2011 apparently is going to be one of the warmest on record in the U.K. since such recordings began. On the excellent BBC2 'Autumnwatch'  programme last week, one of the presenters said that this autumn has been dubbed a 'double dip' autumn which seems a most apt description. It did indeed start early but the end of September heatwave slowed its progress somewhat dramatically. However the last week or so has seen significant changes. I am now enjoying watching the leaves turning on the autumn flowering cherry which you can see in the above photo. The end of British Summer Time means that it will be soon be serious catalogue browsing and making plans for next year time so more of that soon no doubt.

With special thanks to Helen who blogs over at 'The Patient Gardener's Weblog' and who came up with the idea of an end of month view. It is a great wait of stopping still and taking stock.

Why Willows Weep and Other Stories

"How did the oak tree come to life? Why does the chestnut tree have white candles? Why does nothing grow under the beech tree (or does it?)? Why crab apples are sour? Why birches have silver bark? Why the ash has black buds?" 

We are on the cusp here between some lingering remnants of colour in the garden and the changes that the first frost of autumn will no doubt bring about. We were teased by a forecast of frost earlier in the week but it did not materialise, rain pushing it considerately away in the night. So the dahlias still sparkle  and I was saved the job of lifting them to morph into that sad state of tuberous limbo. I am debating whether to leave the 'Bishop's Children' in the ground during the winter and let them take their chances. They were so easy to grow from seed. Meanwhile work continues trying to clear some of the beds at the allotment. The last few beans have been picked and although they diminished quality wise they have have been good enough to lob into soup along with the never ending courgettes. One plant is still producing so I am going to leave it until we get that first touch of white. My order of garlic has arrived in the post - nice plump bulbs from Otter Farm.

Another time consuming task is sweeping up leaves which at this moment in time is one of those thankless ones as more leaves fall as soon as one lot is swept and bagged up. The main culprit in the back garden is a huge ash tree which we inherited when we moved here. I have never held it in much affection until earlier this week, when I came across mention of a book entitled 'Why Willows Weep' on the Woodland Trust website. The book is a collection of short stories by contemporary authors who have donated their stories enabling the Woodland Trust to plant five native trees for every book sold.

After listening to one of the stories 'Why The Ash Has Black Buds?' read here by its author William Fiennes, I will be treating myself and maybe a good friend to this tome by way of a soon on the horizon seasonal gift. I will also look at our ash in a more loving manner in the future and the curses will cease. Do have a listen to this story if you can as I think that like me you will be absolutely entranced! 

Brushing Away The Cobwebs

Back home after a fortnight's holiday to find a cobweb festooned greenhouse, cuttings that have got on with their business silently sending out roots, the first piles of discarded leaves and gleaming red berries which have appeared out of nowhere. The allotment remains undiscovered terrain until tomorrow and goodness knows what has been going on there whilst my back has been turned. New seed catalogues have landed on the doormat along with some gardening magazines. There seems to be a myriad of jobs to catch up on but for once the weather looks as if it is going to oblige with predictions of the warmest spell of early autumn weather for some twenty five years! What an unexpected surprise.  So this week feeling reinvigorated after breathing in both sea and country air I am going to :

• sort out the cold frame and make sure that all pots are labeled before the onset of winter. No more guessing games next spring. 
• make sure that I sort out and send off my spring bulb orders. This year I am going to be restrained and not bite off more than I can chew.
• get my order off for some garlic cloves.
• start making some inroad into eating some of the potatoes which I harvested from the allotment before we went away. 
• make a list of what will need sheltering in the greenhouse 'ere the winter storms begin.'
• start making inroads into clearing one of the raised beds at the allotment which has had permanent planting in up to now.
• check to see whether there are any seeds that can be saved.
• gently brush away those cobwebs as they can prevent overwintering butterfly chrysalis from emerging in the spring.

Think that's enough for one week. What are your plans for early autumn?

Has Anybody Seen My Secateurs?

H IS FOR?

