Blossoms and panic

Andrew and I had a fabulous few days in Co Kerry there, down on Valentia Island. Okay the 6.5 hrs in the car was a little much but the island and meeting up with my lovely friend Rosemary made up for it all. I can honestly say that I felt well there for a whole day and a morning, smiling, laughing, taking photos once again, eating amazing food and just being me with people I love.

As usual though with every high there is a low and now I am going through one of thoser periods. Much is to do with tiredness but then lots is to do with being mentally ill (which I often over look and deny).

We went to the alllotment last night after dinner, yes people have indeed commented on how our usually neat and tidy plot looks a little like a small bomb has hit it. Give us a break, please!! We have a lot on these days with the house, garden, the Market on Sundays [have you checked out Cherry Blossom Tattoo?? - I am cheeky]. We took down some very happy celeriac seedlings that had grown up strong in no time and put them in the cold frame and got to work cutting the grass and weeding like mad people ( just manically fast not foaming at the mouth or anything, lol).

Well here are some photos that ought to cheer the most low of  us all - new life, new hope......

 

and Maggie :)



Lavendar to help calm me down

I had a big panic attack whilst there, which breaks my heart. It took me a few mintues to get out of the car in the first place and then as soon as I saw a couple of other people coming to water plants etc I just freaked out. I don't know what is worse, the panic attack itself or the feeling of embarassment and stupidity one feels at the same time. Anyhow, I ended up hiding in the shed and then we had to go home. At least this card by Edward Monkton always makes me smile through the tears....

 Ah well the ups and downs. At least I have photos of gorgeous tulips, happy Sweet Williams and the spuds starting to peek through and say 'hello'.

 

 

Hope all is well with your little seedlings and your fruit trees are heavy with beautiful flowers too x

The back garden - an oasis of calm?

Oh lordy I think these builders are really trying to drive me mad and I'll tell you a secret, it's working! I just what to go out there, turn off all their generators and if possible find their own personal volume dials and make them all QUIETEN DOWN!! Arrrghhhhhhhh.

It is a glorious day, a t-shirt day and when you get those in April in N. Ireland it is usually time for a celebration let me tell you! But no, here I am inside trying desperately to hide from the noise and the choking dust (they are doing lots of drilling today and the sky is full of cement/concrete/plaster dust) oh and all the blasted white vans - I swear I think ALL the white vans in the country have descended on to our little road, most of them triple parked outside my front door!

So enough ranting, thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

The last bed was filled with soil on Saturday and the bestest horse manure in the land. Andrew knows a lady from school/work now too, whose family owns stables not too far from here! Oh joy upon joys, we went up and they said we could take as much horse poo as we liked = happiness! (Okay I have to point out I am NOT scatological, well not anymore scatological than any other gardener, hahaha) The heap was huge, taller than me by a good margin and not only warm but positively hot and steamy (oh lord this does sound like a porn post about poo - so wrong on so many levels).

So the bed was filled with the displaced 'soil' from in and around it, poo and lots of multi-purpose compost and lots of ericaceous compost for the planting pockets. Thank goodness for big name budget supermarkets - we got all that compost for a great price ;) We have all the main plants ready to go in AND Andrew just walked in through the door with a lovely looking azalea, the last piece of the puzzle. I have asked him to draw a wee picture for you of what is going where but I have a sneaking suspicion that he might be out there planting them instead, haha.
He is!! Couldn't hold himself back and who can blame him?

So what have we got. Well, the Paper or Canoe Bark Birch 'Betula Papyrifera' went in first. It's only fair as it's been waiting there on the patio in a pot for the longest time. This is one of our favourite variety of tree the bark, for which it is known, is stunning and I look forward to the tree settling in and growing up so we can enjoy it. Maybe one day Andrew will make a canoe from it (as the Native American Indians do) and we can sale away :)

Then the gorgeous Witch Hazel 'Hamamelis × intermedia 'Diane' (red/orange flowers), a 'Blood of China' red Camelia (in bud) and lastly our newest arrival, a rosy/red Azalea 'Nico' (also in bud). I am so excited ~ this really is looking like a real garden!!

 

The Camelia was a real find, I personally really wanted one as I love the foliage, so glossy and dark throughout the seasons but everywhere we looked they were ridiculously overpriced. That is until Andrew was browsing the internet and saw that the very same big name budget supermarket had a load coming in last Thursday - well he was at the door before they opened to get the best one - hahahaha. I love him and his thrifty ways - it really pays to look around! This specimen was actually on the short list and it's bigger and stronger than any of the ones we saw in the nurseries = SCORE!

