Garden Girl Blog

SeasideMan had a photo of a feather with a drop of water on it. We disucssed how the drop enhanced the photo. I was doing the same thing the other day with flower and water.  It is strange how some drops of water can make a subject more interesting.

Here are my results.

Each year the town of Penicuik in Midlothian Scotland celebrates the appointment of its Hunter and Lass.  This year the weeklong celebrations where marked with a week of sunshine.  We went along on Saturday to have a look.  Information about the Hunter and Lass can be found here... should you be interested.

The Saturday is a day for the Hunter and Lass to ride through the town on their horses with their cavalcade of previous Hunters and Lasses.  It was fun to watch and with lots of cheering from the crowd and the people on the horses.  The cavalcade are followed by a parade of floats made by local people, a few custom cars and bands.  It was lovely to stand on the street watching and hearing the music.  It was then off to the local park for a fun fair, stalls and the local hospital radio station.  All in all a nice day out.

Here are a few photos from the day.

Click to make big.

 

The last few days have been lovely with lots of sunshine and very little wind.  I have been busy pottering in the garden and today I did loads of housework.  The windows are clean and I gave the hall floor a good wash, I even had a bit time to make dinner in the slow cooker and put up my bean sticks.

Yesterday I went back to Roslin Glen to find the swallows and take some photos.  I got to the river and there was not a single swallow to be seen.  Oh well, will try again some time.  I did get some other photos, here is a selection.

At last the weather seems to be getting better and the weather man says we have even more to come.  So much for my mother's warning of more bad weather for a month, I am very glad that she was wrong.

Yesterday I wanted to get out with my camera and do this week's photo assignment for my OU course.  We went off to Roslin Glen as they have a weir and I wanted to get a photo of the water.  The assignment is to capture movement.  It was a bit overcast but there was some sun.  We had a nice walk and I got a few photos that I could use.  The bluebells are still out and also the wild garlic, the aroma from the garlic was in the air as we walked around.  The swallows were out in force, I feel a return visit will be in order to try and get some better photos of the birds.

Today I started off with a visit to the launderette to wash our winter quilt; it always takes ages but I like to give it a good wash and it is done now.   I then hit Sainsbury and managed to spend more than I thought I would.  Back home and I got out into the garden.  Hubs and I worked on the grass together and it is looking a bit better, I will post a photo soon.  The chap who came to sort out the grass has never been in touch again.... very strange.

We had some burgers in the garden for tea, a lovely way to finish off the day.  More sun tomorrow and more house and garden work I am sure.

The garden has been busy all day but this evening we heard a new bird sound in the garden.  A bit of looking out the window and we could see a couple of baby robins waiting for their parents to feed them.  They were very sweet and very demanding!

It has been very wet and cold all day here again and I hope that the rain will stop soon.  Not much going on in the way of gardening or getting out with my camera.  Fingers crossed the weekend will be better.

It rained on and off for most of the day but I got a few things done in the garden.  The veg bed is ready for planting, if the frost ever stops I might get something in it.  The greenhouse is quite full up, it is not heated but just about keeps the frost off the plants, I am not sure when I will be able to move plants outside but I could do with a bit more room.  Maybe a tidy up is in order.

Here is a photo of the greenhouse, even the floor is starting to look full up.

This is Mr Bluetit getting some food for Mrs Bluetit who is sitting in the birdbox, I assume they have eggs.

I went outside to make a start on the garden and was just having a look at the plants in the greenhouse when it started to rain.  The weatherman said no rain today, what is going on? I was then stuck in the greenhouse as it chucked it down.  It did not seem to stop the squirrels feeding on any bits they could find in the garden.

I was going to put my washing out... might have to wait and see what the weather is doing.

At last we have a day of sunshine, even the wind seems to have slowed down for now.  I will be out most of the day pottering in the garden and I want to try and get some photos of the birds in my garden.

I have taken the winter quilt off our bed and it is sitting waiting to be washed.  Puss looked very pleased with herself when she found it and snuggled down ready to go to sleep.  She spent several hours asleep and has been trying to get back into the room where it is ever since.

Since being back from holiday we have noticed a new bird in our garden, it is some sort of redpoll or linnet but we are not sure which one.  The photo is not very clear but you get the idea that it has a red head and breast.

Have a good day.

While we were down in England both myself and my husband commented that maybe it is time we start making plans to move back down towards London.  We have several reasons for this and hubs thinks it might be possible to get a transfer back to London for this job, so it could be an option. We have reasons for moving back and some for staying in Scotland, but the ones for moving back are starting to be stronger.  This will need more thought and lots of planning and will not happen overnight, but it is a thought, we have no idea where we would want to live so that might be the first thing to try and decide!

I am doing some OU work today and going to do some house work later, the wind is still blowing and is really cold so I am staying in today!

 

The puss was safe in the cattery so we set off down south for a First Holy Communion and then on to visit some friends and have a few days in Dorset and Wiltshire.

We had rented a little apartment on a farm and were all set to explore the area.  Our first day there we went off to Brownsea Island and had a good walk all around.  We saw a few birds but saw loads of red squirrels, they were super sweet. Here are a few photos of the little chaps and some of the birds.  It was a fab place to go and visit.

Next we went on to Arne to their RSPB reserve; we saw loads of deer and a few birds and millions of ants, very scary if you ask me.

After that it was on to Lulworth Cove and we went for a walk to Durdle Door.  It was quite a long walk and a fog had come in by the time we started back, maybe next time we should drive!

We were really tired after all the walking and my legs hurt for days after, I really must be very unfit.

The next day started off okay but turned quite wet later on.  We went to Exbury gardens and about half way round the rain came down.  They have lots of Azaleas but I had to put my camera away because of the rain.I got just a few photos before it got too heavy.

The next day was better weather and we went off to Langford Lakes. We saw some really interesting birds there and think we saw a Water Vole, I got a few good photos so was happy.

We then went off to Heale Gardens and saw some lovely flowers and a family of long-tailed tits, they were so sweet.

Next was a walk in Garston Woods, lots of bluebells and more deer.  To finish we went to Caen Hill locks and had a bit of a walk, it was a very long day but we got to see loads.

After that it was time to pack up and come home, we left the lovely sunshine to come back to the rain and wind of Scotland.  This was the view just up the road from where we were staying.

Click to make any of them big!

 

We are back, lots to catch up on and photos to sort out, will post some once I am done. We had a nice time down south, it was rather wet at times but we got out and about.  Lots of wind and rain in Scotland today so not very nice here.

Yesterday I was busy in the garden sorting out some the weeds that seem intent on growing and potting on some of my seeds.   The birds are still very busy in the garden, the latest joiner is Mrs Phesant, she walks around the garden looking for food and generally looking lost.  Bless her.

I have also started my next OU course, it is a short course on digital photography, I fancied something different.  The first week was quite general so easy to do.  We have a group area where we send photos so I am sure it is going to be interesting.  Here are some of the photos I sent in. These were taken in the garden yesterday afternoon.

I found out yesterday that my neighbour has non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  She slipped on the stairs at the end of last year when the hospital scanned her for her back, they found her lymph nodes were enlarged.  She has had some other tests over the last few months and yesterday they found out what it was.  She is taking a bit of time to digest it so I have not spoken to her but I am thinking of her.

It does not look much brighter here today but I think it has stopped raining. Off to go and do some reading for my new OU course.