Today we enjoyed more sunshine and less rain than yesterday, but the wind raged at 55 m.p.h. I battled with this on a dead heading expedition and later photographed some windswept plants – I was at least as wobbly as the flowers.
Although Jackie had taken down the most vulnerable hanging baskets they were blowing in the wind,
as were many of the flowers, some of which will be obvious from a lack of focus or a missed framing – sometimes it would be me who wasn’t holding the camera steadily enough, such as with the first of
this group of phlox.
On the other hand these lilies of the same plant, one cluster higher than the other were pictured just a second apart.
More worrying are the leaves of the Weeping Birch, already prematurely aged by wind-burn from previous gales.
Comparatively sheltered are most of the day lilies
and some of the roses.
The decking and St John’s wort were largely protected.
This afternoon, Jackie and I watched the Wimbledon Ladies final between Marketa Vondrousova and Ons Jabeur.
This evening we all dined on Red Chilli Takeaway’s excellent fare, with which Jackie, Ian, Dillon and I drank Kingfisher.
This morning I published https://derrickjknight.com/2023/07/12/livia/ which I finished reading yesterday.
The stiff breeze that sped through the plot on this sunny day was such that I was pleased that Nick Hayter, who, with his customary care, spent several hours preparing the crumbly pebbledash west wall for painting, was working on the lower levels of the scaffolding.
First he removed the old drainpipe that, at an angle, spanned the centre of the wall;
next he scraped off the crumbliest material
and coated the rest with a liquid fungicidal solution.
Jackie had spent the morning completing her clearance of a footpath through the Palm Bed. She had filled two compost bags with debris. After lunch I bagged up more and transported all to the collection on the Back Drive. I had taken my camera in order to photograph the footpath, and was diverted by
a variety of day lilies en route.
This evening we all dined on pork barbecue spare ribs; rice by Jackie and Becky; and Becky’s salad with her own dressing. Mrs Knight drank Hoegaarden; Ian and Dillon, Peroni; and I, All Out 21 Merlot.
Jackie and I undertook a Tesco’s shopping trip today, after she had made purchases at Ferndene Farm Shop.
After lunch I conducted a long dead heading session with my new Wilkinson’s secateurs given to me on my birthday by Flo and Dillon. Later, I produced a few garden photographs.
On the near corner of Flo’s Fairy Garden stand a little patio seating set waiting for a permanent place when some healthy plants have been thinned out and the elfin gravel paths have been cleared a bit.
One cluster of day lilies stands beside the Shady Path
Gazebo and Brick Paths all now cleared,
attention has now been given to footpaths across the beds like these to the Orange Shed and through the West Bed;
and to the decking area cleaned and potted up.
Tall lilies tower over even climbers like Shropshire Lad in the Rose Garden.
We have ubiquitous varieties of day lilies and hot lips throughout the beds.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in pleasant conversation with the ladies of all ages in the household.
This evening we all dined on superb pork and chive sausages with creamy mash and fried onions, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Sierra Los Andes Mendoza Malbec 2022.
Accompanied by a shrill avian chorus that, apart from the occasional baleful wood pigeon, could have done with a bass tenor from Langholm, our division of labour in the garden this morning continued apace. It hadn’t been good idea for me to wear a sun-absorbing black T-shirt.
Perched in the Weeping Birch high above the eponymous flower bed
a pair of chaffinches kept up an incessant two note whistle lending a discordant jarring to the harmony. Was this a war cry or a serenade, I wondered?
To the left of Jackie, who was continuing her work on the Brick Path,
an owl roosted on a branched stand sporting a clematis fascinator in readiness for
Wedding Day festooning the Agriframes Arch with a certain amount of Compassion shown.
Another clematis adorns the Palm Bed, while two more owls are draped in ferns in the Pond Bed,
which also contains blue lobelia, pastel petunias, and rose campion.
Golden Day lilies star in the Dragon Bed.
Roses are represented by the red climber ascending the opposite side of the lopped cypress to The Generous Gardener; lofty Altissimo; and Rosa Gallica, being entered by a working bee.
This evening we dined on spicy lemon piri-piri chicken and various rices with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Selone Puglia Rosso Appassimento 2021.
Jackie spent the early part of the day completing her weeding of the Brick Circle and continuing along the Brick Path. I began my later stint of dead heading and pulling up weeds by gathering up her refuse and adding it to the compost bins.
Before eventually settling down at my computer I staggered around with my camera.
I photographed a variety of our clematises – on the patio, in the Rose Garden, and on the kitchen wall.
Wallflowers and miniature kniphofias blend well in the Pond Bed.
Roses include New Dawn on the Palm Bed;
in the Rose Garden Madame Alfred Carrière, Lady Emma Hamilton; the third picture containing the red Love Knot, pansies, Alan Titchmarsh, and Just Joey;
and finally the red climber along the Shady Path.
Day lilies appear on the corner of Margery’s Bed and in the Dragon Bed.
This evening we all dined on oven fish, chips, and onion rings; garden peas, pickled onions and gherkins, with with Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Waters Edge Moldovan Pinot Grigio, part of Becky and Ian’s Father’s Day selection.