HEDGES!
Last September himself and I holidayed in North Wales. I hurt my knee not long before we went and was in horrible pain. As the week went on I had to use a stick to hurtle myself about. However we still managed to visit the highest garden open to the public in North Wales, which I wrote about here and homeward bound we made haste for Powis Castle and its gardens. Here I hopped about and imagined the work involved in maintaining these hedges to the highest standard!

Hurry over to ABC Wednesday now for more on the letter H!

A Final Fling

A winter celebration took place at the allotment today ~ our last get together of the year. A few of us foolhardy perennials braved the elements for a couple of hours to share lunch and natter. We sat outside well wrapped up against the November chill. There was homemade vegetable soup, barbecued lavender infused burgers and of course cake. Discussion was very much on the subject of plans for a new season ~ some of my more efficient fellow plot holders have already completed their seed orders and have their crop rotation details sorted to the last minute detail.

Before taking my leave I nipped to my own plot to pick some autumn raspberries, which I had noticed somewhat gleefully shouting ' Look ~ we're red Mrs!' at me yesterday. I did not have a suitable container with me to convey them home so had to leave them behind but came prepared today. I had been wondering when they would ripen  ~ whether they all will or not is still subject for speculation. Today though there were enough pickings for a little but oh most delicious feast.

End Of Month View ~ October 2010.

My good intentions to join in with Patient Gardener's 'End of Month View' seem to have gone off the rails. I have not posted since August. I was away from home at the end of September and then again in October so this post is late. I holding head down in shame also have to report that that the border has been in suspended animation since August. At the moment it is limping along, as I have been doing this last couple of months. In the middle of September my left knee suddenly gave way, made a dreadful crunching noise and has subsequently been the cause of some considerable pain. After hopping along with a walking stick for a week when we were away at the end of September, I made a doctor's appointment as soon as we got home. The outcome of this was a prescription for some 112 paracetemol (cheaper to buy over the counter) and a referral to a physiotherapist. I swallowed the odd paracetemol but did my best to manage without them. As the weeks have gone the pain has slowly but surely lessened, so much so that by the time I saw the physiotherapist earlier this week I felt a bit of a fraud. After various manipulations involving much undignified waving of the legs, the verdict was that there is nothing seriously wrong with the said joint.  However the ligament in the left knee is apparently not as taut as in the right. I now have exercises to do regularly to strengthen it and perhaps hopefully avoid future problems.

Whilst this has been going on not only have I been most grumpy and miserable but I have been approaching physical tasks with caution and rather gingerly, not wanting to aggravate the knee further. So I have neglected both the garden and the lottie which is most annoying. The autumn clean up is going to be one frantic rush. I still have to clean out the greenhouse, lift up the dahlias, plant bulbs, sweep up never the seemingly never ending leaf fall, mulch and generally tidy up. I am quite breathless just thinking about it and as for what needs doing at the lottie ...............

So I am putting the end of month border to bed for this year - you would not really want to see it just now - like my knee it's not a pretty sight. Instead a view of what I was glimpsing at with some degree of iwantitiness at the end of October. The garden is my parent's garden and the plant is a clematis that I bought for them some time ago - label long gone but I think it is clematis cirrhosa - which one though I don't know for sure but possibly 'Wisley Cream'. Whichever it is it is flourishing and the fence behind provides shelter from the bitter winds that blow in from Russia to East Anglia. My mother observed that it's in flower earlier than usual this year - apparently it usually it comes into flower in December with them when I imagine it would be even more welcome. Many thanks to Patient Gardener for hosting the end of month view and hopefully my postings will resume in the new year.

A Hilltop Garden In North Wales

Himself and I spent the last week in September on holiday ~ we were victims of a cancellation so made some last minute plans which worked out well. We headed off for not so far away North Wales where we stayed in a most comfortable log cabin just outside Bala. Of course we just had to fit in some garden visiting and our first trip was to Caerau Uchaf Gardens in Sarnau, which is four miles east of Bala. This is the highest private garden open to the public in North Wales at over 1000 feet. The gardens are owned by Toby and Stephanie Hickish, who have built award winning show gardens at Royal Horticultural Society Shows at Hampton Court Palace and Tatton Park.

