Exciting Garden Update

Over the past couple of weekends my hubby, yes my hubby handmade 2 amazing chairs for the back garden. He looked at many photos online and found some simplified instructions but basically he was just awesome and I am so proud. He made them primed them and then, cause he loves me, he let me pick the final colour and buy little cushions.

They're called Adirondack chairs and they're so huge and armchair like, perfect for the day and with a blanket in the evenings. He is also going to make me a curved footstool and a wee table - eek! Brilliant.

So while I was taking photos of them to blatantly show off to the world, I thought I would document how the garden has taken a real growth spurt and is really starting to become the place we hoped for. Maggie helped - any photo she's in is her ' taking you on the tour' on the rest, well she was standing at my feet.

The beech hedging is beginning to settle and grow well but it's the Christmas box below that is really surprising me, especially after it was given a little trim. Finally the bare bones of the garden are showing signs of vigour and in the end this will completely mask the bins and storage unit behind it :)

Could not be happier at the rate the Boston ivy is growing, everyday one can see a change and now there are tension wires up it's starting to go in all directions :D 

The stained glass window with mirror behind is an absolute triumph if you ask me - I adore it.

The slate plaque there says 'tea-ism' and is just a geeky (and sweet way) of saying the tea garden is this way..

 The tea garden; a raised platform completely enclosed and private with lots of verdant greens and a pergola roof which one day will be covered in that very healthy Wisteria - heaven. At night we also light the Chimenea and get the candles out

Snippets of the rest of the garden with that Wisteria, more bright red in the form of Geraniums, the hedgehog on my cushions, delightful Jasmine buds, Acer, bronze Maple (A. will kill me for not remembering it's name) the evidence of our new outside tap (hurrah) and my favourite - the washing which recently has been drying within minutes :) 

 Hope you enjoyed the tour - now to get out there and enjoy it whilst sewing and chatting with my hubby (public holiday here today so he's off - yay!!) Maggie wishes you a very happy weekend to come xx

Namaste

P.S. Thank you so much for all the comments, emails and tweets that I have recently been receiving - you dear readers make my heart glow xx

Gooseberries and Goosepimples

You would not believe me if I didn't have photographic evidence, in fact I would not believe me unless I had taken my camera but today I went to the allotment on my own! I can barely explain the feeling other than terror at being out by myself, paranoia about all the people that passed me, unquenchable stubbornness and focused on the now when I was picking fruit and weeding. It's an odd mix.

Here is our beautiful plot 24a

and with a few highlights I noticed....

Over on 14b I got my hands ripped to pieces as I fought the sawfly caterpillars for my Gooseberries. It was war out there and I have wounds oh yes, I was bleeding as they pushed the thorns into my hands (they are small but a mighty force) but I got MY fruit!! Plus, although I should have, I didn't kill any of the blighters....

Arrrrghhh, tell me please, how am I meant to cope with all these abandoned plots around me!! My hay fever has reached fever pitch even with medication from the Dr. Oh Zeus Almighty, my eyes are on fire, the roof of my mouth is so itchy and down inside my ear canals! Why there, I can't get to there and have a satisfying scratch!!?? Why :'(

Home with a little posey of Sweet Peas, so many gooseberries I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with them and a happy smile  :D

Happ(bee) Weekend

Furtling for Dinner

We had our first lottie dinner last week!!!

The potatoes were ready so my favourite thing happened on the plot - furtling for spuds. Oh it just brings me right back to my Papa's back garden and Nana saying we ought to go get some veg for dinner...Papa just pulled a plant out of the ground and to my shock and wonderment there they were - potatoes!!! It was like magic. I was tiny and started grabbing spuds and furtling in the fresh soil for more; it was a treasure hunt. And I still feel that way to this day.