And just to finish off this post....most of the builders have all packed up and left - one generator is still going but that's ok, for now. Ahhhhhh and now it has stopped; time for a nap Maggie? I think so too...

An late night trip to the lottie

Just for you guys (cause I love you) I made A and Maggie come with me for a walk up to the Lottie on Wednesday night to see what was going on. Why have I waited until Saturday afternoon to write about it?? Well on Wednesday evening just after we got home Mamma G fell and hurt her ankle and we spent the whole night in A & E, the whole night people, 7 hrs to get an x-ray!!! But at least she is okay - just a very bad sprain.

So my sleeping pattern (bad at the most normal of times) was really messed up and coherent blog writing has seemed too hard. But here I am, better late than never, all fulled up with coffee, sugar, Maggie licks and the sweet smell of horse manure wafting in through the patio windows :)

It literally takes 10 mins house door to shed door and this was the utterly glorious sight that greeted us at our plot - you now all know about my lust for Tulips so as you can imagine this was a happy sight. And even these little baby ones - aren't they adorable??

Look at the Rhubarb plants; they've gone nuts and need to be eaten NOW, not that I am complaining. (But A PLEASE make more compote, I feel that if I write it here maybe you will, your selective hearing in 'real' life seems to filter out my requests, hahahaha.) We had to remove the flower spikes that had formed so as the plant would keep on putting energy into these big bad boy stocks - yummm; but whilst I knew they had to go I really would like to see what a rhubarb flower looks like.

Oh dear look at the weeds! This is my flower bed on 14b (which at the minute says 4o on the sign as lots of the mosaic fell off with the frost, ahaha). After I took the photo A started to weed away, hahaha - his pride got to him but I'm showing the photo anyway, it's all honesty here! And those these look like weeds they are actually our lettuce seedlings - yippeeeee and here are the broad beans - hoorah!!! Finally it feels like Mother Nature is caressing the earth and giving of herself through sunshine, warming the soil, little showers instead of downpours and quiet whisperings to the world to wake up.

The fruit arch is doing so well, I must remember to take a photo of how the trees are starting to meet eachother at the apex. They must be happy; so much growth and lovely fresh green leaves and look at these beautiful pear blossoms and the apple blossoms on the family tree in another part of the plot. (See it was getting dark but I wanted to take photos just for you).

 

I'll write soon - the garden is looking fab and A is working away on it right now :)

I have a secret :D

from the allotments

Happy times in the back garden are to be seen everywhere, apart from the horrendous wind (and the blasted builders and all their noisy activities and beeping machinery) I would have been out there today soaking it in. My little hideout is coming together I can see it and after so many months of plans and redrawn plans on graph paper it finally starting to come to life - eeekkkk!

Yesterday saw one of the most fun bits (for me) in the garden ~ planting bulbs. I LOVE bulbs. They hide under the soil waiting, just patiently waiting for the time when you feel you can't take this desolate winter, barren and sad, any longer and then they slowly emerge. They are organic, living anti-depressants. I defy anyone not to be cheered my the 'host of golden daffodils', the sweet and terribly shy Snowdrop, the bright and cheery Crocus and these....the Tulips.

I LOVE TULIPS. I lust after them and can not wait for the Glenarm Tulip Festival to open again (must check website!!) I am a silly flustered girl around them, all sorts, it matters not. For some reason the tulip gives me goosebumps - there I have said it, the cat is out of the bag - I Carrie am a secret Tulip - aholic.

These are Queen of the Night - ummmmmm. Dark, rich sumptuous purple. There leaves are even heavenly with tinges of red, oh I love them and look - lots of them in  my garden in little clumps of 3. *big happy sigh* And planted with them in the cherry tree bed (oh look at the beautiful greenery opening up on this darling of a tree!!! again my knees go weak) are Alliums 'Purple Sensation'.

We've had some lovely weather :)

Oh the sun has come out to play over the past week and boy am I happy to say 'Hello' to it. We have even had breakfast in the back garden one morning - yes! it was warm enough - crazy I know!! Even Maggie kept running into the house, grabbing a mouth full of her favourite Bran Flakes, spitting them out on the patio and then eating merrily with us (Maggie LOVES her food and eats with great gusto)

The birds were brave and ate right beside us on our super multi feeder. Blue Tits, cheeky little Sparrows, our friendly Robin and recently 2 collared Doves :) I have also seen a Chaffinch but A. hasn't yet and it's a sore point, hehe. Remember to feed the birds, my lovelies - fat balls and peanuts are going down a treat here. I'm just waiting for the day when one of the Pheasants comes bounding in - that would be a sight, or the Falcons that live on top of the power station chimney; actually they might take Maggie off for lunch :O

So with the cherry blossom still looking lovely we have also had visits from bees and butterflies and it's a veritable Disney paradise out there (if you ignore all the building debris and rubbish). Yet another bed has been built and now is waiting patiently to be filled with soil. We have some of our pots round from Mamma  G's house (one of them had an evil snail on the bottom and we didn't realise until the next day and those tell tale sparkly trails - grrrrr I HATE slugs with a passion).