In our camper van we gingerly made our way up a rather narrow ascending track before tackling a cattle grid which had seen better days. A most friendly welcome from the owners ensued. They had seen and heard us coming and thought that that we might need a drink to calm our nerves. We decided though that we would see the garden first before seeking refreshments. From wherever you were in the garden, there were glimpses of breathtaking scenery ~

I think that I was so distracted by the scenery that I paid less attention that normal to the garden and the planting. However although it was late in the season there was still colour ~

Places for contemplation ~

A greenhouse that made me positively tingle with envy ~

As well as fine accomodation for visitors both insects  ~

and human ~

including the delightful Pig - Sty Cottage, which you can see above with its most attractive windows . I think I could quite happily stay there for a week but himself thought that it might be too far off the beaten track, to stride out to a local hostelry come the evenings! Caerau Ichaf opens regularly throughout the season including under the National Garden Scheme. We had an enjoyable lunch and a mooch round the plant sales area before taking our leave. A garden now discovered that I hope to return to soon. More on the other Welsh gardens we visited before long.

'On Tip -Toe For A Flight'

"Here are sweet peas, on tip- toe for a flight:

With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white

And taper fingers catching at all things

To bind them all about with tiny rings"

~ John Keats,1795-1821 

Earlier this week I sowed some sweet peas in the greenhouse. I have once again decided to grow the highly scented 'Matucana' which I have grown ever since I got my allotment plot. They give me as much pleasure as any edible crop and their arrival always signifies the sure arrival of summer. A wigwam of seven plants is more than enough to keep me supplied with bunches to pick for vases from early June to mid September. This year I decided on another introduction ~ 'Albutt Blue' which you can pick out in the photos below ~ 

In the sniff stakes these were not a patch on 'Matucana' and although attractive I do not think I will grow them again. I would still like to try another variety preferably a pastel mix. I have been stopped in my tracks a couple of times at the allotment this year by shows of sweet peas, including a display of mixed pastel shades interwoven with scarlet runner beans. Any suggestions of good and preferably highly scented mixes would be most welcome from any other sweet pea fans out there. Earlier today there were some comprehensive instructions for sowing sweet peas in the autumn as well as advice on their aftercare on BBC's 'Gardener's Question Time', which is now available on BBC IPlayer.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ~ October 2010

The latest arrival to the party is this quiet but graceful character above ~  a scutelleria or skullcap, although exactly which one I don't know. The first frost has still to arrive so there are still a number of hardy perennials in flower, although some of them are past their best. The hardy geraniums are still holding forth including 'Buxton's Blue','Salome',' Pink Penny' and 'Dilys' as well as ones whose names have long gone out with the bathwater.  Aconitums are flowering, a couple of astrantias are having a second flush, heucheras still froth and erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' continues to send out sporadic purple spikes. I am glad to say that erigeron mucronatus defies himself's spiteful attempts to erradicate it but dismayed to report that the dreaded 'Yellow Peril' defies my deliberate attempts to polish it off.

I have recently been making a deliberate attempt to introduce plants specifically for late colour so tempted last year by An Artist's Garden,  I have been delighted with rudbeckia fulgida var. dreamii. I have also been pleased with the similar but subtly different rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii "Goldsturm". Although I am not a big fan of orange or yellow flowers I think that I am slowly being converted.

Flowering for a long spell right up to the first frosts is fuchsia magellenica 'Alba' which despite the name has a delicately pale pink flush to its flowers. Sadly its much smaller hardy fuchsia companion 'Genii' has not shown any sign of flowering this year. I thought that the plant had been decimated by the harsh winter but slowly and surely it came back to life but it is foliage only. Oh well that must mean a bigger and better show next year! 