Andrew lifted a potato plant and lo, there they were and even better.. they were a pinky purple! Which brings me to a good point ~ these tasty and healthy tubers came from a discount store. Yep, we usually go a nursery and buy our seed potatoes but this year we only bought one variety this way and the others (just for fun) were bought in our local pound shop. So far I see no difference, other than price that is and they tasted so good!

We also picked some gorgeous green garlic, perpetual spinach, mint and a few little turnips - 'purple topped Milan' ones - my all time fave, I just love that heat, that pepperiness.

I had all this very simply boiled and mashed up together and plonked on my plate like a carbohydrate feast. Andrew, being a real man, had to have meat too :) We were in heaven - nothing, simply nothing beats eating your own grown food 20 mins after you have harvested it with your own hands - oh I'm feeling all giggly and excited for more.

And more there shall be as tomorrow I shall share a few photos of other plants really ripening up and getting ready to meet my tummy :)

A linky party

I'd really like to invite everyone to take part in this Monday morning blues destroyer :) It's over on my other arty blog here.... http://www.ohcherryblossomtattoo.com/2013/07/5-little-pleasures.html

'A Movement of Appreciation 
I would like to start a little movement, a place where we come together on a Monday and instead of the dreary things we all usually feel and hear about 'back to the grindstone' etc, I want us to take 5 minutes to sit and think of 5 simple little pleasures we experienced over the weekend.

It's not that hard, surely!

As someone who suffers from Chronic Depression amongst over destructive mood disorders I was struck by the simplicity of this little book I found only yesterday and had to buy. I do believe that we forget how incredibly lucky we are on a daily basis and that there is a part of us that tends to remember the negatives instead of fully celebrating the good stuff (or even the normal stuff).'

Please click the link above to learn more.
If you have your own blog you can write your wee 5 little pleasures post on your on page and share it by using the Add your Link button, at the bottom of my post on my blog = more visitors/ new visitors etc to both our blogs...

On the Plots (16th June)

Okay, okay, I get it, no more dilly dally-ing from me - I am on a new rota of blogging and you shall hear from me more often, whether you like it or not. Loads is happening at the plots and I simply haven't been bothered to take photos - shameful I know.

This post is going back in time *insert wavy lines here*...back to June 16th, the day before our Weeding  Wedding Anniversary (do you see what I did there?? oh I am funny!) So that was 2 Saturday's ago and the next post on the allotments will be from last Saturday so we can see the incredible changes one week made to our lottie.

We start with a bright a cheery picture of loading up the car with scallions, broccoli, celeriac and leeks..

 Wow, literally 3 minutes up the road and the clouds roll in!! Luckily these were just nice fluffy, friendly clouds and they didn't rain on us until we were just leaving anyway :) I like that sort of cloud, plus you know the plants are all getting a darn good soaking....

These are the first 2 beds on either side of Plot 24a looking great, if I may be so bold (all Andrew's work anyway so I'm just bigging him up!) Look at the those spuds :D on the left I'm starting to get excited about my various peas and beans - yummy.

 The 2 middle beds are full of  beans, spinach, lettuce, chard and broccoli (left bed)
and Roots galore plus Sweetcorn in the right bed (scallions, parsnips, carrots, turnips, beetroot)

Up at the back on the left of the tree arch we have 3 bushes of Blueberries coming (again with the fight with the birds will start in earnest soon - really, after 5 years we ought to get the fruit cage sorted!) Beside them are my Sweet Peas - oh for a lovely bunch....hurry up!

14b is more of a miss in terms of this post (I have tried to fix it up but it's still embarrassing) so you are only getting to see this little part because of the good job I did, hahaha.... It round by the now over Purple Sprouting Broccoli and the boundary line between us and the neighbour 14b.

The bees were loving the flowers there and the bed was humming with merriment so they were left for now..

******

Now we need your help - this is what's happening to one of our plum tree fruits. This was them on Saturday, in the past weeks they have been a lime colour with touches of this creaminess..

Can you tell us what the heck is going on??...we can't find it in any of our books.