I know, they need watered, I'll do that in a minute!



We still have to plant our tulips in the cherry tree bed but they are looking very healthy and can wait another day. And apart from that, the celeriac seedlings are happy and the broad beans (crimson flowered - thank you Celia) are planted and of course being stared at every 15 mins to see if they've germinated yet - yes I am that sad. :)

We haven't forgotten about the Lottie, honest. I'll do a post from there after the weekend. It's just we've been doing housey stuff and WHY am I defending myself??? !

Namaste xx

Seeds and seed swapping :)

Oh dearie me we through out a heck of a lot of out of date seeds last week. Here is the carnage...oh goodness blogger won't let me post the photo - even it's ashamed!

Some were from 2009 - oh for shame! But compared to the number of seed we do have and the variety this was okay, through next year I reckon we'll be buying a lot more as the use by date on many of the ones for this year won't be viable for another season.

But this is where a cool new UK based seed swap website comes into play. Set up only very recently Seed Swappers is a cool new site where you can do exactly what it says in the title - swap seeds! Such a cool idea when you want to try as many different varities as you can without spending a load of money - just buy a few packets and share the seed with others and they can give you those seeds you have wanted to try and it's all just the cost of a stamp AND you aren't wasting lots of perfectly good seeds (like we did - see photo again *blush*).

Give it a wee looking at and there is a blog to go with it too, where the lady who set it up 'Splodger' will be talking about what to plant when. Plus, there is a Facebook page (where I am an admin) were you can keep up to date as well. I personally think it's a great idea and encourage you to take a look xxx

Wonderous news from the back garden

Andrew had a few days off and went mental in the back garden one of those days - he was so happy and now just look at it!! Joy, happy, happy joy, joy!!

So let's look over here first.

This is the very first bed that was made and now it has the beech hedglings in and a fabulous pleaching support erected around and above them. GROW you wee buggers!
In front of them we already had a Christmas Box planted and were all set up to get more gradually as they can be a wee bit expensive. But lo, Andrew walks into a large DIY shop and there these are all reduced and when Andrew took them to the till, hehehe, he got all 6 for £10. Good job.

Then over to the Cherry Blossom Tree and my isn't she adorable all in bloom :) Under planting this beauty is a load of Carex 'Comans Bronze' which all came from division of one plant in the allotment = free plants - yipppee. These are (hopefully) going to grow into little hillocks and have bulbs planted in between them. We already have some very healthy Tulips 'Queen of the Night' ready to be planted :)

You will also note that we have one of our bamboo's planted at the back of this bed. We've had this little fella for years and although he may look sorry for himself, having been in a pot and somewhat neglected throughout the whole moving house saga, I have a good feeling about him. With all the goodness in that soil (remember the worms and everything) I think, give him a little while to settle and he'll be super happy. This is a clump forming type called 'Fargesia' by the way.

Then tantalisingly over at the far corner is the new bed's foundations (eeeek!! so exciting, ) and just infront of Maggie, a strange big bucket full of cement (hummmmm?) but that's all I am going to say about that for now.

Okay, it's been a while but we've been busy :)

First off the SPUDS ARE IN! Hoorah. As tradition dictates the spuds are to be planted on St Patrick's Day and so that is where we were on the day, up to our eyes in good old lottie muck :)

We (and of course by that I really mean Andrew) chitted and planted these beauties this year:
early - 'Sharpes Express'
main - 'Maris Piper'

We went for a V shaped trough this year (on my recommendation so let's hope it goes well - eek!) and planted them out a good 30-40cm apart chitting shoots up of course. I love this method; so much easier to do than digging individual holes or using the black membrane stuff. You can see clearly where everything is and then just push the soil back over the top like a zipper. Done.

I cut a heck of a lot of grass from around the beds (about 5 buckets full; Andrew needed to sharpen my shearers half way through!) and we used this as a protective cover over the newly planted potatoes. In time this will of course become hay and keep the heat in like a big cosy eco friendly duvet.