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is kindly hosted each month by Carol over at May Dreams Gardens. Paper and a pen are compulsory when you visit as your wish list will grow and grow and grow .............. !

''Something Old, Something New''

No there are no peals of wedding bells ringing out in the vicinity but this post is a glimpse at a couple of asters. Firstly the old acquaintance ~ aster cordifolius 'Little Carlow', which resides at the allotment where it was positively singing in this weekend's warm sunshine. I divided my original plant a couple of years ago into three portions and this year they have really taken off. Time for some more division and thinning out though come spring I think. This aster has a myriad of little flowers which bees and butterflies are partial to and another bonus ~ no need for staking! ~

The new is aster diveraticus, which was one of two plants that I bought on a recent trip to North Wales. Strictly speaking it is not new as I have grown it before but somehow or the other I managed to polish it off. This is a woodland plant with attractive wiry ebony stems topped by panicles of small white daisies. As the flowers age the tips of the petals take on a lilac/mauve tinge. I believe that it will tolerate dry shade as well as moist but I have not tested the former conditions out ~ 

My other holiday purchase was actaea simplex 'Black Negligee' - the name makes me cringe but I do like the deliciously dark leaves which you can see in the bottom photo.  I  must wither and get these planted today whilst the ground is still warm ~ now where did I leave my trowel? 

Garden Bloggers Muse Day ~ October 2010.

In Parliament, the Minister of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness announces, that owing to inflation and rising costs there will be no Autumn next year. September, October and November are to be cancelled, and the Government is to bring in the nine-month year instead. Thus will we all live longer. Emergency measures are to be introduced to combat outbreaks of well-being and feelings of elation inspired by the season. Breathtaking sunsets will be restricted to alternate Fridays, and gentle dusks prohibited. Fallen leaves will be outlawed, and persons found in posession of conkers, imprisoned without trial. Thus will we all work harder. The announcement caused little reaction. People either way don't really care No time have they to stand and stare Looking for work or slaving away Just another Autumn day. Just Another Autumn Day ~ Roger McGough I am late with my monthly musing as himself and I have been holidaying in the glorious countryside of North Wales. The photo was taken just down the road from where we were staying. The poet hails from nearer to home ~ Roger McGough is from Liverpool. He writes some delightful and often humorous poetry. I thought that this one was quite apt, given not only the season but also the fact that government spending cuts are very much in the news at present. Fortunately the cancellation of autumn is not on the agenda ........... Garden Bloggers Muse Day is kindly hosted each month by Carolyn Gail over at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

Harvest Home

E IS FOR?



ENGINES!

We were enchanted by a display of agricultural engines and equipment at the Malvern Autumn Show last September. Eager to find more about the letter E then why not escape to ABC Wednesday, kindly hosted by Denise Nesbitt.

Between The Rainbows and Sprinkles

Between the rainbows and many lengthy sprinkles I have been :

• Getting much pleasure from the new bird feeding station that I can now gaze out at from the comfort of the settee. I had spotted one in the RSPB catalogue and had dropped a hint to himself that this would make a welcome Christmas gift. Out and about on my travels though I came across the same model at good old Wilkos for less than half the price, so Christmas has come early. There have not been so many birds during this month's wet spell but I have seen robins, great tits, blue tits and blackbirds visiting. Now I need to get a photo whilst they are munching.
• Running regularly into the greenhouse to see whether my sweet peas have germinated. These were sown on 1st November and I have been watching their activity or lack of it like a hawk. Well yesterday I could not curtail my patience any more and did what I should not. I gently stirred beneath the compost with my finger and was so pleased to see signs of green. I used to sow sweet peas in October to overwinter in a cold greenhouse but found that they they made too much growth before winter and became rather straggly by spring. So last year I moved to a November sowing which worked well. I have sown 'Matucana' again for its scent. I have also sown 'Albutt Blue' which is supposedly also highly scented.
• Finding it impossible to get to the allotment to sow my Solent Wight garlic but I have planted some cloves in cells in the greenhouse. I have also sown some 'Douce Provenance' peas in cells to overwinter in the greenhouse. I have not done this before so it will be interesting to see how they do. The forecast predicts a break in the wet stuff for Tuesday so I hope to do the business then at the allotment with the remaining garlic.
• Reading avidly - books, catalogues and camera magazines but more on these subjects to follow at a future dare.
• Finding it harder and harder to walk past the sulking pile of unplanted bulbs. In fact I think that the pile is multiplying daily so I have resisted Avon Bulbs tempting sale, well up to now anyway. My conscience may stir me into action soon says she hopefully.