Goodbye Google Reader :(

I have been a most terrible blogger I know, please don't throw your slugs onto  our plot or indeed send me any more aphids in the post! haha. 

As you all know the allotment is a place of therapy for me (Allotmentherapy/ Ecotherapy) but the fact is I have feel to well enough to go outside to be there and I haven't. It's complex; the Allotment is not an easy place for me, a place where my problems all disappear, often it's really tough. So as I say, I have been unable to go due to illness and therefore unable to write about it.

But.

I shall not be stopping and thus we get to the crux of this post.. following Grow Our Own or indeed continuing to do so.

Google Reader is going bye bye forever, don't ask me why, I don't understand the need to create such a stir and confuddle all our comfort. I fear change ;) With it going we will all lose the blogs we've merrily been following through Google reader and I won't let that happen to my readers or to the blogs I love. We need to stay in touch and the way I have done this is via Bloglovin'.

It's a huge and very popular (because it's so easy to use) alternative that's been around for ages. 

All you do is log on and create an account.......It will ask you if you want to import all the blogs you have been reading on Google Reader into this sparkling new account - say YES PLEASE by clicking the button :).........And ta-dah, you are done :) I'll be there and we can stay up to date, they even send you an email everyday to tell you which of your favourite blogs has put up a new post, clever.

I have even been able to put different blogs into different groups - it's an intuitive platform. And there's an App for it too, for all you super tech savy people.

This is what it looks like; very simple and clean - I'm a huge fan. So, if you haven't already it's time get a new reader, my choice is obvious Bloglovin'.

Hope to show you lottie stuff soon xx

Namaste

Sunshine out the Back :)

It's very close to being unbearably warm outside today - I can't believe I'm writing that but it's true. Maggie won't even stay out for long and she is a sun worshipper, always finding the best spots and laying out full length. Today she has been inside more than me and only sticks to the shadows unless she has 'needs' ie. 'toilet needs'.  Thank goodness I cut  her hair last Friday or I fear she would be dead - wearing a fur coat in summer just ain't right, and neither is eating some of the seedlings (naughty!) or drinking water from the fountain out there but hey, she is a free and wild little spirit..

I'm too hot to think of words to say , here are my photos - yep, now you know how to shut me up!  :)

 This is the view of the back that I get sitting here typing this now :)

 The cold frame with loads of babies all doing well, apart from maybe the mizuna lettuce there on the right which has bolted, oops!

Our new tree; it's a red leafed Norway Maple and the leaves are lovely and soft and floaty. Sadly the Cherry tree that was there wasn't very happy and despite Andrew's best medical care - it died :(

I love this view with the fountain all naturally stinky now and all those pebbles from different happy days out. Surprisingly the Acer is doing really well at the moment, though now I've said that it will probably drop all it's leaves just to spite me, it does that. On the back wall we now have a Boston Ivy that seems pretty happy - we want it to grow like mad and surround the salvaged stained glass window we got recently. Isn't it so pretty?? Andrew put a frame around it and a mirror behind it so the light really shines and look, a little friend sits atop of it ...

 Well here is my happy discovery - Andrew just went outside, saw it and proclaimed loudly 'oh a dead ladybird' and yes, he was right - devastated!!

From here there is a sweet little walk to the tea house which is in full sun and that lovely Birch tree is growing up really quick and providing even more privacy. The large bamboo got a little wind burnt but then we extended the fence upwards and conditions have definitely improved. You can also see the Wisteria is doing really well, I think next year there may be flowers - eeekk! This is where we'll be having dinner tonight again :) Happy days. 

That isn't just a random post on the right, by the way, there is a batoned roof above where I hang lanterns and where the Wisteria will eventually get all tangled around.

So there you go - our back garden in the beautiful Northern Irish sunshine - days like these really do need to be photographed and shared; come the dark, cold winter I know I'll never remember that days like this shall come again!