I have ignored recent Jetpack communication from WP because I don’t understand it and am afraid to get involved with it. Until now, this seems to have been a good decision judging by the number of problems other bloggers seem to be having with it.
I came across a new problem. The block of photographs I had used successfully in this original post were inaccessible. After wrestling for an hour or so with this mystery I somehow discovered that Jetpack was now demanding that I sign up to Stripe – whatever that may be – and pay for the use of images from the pub’s promotional material, which had been part of my effort to publicise the excellent, innovative, venue. Fortunately we had visited again a few weeks later when Jackie had taken several pictures. I substituted some of these.
In doing so, I found all but one of the pictures missing from
I was able to recover these photographs from my iMac Photos, but even that presented its own difficulty. Try as I might I could not discover how to include what is now the last owl thatch image without it being cropped by WP – in fact I almost left it off altogether, which should tell you something. It only worked when I made it a separate tiled gallery of its own.
In the meantime my stints in nature’s gym incorporated two separate periods of weeding and dead heading, and only after finishing my rounds with the above problems, did I wander around with my camera.
Now I have given up. I cannot select the tiled gallery without the images being cropped. So the following pictures can only be seen in full when the gallery is accessed. Maybe they will sort this out, but I have had enough for one day.
The first of these two images of the Pond Bed is the view from our dining room window.
Some of our later blooming daily lilies are now flourishing.
Wedding Day rose, cropped in the second image can be seen on its are along the brick path.
Further along the brick path, on either side of the arch, can be seen more Cordyline Australis trees which, until recent clearances, have not been easily visible.
Here are two shots of the red climber along the Shady Path.
This rose coming into its own in the Dragon Bed was another of Jackie’s very cheap buys.
This veilchenblau rambler was bought very cheaply from an open day at Ferns Lodge in Cottagers Lane.
As entitled in the gallery Absolutely Fabulous, and Mamma Mia all enhance the Rose Garden.
This evening we dined on tender roast lamb; crisp croquette potatoes; firm Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, soft green beans, and meaty gravy with which Jackie finished the Bangla and I drank Trivento Reserve Malbec 2021.
It was hot and sultry outside enough to prevent me from undertaking anything other than photographing
a few flowers which are named in the gallery.
This evening we dined at Lal Quilla with Becky, Flo, Danni, and Elizabeth. The meal was a very happy birthday party for Jackie, Danni and me. I haven’t registered who ate or drank what, but we all enjoyed the food, the conversation, and the event.
This morning Jackie worked on clearing the Lawn Bed in readiness for renewed planting. I, in the meantime, jammed as many bags of recyclable garden refuse into the Modus before we drove them to the Efford recycling centre. This is the first time we have visited since before Covid, but Jackie was keen to maintain traditional lore which states that one never visits the facility without making a purchase from the newly named Reuse Shop, from which you can only buy what someone has thrown away with a bank card. Moreover we can only discard our rubbish by appointment which must be made on line. Such is upmarket progress.
She chose a matching pair of what will now be garden plant stands.
I rang the Verderers office later, when, by coincidence, Robert, the Agister was present. He spoke to me at some length, explaining that he knew the foal I had reported a couple of days ago, which was much happier than it had been at first. The large areas around his rump were the result of scouring – a form of diarrhoea brought on by the richness of the mother’s milk. This meant that the liquid excreta adhered to the hair and stripped it off. It is growing back. He wasn’t sure about the lesser blemishes but would see the animal regularly, and wasn’t concerned.
After lunch Jackie continued her weeding and planting while I gathered up compostable material which I transported to the bins, then carried out more dead-heading and weeding, and garnered
a few more photographs, each of which bears a title in the gallery.
This evening we dined on succulent pork chops and sausages; boiled new potatoes; crunchy carrots, cauliflower, and firm broccoli, with meaty gravy. Jackie drank Hoegaarden; Flo, mixed fruit juice cordial; and I, Chianti Rufino 2018.
Later I carried out dead heading and weeding then read more of Doris Lessing, after which, while Jackie continued her general garden maintenance I wandered around the garden (pictures of which are titled in the gallery)
before watching the highlights of the final day of the New Zealand/England cricket Test match.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s succulent beef pie, Duchesse potatoes, crunchy carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, and meaty gravy with which she finished the Entire-Deux-Mers white wine, Flo drank a mixed fruit cordial, and I drank Ponce de Leon red wine 2020.
My morning task was returning our bedroom to normal now that Nick has finished his clean decorating. This involved shoving the bed back into position; removing many items from the en suite bathroom, having the advantage of allowing me a shower;
returning some to the bedroom and others to become temporary lumber, in the redecorated sitting room. Some of these items will furnish the room while we will have many pictures to cull.
Nick’s work leads these the eye smoothly through these two rooms.
This afternoon, accompanied by my trusty camera, I carried out more dead-heading and pulled up a few weeds. As usual this gallery provides a title to each photograph.
It was only yesterday that I was conversing with Anne of Something Over Tea about our mutual dearth of butterflies, and today we were visited by a solitary Red Admiral.
This evening we all dined on the patio on Papa John’s pizzas with which Jackie and Becky drank Zesty, Ian drank Hoegaarden, and I drank Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2020.