"The Owl And The Pussy Cat"

Q IS FOR?



QUINCE AND APPLE DAY!

"They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon
They danced by the light of the moon." - Edward Lear


Not so long ago when the leaves were still hanging on to the trees, we spent an afternoon here where an Apple and Quince Day was taking place.

We walked past this beautiful gate leading to the walled garden where ~



There was a storyteller underneath the apple trees recounting tall tales of dragons and far away lands ~



A quince trail was taking place - sadly no signs of the owl and the pussycat,but there were were old friends to greet - Flora and the Three Little Pigs.





There were old varieties of quinces and apples to ponder over ~






Before walking underneath this living archway leading to the kitchen garden ~



Where there was still of blaze of colour from dahlias and pumpkins ~





Back to the one of the stalls to buy a jar of locally produced quince fruit cheese and then out of the garden, taking our leave by the way of this wall ~



On a quest to find out more about the letter Q quick over to ABC Wednesday now !

The Grouch

Finally emerging from my hiding place under the bedclothes after the cacophony of noise that accompanies Guy Fawkes Night, I forced myself out today to stock on supplies for the weekend. The smokey aftermath haze had evaporated and there is a much cooler feel to the air. Like Elizabeth over at Welsh Hills Again, November is one of my two least favourite months of the year the other being February. I think that Thomas Hood's poem 'November' sums it up so well - here is just an extract but it says it all :

"No sun - no moon !

No morn - no moon -

No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease

No comfortable feel in any member

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds ! -

November!"

Further to this just a few other observations that I have made me even more grouchy :

• Nearly all the leaves on the trees have now floated off into the stratosphere. We live in a hollow just off a busy main road. In summer the leaves give us a lot of cover but at this time of year the feeling of privacy disappears. I almost feel naked now when I go out into the garden. The traffic also seems noisier - it probably isn't but it seems so.
• Going up the lane from the house to the main road I notice that more empty bottles and cans have been discarded at the side of the lane . Once more I need to don the rubber gloves, find a bucket and go and clear up after somebody else. I could bat for England on the subject of litter but will save that for another day. A large stick carrying the remnants of a firework has also descended from the skies. I wonder about the statistical odds of being hit on the head from a descending firework on Guy Fawkes night. This thought will keep me occupied for the rest of the day.
• After nearly a week of copious amounts of rain what once was a golden ground cover of crunchy leaves is now a slithery morass of slush. Yeeeeeeeugh !
• Aforesaid rain has prevented any work at the allotment this week. I had been busy incorporating manure into the raised beds but have been stopped in my tracks. The rain has also preventing any bulb planting in the garden. The pile of bulb packets sits sulking giving me dirty looks whenever I pass. When will the rain cease? After a couple of dry hours it has just started yet again.
• It seems to be full blown Christmas in the shops. Where has the magic gone ? Why can't they wait until 1st December before putting up the decorations, lights and other paraphernalia ?
• Last though not least. The patch of eczema on my hand, that plagues me every winter has appeared in the last couple of days. Now maybe that's the main reason behind my general state of extreme grouchiness.

Oh well there's a ray of sunshine in all this doom and gloom. At least I can look forward to curling up on the settee to watch the glitter, glamour and grace that is 'Strictly Come Dancing' on November Saturday nights. Does wonders for a girl's spirits.