Namaste

Survival through Expression

I wrote this piece for one of the best websites on the internet and it was posted yesterday. I feel so honoured so have been allowed to write my story and have it so well received by the world. I have been rather ill and so I am sorry, things are going nuts (in a good way) with the garden and the allotment and I promise to get you all caught up as soon as I can. But for now I thought maybe you'd like to learn a little more about me as a person, not simply an allotmenteer :)

Please do click the link - http://www.kindovermatter.com/2013/05/survival-through-expression.html
I don't want to post the whole piece here as Amanda (at Kind Over Matter) deserves all the visitors and she has been so incredibly kind to me.

Here's one thing that has been going on in the garden - we got a Chimenea and we love it! There are also new plants and art! Oh boy :D

Love all the little tea lights we have (the tall ones in the background are Jo Alexander ones) in the garden, the perfect atmosphere for friends over, drinking wine and sitting round the fire :)

Start of a Beanstalk

Fabulous goings on at the allotments 2 weekends ago. I do apologise for my tardiness in writing, sadly depression and such things do take one's concentration and motivation away and for me the lottie hasn't been on my mind. I do care, don't get me wrong but with my mental health difficulties I do feel, well nothing a lot of the time about everything - numb; that's a good word for it.

So here is some happiness on the plots that I photographed but never felt strong enough to post....

24a

Wow, plot 24a is looking good. We are so glad we changed it from a plot with 8 planting areas to one with 4, it's cleaner and easier to look after - love it! Can't wait to get the gravel down to make the path safer and less slippy - *shakes fist at the clay and lack of good drainage in the field*. Here we see (far bed, left to right) Peas, Broad Beans and Garlic. And in the closer bed there are Spuds which are now coming through - wow I am so far behind with blogging - sorry.

my favourite photo this year - just look how it wants to grow and get itself strong and tall!

There are blossoms on all the fruit trees and the sweet peas are planted, plus we have lots more seedlings in the back garden hardening off and some sown direct but I'll talk about them another time. For now our attentions are focused on finding some well priced gravel to put down as a path on 24a and to get rid of the weeds growing in the patio area and the paths in 14b. I've heard vinegar might be good - I'll try it before I try any more drastic measures - have to try and keep the place safe for Maggie the wonder Dog.

14b

A load of produce to take home (but we haven't eaten it yet) Purple Sprouting Broccoli, yes it's been attacked by all the pests of the day but we were just happy it survived at all. There is loads more :)

Chives galore and a really healthy artichoke plant...

A before and after of the flower bed - I worked so darn hard on this!!

Really need to sort out that 14b sign *blush*

Gooseberries are coming, rhubarb is still giving and the summer raspberries have settled into their new home happily.

Love and Hugs

Some happy photos of the back garden

It has been sunny now and then this week, albeit with frequent hail showers and freezing winds; so when the sun has been shining I've been out and taking time enjoy it a little. Here are just a few little snap shots of the main patio area in the warmth :)

Apart from that, there has been much work going on at the lottie and maybe on Friday I will be able to update you; I've been asleep since my first craft fair of the year last Saturday, it was a bit of a strain. Good fun at the time but I never seem to realise just how much I have to push to get through it, depression sucks :(

Anyway a wee peek at the garden ...

 We have tided up since these were taken; all the daffs have been removed and some of those weeds in the patio too, haha. We decided next year all the bulbs will be in pots as it seemed to be too much for the cherry tree to be surrounded by so much. We've also cut some the bottom branches off the tree to try and give it a better chance.

 We still have cold frame full of goodies and even had an amazing side salad with the young tasty leaves of our baby lettuce plants - yum! 'Cut and come again' is so cool :)

The sound of water in a garden is an absolute must, I just adore this well feature Andrew hand made :)

Look at that green and blue, oh please can we have more. This is me looking up from sitting on the ground to the really rather healthy pleached beech hedging and the tea room beyond.

I'll write soon about the lottie

Namasté