Two tall roses in the Oval Bed have responded so well to nurturing that they needed more stakes. This morning, after embedding stout wooden poles and tying up the plants, we moved back into the rose garden the bench I had built last year using the cast iron sides we had found in the makeshift fence alongside our neighbour, North Breeze.
I then walked down to Roger’s fields, and across to the woodland at the far end, then along the footpath beside the trees. The day benefited from a strong breeze.
Seeding cow parsley applauded wispy clouds scudding across a bright blue sky;
submissive grasses bent in the hedgerows;
and golden barley billowed across the fields.
Beyond the first section of the footpath through Roger’s land lies a further stretch which has, until recently, been too overgrown for me to tackle in sandals. The kind farmer has now opened this out so ramblers can easily reach the woods and look back up the hill.
A Red Admiral butterfly flickered among the barley as a poppy in a cornfield;
and a tattered Dark Green Fritillary reflected shiny ferns.
What I think were damselflies, stately, never still, blunted my focus.
After lunch came the hard part of positioning the bench. This involved digging a shallow pit, lining it with a membrane, filling it with sand, embedding rows of bricks to form a platform, and finally adding stepping-bricks for access. Only then could the seat be sited.
This is the current view due south from the bench.
St John’s wort embellishes the bed by the entry arch;
and a potted clematis Florida Sieboldii ( Passion Flower) fronts the kitchen window.
This evening, Jackie enjoyed her Hoegaarden as a cooling aperitif to our dinner of succulent chicken marinaded in lemon and lime sauce served with her famous egg fried rice, carrots, green beans and corn on the cob. I finished the merlot with the meal.