Garden Girl Blog

It has been a busy few days and I have not made it here to post.

Thursday I pottered round the house and then garden.  I was due to go out to lunch but it got cancelled which changed my plans and then I was not sure what I was doing!  In the end I had a good afternoon in the garden and was able to get a few things done.

The plants have taken a battering with all the rain and I had to tie a few up to support them.  They really have had enought of the rain so if it could stop sometime soon that would be very good.  Here are a few pics of the flowers.

Friday was a work day and I had lots of meetings so the day went very quickly.

Today looks like it is going to be nice so I am off to the shops and then back in the garden.

It is raining so hard at the moment the water is flowing down our road like a river.  Where the wind is picking it up it looks like the tide coming in!  The storm drain is coping well but the water is flowing into it like it is going over the edge of a waterfall.  It is very wet!

Clear blue sky in Edinburgh, a day for being at home doing the washing and pottering in the garden.  However I am at work, oh well, I will get to go to Yoga at lunch time which will be good.

Mrs Blackbird was in the garden before I left with two rather large chicks in tow, well more like full grown birds but they were insisting that she feed them and she was obliging.  I had put some bread out and they were enjoying the final bits of it.  All the bird feeders in the garden were empty and I felt a bit bad so I filled some of them up and put out more bread. 

Right back to work.

I have been on the waiting list for years for an allotment.  Today I paid a visit to where they are, in the hope of finding someone who may share.  Most of them are very well used and I chatted with a couple of people there and they said I should try the council.  On the way out I did notice that one of the allotments is not used at all, how can that be right?  There are 52 people on the waiting list and an allotment is covered in grass doing nothing.

I am going to ring the council tomorrow, not that it will get me anywhere.

We must be rain gods!  We drove back from Kent to Edinburgh last night starting at 5pm.  We kept hitting huge down pours and visibility was very bad some times.  Strangely most drivers were being very good, staying in lane and everyone slowing down a bit.  We were safely home and tucked up in bed by 00:30.

Today we are both tired but it is my day off and the husband is working from home so we can take it a bit easy.  It was far cheaper driving than flying and having to hire a car, but I think the evening driving is a bit of a pain.

It was nice to see all the family and catch up and the rain managed to stay off for most of the BBQ, maybe we are not rain gods then.

Puss is home alone with just the nice man next door being at her beck and call.   He sent me a text to say all is well and that he has been letting her in and out because of the rain.  Bet she is loving it.  If we were there she would have been kicked out all day, even if it was raining.

Bless, I bet she has had him running round in circles. 

The joy of having everything a girl could ever want or need under one roof.  I love Bluewater shopping centre.

When we lived near here I would often go just to mooch around, we went there this afternoon but were both so tired we could not enjoy it.  What a waste, oh well another time.

We have come down to visit the husbands parents and have a family BBQ tomorrow.   Due to a few different reasons we could only come Friday and Saturday night and the husband had to work Friday, so although he left work early, it was late to start driving  We are going back tomorrow early evening.

It is a long way down and our trip yesterday was not fun.  I picked the husband up in the middle of Edinburgh just before 3pm and we set off.  We took the A1, all was going well until Newcastle where the sat nav thing decided to start telling us about lots of traffic up ahead.  It tired to plot a different route but it was rush hour and everywhere was busy, it was also pouring with rain.  Not fun!

We rang his parents and mentioned that we might turn back, they seemed very disappointed and we both felt bad.  So we tried a different route and thought we would stop very soon for dinner and maybe avoid the worst of the traffic.  We went on the A68 to bypass the A1, it was a bit of a mistake.  All was okay but the rain was still coming down in buckets and there were small rivers in the road in places.  We came across a bit of traffic and they were all in line to get through a flood, not that high but a bit of a worry, well for me anyway.  We got through okay but very quickly came across an even bigger line of traffic with a police car at the front.  I got out and got my raincoat on to see what was going on.  It was a really big flood and people had just kept driving through in both directions, the bow wave from each direction had eventually caused water to get into engines and the cars to break down in the middle of the flood.  At least one was still stuck there.  There was a poor woman in the police car sitting with the door open taking her boots off and pouring the water out.

