Up until the evening of the 22nd (Sunday) we had such gloriously lovely weather that both Himself and I were inspired to more or less completely redesign the garden. (Oooh me aching back!!)
Enjoy x
Swirl
The unfurling of the leaves of my Hosta Albomarginata.
I have recently discovered that eating Hosta shoots
can be something rather delicious
when blanched,
then tossed in olive oil and seasoned well.
Guess I'll have to give it a try :)
Rock
One of the 'things to do' in our garden remodeling,
was to move the paths we'd first laid nearly 16 years ago.
However, I'd forgotten that one of the paths we'd constructed
was part of a field drainage system we'd installed (how could I forget that??)
Any hoo, this path was not for moving, so after a bit of a think,
It has become a way of leading the eye
to a tall upright rock pillar and Swaledale sheep skull.
Once the plants have settled and grown - I think it will really good.
Wood
I - well - we, have a love for old things,
things that gently decay and quietly decompose.
we have very old (rescued from landfill) railway sleepers,
blackened with age and rock hard on the outside,
yet inside soft and spongy filled with all sorts of happy bugs and grubs.
Letter
Part of the re-construction of the garden entailed making new compost bays,
which I did last weekend,
this weekend Himself painted the rather starkly pale pallet wood
a deliciously dark black.
Then in the evening, I made two signs,
one for each of them and
on Sunday - Youngest hung them up.
Meet Muck and Magic!!
Balance
I LOVE balancing stones!
There is nothing more to say on the matter !
My own choice
A quick snap, taken before the light faded just as it started to rain.
A view from the back of the garden towards the summerhouse studio.
New compost bays,
new brick pathway (wide enough to traverse a wheel barrow)
new bed (not finished) to help soften the view of the compost bays,
new work area (middle view far distance in front of the glass house)
re-laid lawn, lifted and relaid path.
But now, rain.
Promised cold weather front on the way.
Time to come in and light the fire.
Our brief but incredibly deliciously warm week
was not wasted :)
Now to go blog hop all of the scavenger hunters and catch up with what they have written :)
Great garden photos, not sure about the sheep skull though :)
ReplyDeleteI did post a comment on the 'link-up party'page as yet again I can't link my own post to the page. Every time I try it just links it back to my other blog - I don't know what, if anything, I'm doing wrong! HELLLPPP!! :)
Dont worry - you weren't doing anything wrong, there was a gremlin in the works - it is what happens when you copy and paste the coding rather than writing a fresh one! I have sorted it and all working now x
DeleteThanks Kate, I've tried it again and it's worked :)
DeleteWow, what a weekend of work. Your love of old is great, because we also like being able to recycle lots of things. Your garden is looking "magic" & I'm just trying to remember how it looked when I saw it & think of the big tree, which you showed me. The written signs are exquisite & I nearly did balanced stones too, but then thought of the koalas. Have a great weekend, take care & thanks again for hosting.
ReplyDeletethanks Susan, the garden has changed a lot - and still is evolving. Despite us being here for quite a while it never looks mature as every few years we re-jig it and start again!
DeleteWow you have been busy bees. The garden is looking great. I love the sheep skull on the rock with the path up to it. And you have beautiful writing. X
ReplyDeleteThank you! We have had that skeep skull for about 15 ish years, when my Youngest as a toddler picked it up and asked if we could 'keep the scary thing' !
DeleteOooh I love your garden photos, the Rock is so lovely with the sheep scull, and I love Muck & Magic, they did make me smile.
ReplyDeleteJulie xxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Julie, the rock is part of a very old gate post which had broken years ago and cast aside, we dug it up in one of our many garden remakes and it was perfect to us!
DeleteI feel for your muscles! x
ReplyDeleteThey have recovered and getting more used working in the garden after the winter malaise :)
DeleteYou certainly made the most of the warmer weather your garden is full of wonderful things. Love the Muck and magic compost heaps, the new paths and the balanced stones:)
ReplyDeleteVery inspiring. Glad you kept the scary thing! Have you got enough hostas to have a feeding from? Not heard of that before but don't think I'll be sampling my hostas. One day I might try balancing stones....
ReplyDeleteMy hosta population is surprisingly vigorous despite our slug laden vicinity! I shall report on the hosta eating :)
DeleteLove your new layout. Won't take long and it will look like it's been that way forever. Lots of new paths for Moss not to walk on!
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely trip round your garden Kate, love the Muck and Magic signs I may have to pinch that idea. Ewww creepy skull but very effective. I too thought of Balancing stones we have a few people like doing it with the pebbles on Chesil Beach. Thanks for the worda for this month , looking forward to May now.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your garden treasures.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is delightful, I like the sheep skull garden feature. Have to say that in the LH pic I thought your son was peeing on the compost heap à la Bob Flowerdew! Lol. (is he still around?) Thanks for hosting a great challenge, looking forward to next month. xxx
ReplyDeleteInnovative approach to your compost alchemy!
ReplyDeleteArilx
I'm coming very late to the party this month - loving your photos as always Kate and thank you for continuing to organise this party. Your garden looks great - very fitting for an artist - I particularly love swirl and wood - do you use a special lens for getting that blurred effect in the foreground ?(photography is still a big mystery to me beyond point and snap!)
ReplyDelete