Let me show you round my garden.

How would you like a tour of my garden, just the flowers. Don't ask me the names, I haven't a clue. These are big red ones, like puff balls. 

These pink ones are tall and floppy and need to be supported with a cane.

They are close to the back door.

And a purple variety as well.

Little white flowers in an evergreen hedge. I planted lots of evergreens when I moved in, don't like things dying off and leaving big gaps.

The crimson lilac smells lovely, yes, I know the name of that one, it's a lilac bush, more like a tree actually, quite tall. Pity it's at the bottom of the garden behind the greenhouse.

Little yellow flowers are sprouting up everywhere. Places where they shouldn't be. They don't last long, I pull the plants up when they have finished flowering.

This is in a pot, it would do better in the ground. Might move it if I can find a space.

Different shades of green, some with yellow leaves. 

This bush has big spotted leaves. The new growth is more yellow than the green leaves underneath. I trim this so it doesn't grow too big.

Tiny white flowers on another evergreen bush.

Ooops, a rogue dandelion amongst the blue flowers.

These little pink flowers are close to the edge of the lawn, and often get mowed. No wonder their numbers are declining. 

I have a really big lilac tree in the back garden. Lovely while the flowers are out, but not so attractive when they start going brown.

These little purplies are everywhere, I think they are a weed as the plant is like a creeping ivy, it swallows up everything around it. I have to be brutal and pull a lot of it up or it spreads everywhere.

My lawn is full of daisies. I don't mind, they look pretty, till I chop them off. They soon come back.

As you can see all in the garden is rosy. There was hardly anything in it when I moved in. I planted a few bushes and scattered a few seeds, now every year the flowers come back, and the evergreens have filled out the borders. Just how I like it, trim the bushes, mow the lawns, pull a few weeds out.
Toodle pip.

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An arty sort of day

Hiya, I've enjoyed my Saturday, I hope you have too. Another glorious day, lots of sunshine, aren't we lucky. I found out by chance the other day, that it is the Insight Open Studios this weekend, where artists open their doors and invite the general public to come on in and view them at work in their workshops. There are fifty two taking part, and they are scattered all over North Lincolnshire. Some work from home and some work from galleries. There are plenty of places to visit if you want to make a weekend of it, but I tend to stick to the Ropewallk, a gallery in Barton upon Humber.

I missed it last year because I was busy doing something else, I really ought to put it on my calendar at the beginning of the year. Maybe I will remember for 2014. Here is a link to The Ropewalk web site. And a link to The Insight web site.  

My first port of call was to see Michael Scrimshaw, I first met him two years ago, or was it three, not sure, anyway, he is my kind of artist because he creates his artworks from rubbish. He works mainly with metals, but incorporates any other media which is appropriate to the piece he is creating. He is also a very good artist as in painting, from transforming a large brick wall into a Victorian street scene, to customising the petrol tank of a Harley Davidson.

A fascinating person to talk to, he has plenty of stories to tell about his work. He has been commissioned to make a massive sculpture for the front of the Art Centre Church here in town, depicting two workers from the steel works. The small model which he will be working from looks amazing, it will be a great addition to Church Square.

Anyway, I'll cut the waffle, here is Michael. 

He is talking to some visitors. Don't you just love his amazing dreadlocks.

And a look around his studio, pieces of wire and drawings adorn the walls.

After an hour of so I had to come home. I must go back tomorrow because I didn't have time to visit the other artists, this little fella was waiting to go walkies. This is Bailey, his owner had gone out for the day and asked if I could call in and take him out. He is a lovely little chap, so cute, and very friendly with other dogs. He keeps stopping to look behind him, probably wondering where his mummy is, ha ha. He knows me anyway, and is happy to come with me.

I've dug this picture out of the archives, to show the before and after of the sunflowers. I put three plants in each plastic storage box, probably would have been better with two in each. This is the sunniest spot in the garden, and I don't have anywhere else with the same amount of sun where I could have planted them into the ground. All my borders are full with bushes. I was rather hoping that they would just reach the roof level, to make a nice covering of foliage for the tumbledown garage.  

But they have shot well above that and only the stalks are screening the garage wall.

Every time I look there seems to be more and more flowers. They are attracting a lot of bees, there is one on the big flower on the left, if you can squint to see it. I will be leaving the seeds for the birds, but not sure if they would be able to hang on to the heads to peck them out. Perhaps I should remove them with about a foot of stalk and lay them on the garage roof. I will watch and see what happens. Will have to watch that my cats don't scare them off as well. Easier said than done, they are naughty girls.

Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip

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What's up Doc

Good evening. My sore ankle/heel has been slowly improving over the last two weeks. On Tuesday morning as it was still a bit red and sore I made an appointment to see a doctor, just to get it checked out, and to find out what was causing it to hurt. The first available appointment they had was for this morning. By the time this morning arrived it had greatly improved, but I decided to keep the appointment rather than cancel it, so I could get the correct diagnosis, rather than guess what it might be. Mystery solved, it's Achilles Tendonitis.

I've just been reading up about it here, and apparently it takes a few weeks for it to get better. Anyway, mine isn't too serious, it should continue to improve with resting, and putting a cold compress on it. I can walk about as normal on the flat, wearing the soft pink trainer type bootees. Think I might need to wait a bit longer before I can put my proper walking boots on. Onwards and upwards. 

Lunch today was a mushroom omelette. Very nice, I put some garlic puree and a knob of Danish Blue cheese in it, made it very tasty.    

 

I fancied some pasta tonight. The topping is one large chopped onion cooked in sesame seed oil, frozen broad beans from Tesco, sultanas, linseeds, fruit juice and water added, and what ever spices I have. I chuck anything in. I have made extra so that's dinner sorted for tomorrow.

Sunflower update. There seems to be more flowers appearing each day. Some of the earlier ones are dying off now, the petals are falling and they are looking a bit sad. This was a bloomin good buy for �1, though I don't think I will be growing them again next year. They need gallons of water, every day twice a day, three times if it is hot. They are quite high maintenance, what with erecting a framework to fasten them to, and lashing them to the garage wall. Also if I go away it is down to someone else to look after them. They are quite a topic of conversation round here, as they can be seen from the road at the front of the house. People are amazed at the height of them.

Toodle pip

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Walk with me

Aha, the video is ready, so if you want to come for a short five minute walk with me, just click on it.



Answers to some questions.

Judy Y13 September 2013 02:23

What an awesome number of miles in one day! Is that the most you've done?

Hi Judy. No, I once walked 30 miles in one day. It was the last day of a seven day trip, it was from Selby to the Humber Bridge. I was almost dead by the time I finished. My friends had to come and pick me up off the ground, ha ha.

 

Sue12 September 2013 08:51

Why don't you treat yourself to two nights somewhere you like the look of and really explore that area, just to give your poor feet a bit of a break from the constant pounding of the road.

Hi Sue, My aim for this walk was to cover a long distance, and take photo's along the way. It wasn't a sightseeing trip, I can do that on other holidays. Funnily enough, my feet hurt more when stopping and starting, they hurt less while I keep walking. Exploring an area still requires some walking, which doesn't really rest the feet. Also, if it is raining it's not much fun ambling around getting drenched, best to carry on and concentrate on walking faster.

 

Jane and Chris12 September 2013 13:36

Sorry but I HAVE to ask...was it 'naff' in Nafferton?

Ha ha, no it wasn't, it was a nice village.  

 

Albedo12 September 2013 17:40

Hi dear,
What a shame you're so focused on getting home and don't have time to relax and enjoy the scenery. Mind you, considering the mileage you're doing every day I'm not surprised!

Hi Albedo. The whole point of it is to focus the mind to the job in hand. I like to see a bit of the countryside as I'm passing through, and I try and vary the route to take in different landscapes. But the interest for me is to make it up as I go along, to change direction, to make decisions on how I am feeling, the weather, and how long I want to be out for. At the beginning of a walk, I will spend time looking around, but towards the middle of it I will push on to reach the goal I set myself. I move the goalposts on a daily basis.

I can associate long distance walking with a journey through life. Short term pain will not last forever, it's just one of those blips you have to go through. How you deal with it moulds you into the person you are. If you cannot accept the highs and lows and move on, you will be stuck in a rut and will never do anything. Stepping out of your comfort zone might not be for everyone, that's fine if it suits you, but for me, life is about exploring. It's about testing myself, and  having a go.

Look at what happened in the garden while I was away. Loads of sunflowers have appeared.

 Need to look up to see them, great view from an upstairs window.

 Loads of massive courgettes. I've got a lot of cooking and freezing to do.

A friend has left me a bag of apples as well, so more cooking. I love stewed apples. I don't need to go shopping just yet, still got a lot of food to get through.
Life gets back to normal, till the next adventure. Toodle pip.

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