Just Pottering

Well the weekend is here and so are the Easter holidays.  The children broke up on a warm, sunny Friday afternoon with huge sighs of relief.  Poor Pea had to stay in school until five having extra maths lessons.  They have to go in during the holidays too, which I think is really off.  By the time Pea arrived home, the best of the day was over and a cool breeze drifted over the countryside.  Not to be deterred and because she would be bouncing off the walls if we stayed in, Pea and I went for our usual post tea time walk.

The island is wide awake now and the magic of Spring is all around.  Lambs litter the fields like small clouds, birds sing from every twig and tree top, flowers bloom in the most unexpected places and my heart sings with the sheer pleasure of it all.  I am so lucky to live with all this around me, every day.  If I live to be a hundred I will never for one second take any of it for granted.

Since moving to our present house six months ago, the children and I discovered a woodland about half an hours walk from home.  We often walk to the woods as it is just the right distance for a good stretch without going mad and wearing ourselves out!  Recently, we found to our delight that the woodland floor is carpeted with bluebells.  It is still a bit early yet, but on Friday evening we saw that the flowers are just starting to open out; there was a slight haze of blue between the trees and the heady scent of bluebells hung on the still, warm air.  We breathed in so deep it made us dizzy.  The scent of bluebells in a wood is one of the most beautiful things in the world.  Can't wait for them to be fully open!

 Yesterday saw us in the garden for most of the day.  It started of pretty chilly so we went to do some shopping first.  The boys wanted chocolate (as did I!) and I needed a few bits for the garden; a new trug, some canes and weedkiller.  I didn't really want to spray chemicals all over the place but sometimes we have to admit defeat and accept we need to take an easier path or spend our entire lives battling with nettles.  I don't want to do that.  Our gorgeous garden is home to all manner of really horrid weeds; nettles, bindweed, ground elder and mare's tail.  The latter will become the bane of my life if I allow it too.  According to my book 'Botany for Gardeners', Mare's tail (Equisetum arvense in case you wanted to know) is the only genus alive today of it's class and apparently enjoys the status of 'living fossil'.  Whooppee.  It goes on:  400 million years ago it dominated the forest floors of the world and could reach up to 100 feet tall.  Given the chance then, it would happily dominate my entire garden.  So, weedkiller it is.  This could be a bit of a problem though as most of it seems to have taken up residence in the veggie plot.  Oh NOOOOOO!

This isn't mare's tail, this is apple mint - much nicer.  I planted it in an old laundry basket and put it by the gate next to a sunny wall.  It will probably fill this basket by the end of summer and give us lots of soft, fresh leaves to chop up in salads and cream cheese sandwiches.  Putting it in a basket means it's easy to go out and pick some, even if it's raining but it is contained so can't go rampant in the boarders and choke other plants to death.  I think it is less of a thug than normal garden mint, so it could be alright given plenty of space.  I have planted some garden mint at the back of a boarder, between a hedge and some holly trees.  The ground is stony and not much would grow, so it doesn't matter if the mint takes over a bit.

No idea what this is, but I found a little clump hidden among the grass and weeds.  It looks so pretty in the morning sun.  Not that we had much morning sun yesterday, so Pea and I took refuge in the poly tunnel and sowed lots more annual seeds and half a tray of Linaria purpurea 'Cannon Went', a perennial.  The seeds we sowed before are all doing well and we seemed to have foiled the sweet pea nibbling mouse by laying fleece over the pots and tucking it underneath, so mousey can't get at the seedlings.  When the sun finally came out later on, we cut the grass and dug over a bit more of the vegetable garden.  The potatoes still haven't come up yet, so I carefully weeded the soil and lightly forked it over.  It looks so much better just for a bit of effort.  We are taking control little by little but I suspect Mother Nature will always have the final say in this garden!  I don't want a regimented, perfect space anyway, I want lots of flowers drifting naturally and self seeding where they may.  I want birds and insects to live and feed here and for it to look like it has always been this way.  There will always be wild, untamed areas and bits that are cultivated, so hopefully it will be a harmonious garden for all of us to enjoy.

After all that work I felt my muscles tightening and aching.  H2 came outside to ask when tea would be ready.  I almost blew a gasket.  He has been skulking indoors all day knowing full well I was outside - busy.  He knew I hadn't made tea or even thought about it.  So why ask?  In the end I decided to make use of the left over bits in the freezer.  We could have faggots, parsnips, mashed potatoes and veg.  Nice and comforting, filling and easy as all I'd have to do is peel the potatoes as the rest would go straight in the oven.  Actually it would be even easier if I went for a shower and left the children to sort it out.  I gave some vague directions and left them to it.  Post shower and clean clothes, I wandered into the kitchen for a cup of tea - and smelled something burning.  I pulled open the oven door to find that H1 had inadvertently set the oven to 'grill' rather than main oven.  So the faggots were burning and smouldering nicely.  I gave him a telling off to which he replied 'Well I didn't know!'  Of course not.  Should have done it myself.

Have a relaxing weekend and thank you for reading.xxx