They started to let people past and we set off.  We followed a good distance behind the car in front but the one in front of him broke down.  We were a bit behind and in the middle of the flood but still moving, the broken down car was almost out.  The man started to push and we came up behind the car in front which by now was stationary towards the edge of the floor.  Being a helpful person I said to the husband, 'I will get my coat on and go and help push', it was then he pointed out to me that we were still in a foot of water, so I sat tight.  Some other people from the other side, who had not yet entered the flood helped the man push his car out of the way.   We managed to get going and again and got out the flood.

I am not good at things like this and was in a bit of a panic that there would be more floods and as it was still raining they would be worse.  However we did not see anything as bad again.  We did stop for some dinner and it was really nice.  There was also a very sweet black cat in the car park that the people said was feral but they were looking after her.

I said sorry to the husband for taking us in such a silly route and he told me he had quite enjoyed it, far more interesting than the A1 sitting in traffic.  Men!

We set off and still had a long way to go.  After that the going was very good and we arrived at just after midnight.  However it had been a long evening and we had taken 9 hours. I hope the trip back tomorrow is quicker but we are not leaving until 5pm ish so it will be another long day.

I have come to work 4 days this week and have a meeting tomorrow so that will make it 5.  The chap who looks after some of the stuff I do on my days off is on holiday, so I did some extra hours.  Bit of a shock to the system getting up at 5:30 every day!  Right I should get down to it.

Am doing very well with the eating better and not drinking as much.  I am going to be thin before you know it!

   I had it on yesterday and I am going to keep it for today as well.  Then I might let it go and move to my accepting face, but I am not there yet. 

I will explain later but am not a happy bunny.   

It is St. Swithin's Day and needless to say it has been raining in Edinburgh.  Oh dear...

'St Swithin’s Day, if it does rain
Full forty days, it will remain
St Swithin’s Day, if it be fair
For forty days, t'will rain no more.'

I hope they are wrong.

After my a nice morning at the shops in Edinburgh, I came home and spent the afternoon pottering around the garden.

On the way home I went into the local garden centre and got some bargain plants.  They are selling off all the bedding plants and I just could not resist, six trays for £10, so I got a nice mix and filled any holes I could see in my beds.   I also had to dig up a small patch in the lawn and re-seed it, I did this for a patch out the front last week and the new grass is growing already, so I got on and did a small patch out the back that I managed to spill deck oil on.  Hope it will be looking much better in a week as well.

The husband and the cat supervised from the lounger on the top deck, I was impressed they could do it with their eyes closed.

Here is what I was looking at 12 o'clock today, per the post by Benjamy on Blogship -

I was driving through the middle of Edinburgh and kept getting stuck at lights.  At 12 I was at a set just past St. Andrews Square and about to cross Princess Street.   The sound track was traffic noise, lots of people noise and Queen playing on my CD. I was thinking that the people crossing the road were mad, they just walk in front of the cars without a care in the world not waiting for the lights.  I may have also been tempted to just put my foot down and run them all over but that would make me sound a bit unstable so I am not going to tell you that.

Now don't go getting all excited by the title, it is not that interesting. The husband and I went for a walk and ended up on the hill behind our house.  There are some big white plants, I don't know what they are called, but they are covered in these guys and girls.  They do not leave much to the imagination so feel free to guess what they are doing.  I have no idea what bugs they are.  Does anyone know?

We also spotted a grasshopper and ladybirds.  The grasshopper was happy to pose for a pic so here he is -

Currently it is nice and clear in Edinburgh and looks like it is going to be a very nice day, it is a shame I am at work.   I might get my head down and get on with it and see if I can get away a few minutes early.  .

I sorted out a few bits in my greenhouse and washed all the empty pots.  I have not bothered doing this in the past and they go in a bit of a muddy mess, so I did all of them earlier in the year and it took ages, now I make sure I do them as I go along.  I need to start off a few more seeds soon, maybe a job for the weekend.

I pottered round, dead heading and picking out weeds but it is all looking good, but maybe a bit disorganised, but my garden always seems to end up that way.

I have grown a few sunflowers from some seeds that I got free with Gardeners World.  I have never grown them before and they are doing great and the bees love the. Here is a pic. 

Work tomorrow, it is review time so I need to get sorted with mine and the ones for the team.

Normally, a handsome rogue of a bird, who is smooth and sleek with not a feather out of place.  Not so the one that has been visiting our garden.  I have seen him coming for a few weeks now, eating anything he can find.   He is very chatty and just likes to hang around; he has proven a little illusive when it comes to getting a photo.