It was a happy sight to see so many caterpillars and worms and a ladybird but lordy bless us all why oh why could St Paddy not have gotten rid of the darned slugs at the same time as the snakes!! I hate them so much and sorry to my plot neighbours but at one stage I got really peeved and threw them all over the place as hard as I could and they are probably in your soil now *blush*. Though Dougie you escaped as I wasn't up that far :)

It was cold and rainy but we had the whole place to ourselves which was a great way for me to get back into the feel of the place. As I do this more for the Ecotherapy (by that I mean it does feel like therapy and makes you mentally tired just like a talking therapy session) aspect than the pure joy, it is hard for me but I'm glad I did it. Next time will be easier too.

There was also a little bit of the old seed sowing done :

• mixed lettuce (which is under a mini sun tunnel)
• peas 'kelvedon wonder'
• beetroot 'blotardy'
• and leeks 'lyon 2 prizetaker' and 'musselburgh'

Andrew fixed the dodgy downpipe into the water butt - hooorah! I love gaffer tape (never thought I would write that! hahaha)

And here is a photo of one of our guerrilla daffodils planted last year ;)

Happy Days :)

I'm okay again :) so let's catch up

When I think of what has happened in Japan and the surrounding area I feel foolish and selfish for being so depressed, so overwhelmed by life and anxious. I know I have an illness, I fight everyday but god do I feel stupid today. This post is a distraction from those feelings, a bit of 'normality' in the media world just to help me see that life goes on regardless. My thoughts are of course with any and all sufferers in this world but for me, well, today ironically has been good so far and dare I say it?...I kind of feel ok. And I am not going to feel guilty for that.

So catch up time from the lottie and the back garden and life in general.

It was last Saturday that we ventured to the plots, it was a failed attempt at getting some work done. Both of us were thinking about our back garden the whole time and how it was more important to us at the minute than the allotment which we don't see all the time. We dandered round talking about how we ought to do this and that and then I took a couple of photos and Andrew got the wheelbarrow. Who were we trying to kid??! We know eachother so well that both of us knew what the other was thinking so....we attacked the manure heap, filled two big bags and hoicked them into the car and left. Sorry lottie.

prettiness in my flower bed



Definitely not looking good PSB





worms - hello friends :)



We drove straight to the nursery and bought grit and compost and then went home, feeling happier and funnily full of more energy as we were now going to do something we really wanted to do.

I worked super hard - wow!!

Here is our little back garden now - we're going well, it's very clay-y and heavy soil to move but boy it is worth it and now the gorgeous cherry tree is in place, well, a garden is emerging. Maggie had no interest what so ever and slept the whole day on the sofa, she still shuns the 'garden' as she doesn't really do muck, haha.

Oh and did I show you the jar of rhubarb and ginger compote Andrew made?? :) It was so good and there is loads more in the fridge and in the ground waiting to be given the same treatment - hooorah and yummmyyy!

This weekend we really do have to go to the allotments and get cracking - the spuds need to be planted on St Paddy's day!!! Plus we now have our dining area sorted out and the seed potting up can begin in earnest now. Oh lordy - I manage to get rid of loads of house moving clutter and now the whole place is going to be a greenhouse substitute! I just have to laugh..

And here's that wee tete-a-tete out in the front garden, makes a delightful change from the cement and dust and builders everywhere -

Enjoy your Friday and may the weekend bring a smile to your lovely little face xxxxxx

cherry blossoms in the garden :)

Just for you (especially Diana) - the cherry blossoms are opening in the garden = smiles xxx

The barren soul

My heart is gripped in a vice; my mind is confused, addled and disjointed, thoughts come and go again like the ebb of the tide. I am not well.
The back garden is going on at a steady pace; the allotment lies there untended but with promise; there are stunningly beautiful, delicate blossoms on the cherry tree, now planted in her own raised, walled bed.  There is a random little tete-a-tete that has survived the housing development and is showing her bowed, shy, yet joyously bright tiny head in the midst of the trampled grass and dust of our equally tiny front garden.
But I can't even work out how to get myself from this spot to the cameras, from there to the leads and do the uploading, to show you these things that ought to be making me happy. But which are not.
I have hit a wall, fallen down a well, had a smack to the face with a large shovel. This morning I felt ok, good even but at 12.25pm I crashed and I can barely cope.
I don't know what to do. But I needed to talk, to cry out for love from this vast world so full of people yet so filled with loneliness. I guess I just want you to know I am here.