This magpie seems to been rather more fluffy than your average magpie and when he is sitting on the back fence it looks like he has a lions mane.  Today he seems to be having a very bad hair day and has been trying to tame his locks on the neighbour's fence.  Here he is, sorry they are not very good pics.

I sent an email to the National Botanic Garden of Wales after I noticed that they have a section on their web site about photos people have taken.  So I asked what I have to do to send some in.

I received an email back to advise what I could send them by return via email, so I chose a few of the ones I had already posted here and sent them off.  The email got rejected because it was 10 meg... silly me.. I re-sent it as a few smaller emails.  Later I got an email back saying that the photos were a striking resemblance to images he had seen on the 'Garden Girl Blog'!  I had to pick myself up off the floor at this point because I had no idea I was so famous... or maybe that is not the case.

In my shocked state I sent a mail back to ask how he knew of my blog.  The answer came that Google sends an alert when the NBGW is mentioned on the internet, so they had one for my blog entry.. oh and maybe this one.. sorry about that...

Anyway they have used one of my photos on their web site, right on the front on the home page. It is the one across the top, check it out here - http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk/en/home/ how cool is that?  And best of all I think my photo looks right at home there at the top of their web page.

Have written and told my mum!

The chap from the gardens also saw Dennypoos question and what flower was it and found the answer for us.

Dennypoos asked what the cream flower at the bottom was in the photos in this blog... http://gardengirl.blog.co.uk/2009/07/04/more-wales-holiday-6446135/ (if someone can tell me how to make the link look nice... like a few words rather thant he whole URL, feel free) anyway.. so what was the bottom one.

Well I can tell you it was a Cephalaria gigantean (closely related to scabious but not one) how do I know this I will tell you that next but glad we could clear up what it is.

I might have to look and see if anywhere sells seeds on the internet, a very nice plant, but big!

A few updates....

It has stopped raining.

I got my email at work done.

I picked up 8 slugs earlier and they weighed 2oz, they were very fat because they have been eating my plants!

My cold is going.

I am going to book a holiday for September to Italy in the next few days.

It has been pouring with rain during the night and again this morning, I woke up a few times during the night and could hear the rain clattering against the windows, it seemed as if someone was chucking a bucket of water at the house.  There were little rivers on lots of the roads and people seemed to be taking it easy on the way in, the car park at work was a mud bath. 

Have come into work today, I am feeling a bit better, I am sure the cold is on the way out, but I will take it easy and get off on time. The husband now has my cold which is not so good.

My cold is getting the better of me, even though I told it last night enough was enough and it had to be gone.

I have been so bunged up that I was snoring during the night, it was so loud that I could hear it and then realised it was me! At least I do not have to go to work today. Think I might just take it very easy today.

does one puss need?

I have spent a busy day pottering around the garden and the husband has been cleaning his motor bike and my, sorry our car.

The puss has been trying to find the perfect place to sleep, it is a hard life being a pussy cat.  The list of possible places to sleep goes something like this -

The owner's bed - they were no longer in it so that was no fun.
The sofa in the front room - the TV was off and my paws do not work the remote so that was no good.
The cupboard in the computer room, with the nice jacket that I pulled down.... very nice but wanted some food, so had to get up.
The grass in front of the deck - was very hot so had to move.
Under the chair on the deck - was fed up as had no one to talk with, so no good.
The road in front of the house - I got picked up and moved, no idea why something about the neighbours driving fast...
The path to the front of the house - the hose came out, water would follow, I moved.
The mat in front of the door - was a bit hot and it is a bit rough.
The kennel that has been provided for me by the the front door - nice in here has a bed and everything, but I got woken up when someone came to the door.
The road again .. got moved again...I cannot see what the fuss is about...
The spare bed - very comfortable and best of all, I know I should not be here, but the silly woman kept coming to take my photo, so I had to pretend to be asleep and hope I would not get moved... it seemed to work.

I do have at least two of my own beds but that would be no fun.

I have spent most of the afternoon in the garden and keeping on top of the dead heading and weeding.  The plants are recovering well from the recent slug attacks and most are back in flower.  Some of the plants I grew, such as the Swan River daisy plants are gone and they will not recover, I will need to remember not to bother to grow them next year.  I have also been planting out the ones I got at the garden centre last week.  Even the green fly seems a bit more under control and there seems to be less of them around.

We sat and had a beer and a chat with our neighbour which was very sociable and relaxing.  The husband did a BBQ for our dinner and we sat out on the deck.  It did start to rain and puss was unimpressed with getting wet but it passed very quickly and we were able to stay out.  It was a very nice way to end the day.

Here are a few pics of my flower which seem to be doing very well.

This is the lighthouse at South Stack Island in Wales.  We had a nice day there and went for a walk around the lighthouse.  They also have a few puffins and lots of other birds and we played spot the puffin for ages.  I did take a few pics and there is a rather bad one of a puffin but I have included it just to show that we did see them.

A few more pics from the National Botanic Gardens of Wales.

As part of our holiday in Wales we went here, it was made all the better because we got in free because we were members of Edinburgh Botanic gardens.  A really nice place to go and spend some time with lots to do and see.

There is a tea shop in the glasshouse where we stopped for lunch.  A robin and several sparrows hanging around asking for food.  The cheeky robin came and sat on the arm of the chair next to us and just watched us eat.  Shame it was not a traditional spade but I liked the photo.

I have a cold or something.  I have taken up a new hobby of doing the 'check your symptoms' thing on NHS Direct, it seems to suggest I have either a cold or hayfever.  I did not feel that bad at work but worse by the end of the day.  I sneezed about 20 times while trying to drive home and was rather worried I was going to crash.  I did get home okay and have been watching TV but think I will go off to bed in a min.

Was just going to check my symptoms, one last time, but the web site is not working now.  Maybe I have used up my free goes.

I see you, creaping through the open window, you look round and check no one is watching, but you do not see me.  You go to the corner where the thing that you most want is and you help yourself.  I see you sometimes twice a day and I know that you think I do not notice, but I do.

Well Mr Blackbird, when the strawberries are gone from the greenhouse you will have to go else where for your dinner, you bad boy. 

I pottered around the garden today and started to sort out a few bits that had got out of control.   I had to dead head my roses and they seem to have a bit of blackspot so I had to cut off lots of the leaves and also pick up the fallen ones.

I think I have a cold coming,there was a chap at work yesterday who had a stinker of a cold and I had to sit in a meeting room with him.  He had a really chesty cough and I was not best pleased to be in the room with him.  Can a cold develop in a day?  I told him he should be at home, we can all do our work from home so it is not like he has to go sick or anything.  I might work from home tomorrow if I am full of cold, but I will wait and see if it does develops into anything.

Am going to take myself and my cold off to bed soon and see if that helps.

Puss it feeling the heat.  She is just laying round the house, not sure what to do with herself.  But making sure she avoids the sun that is streaming in the windows.  Hot weather is not so nice when you have a black fur coat on.

We saw this Thrush at our first holiday cottage and it enjoyed rummaging in the garden for food.  If I had one of these in my garden it would eat the snails and might have a go at the slugs, I should have kidnapped one!

The husband and I climbed up it, well more walked but it was very hard work and a long way for people as unfit as us.  We took the longest path but it is the easiest climb, it was 9 miles there and back.  They must have known we were coming because they have just opened a restaurant at the top.  Here are some pics from near that top -

There is a little train that goes up and down and you can see the track.

Here is a picture from the way down and you can just see the little train.

We were both very proud that we did it and felt that we had achieved something and it was very hard.  However, when I tell you that the husbands parents also did the climb and that his mum will be 70 next month, you will think it could not have been that hard.  It really really was, his parents are just mad and they must be a bit fit! ! 

This is the view back to Poppit Sands as we walked along the cliff top at Cemaes Head.  There was lots of birds and great views out to sea.

We also enjoyed visiting New Quay, from where we did our dolphin watching, not that we saw any, as per a previous blog.  Here is a view of the harbour.  A very nice place to go and visit but parking was fun. 

Nothing to do with me, it is what the hill behind our house is doing.  It looks like backward fog because it is going up, it is very strange.  We have had lots of down pours this evening but it is still really warm.  Nothing like the heat they have down south, but not at all like Scotland.

Work was busy again but managed to go off out for lunch again which was good.  However the lunch was rather strained and a bit weird.  The people I went with seemed not to be talking to each other so conversation was very stilted.  Strange that they agreed to go out to lunch and it was almost as if they had a lovers tiff, but I do not believe they are lover's.  All very strange and really I wished after I had gone with just one or the other.  Oh well I will know for next time.

I am down to under 200 emails at work after my holiday, and I am seriously thinking of using the magic delete button on the rest. Maybe if they are still there at the end of Friday I will go for it.

No work tomorrow and will try and get out in the garden.