Tag: fuchsias

Sweet As Scented Cyclamen

This morning I removed my compression stockings, designed to deter deep vein thrombosis, which have the disadvantage of slipping on smooth floors. This action does not seem to have been premature.

My next plan was to completely de-crust my skin by treating myself to my first shower since the morning of 21st. First I had to be coated in Hibiscrub in order to keep germs at bay.

I delayed this process after lunch by sitting with a camera on a patio chair in the stiffly breezy yet warm sunshine. Of course I stayed on my seat.

The wind had blown down a post supporting a basket of begonias

and gently laid the plants upright on the paving.

The peach rose, the fuchsias, and the verbena bonariensis swayed in the gusts; The more sheltered honesty, hydrangea, busy lizzies, and Erigeron blended well with each other.

When I returned from my shower I fancied I was smelling sweet as the scented cyclamen and its ladybirds casting shadows across the table.

This evening Jackie prepared me the same meal as yesterday with carrots and cauliflower instead of runner beans. She sneaked in twice as much, but I could only eat half and give her the rest back for tomorrow.

Garden News

Although still a little unsteady I have largely recovered from yesterday’s swimming head. I was therefore able to help Jackie load more refuse bags into the car and transport them to the Efford Recycling Centre.

I then attended to administration on which I hadn’t been able to concentrate the day before.

After lunch I wandered around the garden which had freshened up after much overnight rain. I have photographed flowers in situ, some still bejewelled by raindrops and two with bees.

The gallery images bear the titles of the main flowers in each picture.

By dinner time I was fully recovered. Our meal consisted of fat-free Ferndene pork and chive sausages; creamy mashed potatoes; carrots, cauliflower, and cabbage all well cooked, with meaty gravy.

A Sunny Spell

This being the last day of sunshine for the next few I walked around the garden with a camera and photographed

these flora, each of which carries a title in the gallery.

Meanwhile the jackdaws were most vociferous on the chimney stack.

During the afternoon we splashed our way through lanes such as Sowley where pools on the verges spread across the road.

Roaring its way beneath the road a fast moving bubbling stream alerted me to its presence.

Further along, on a drier stretch, the familiar group of ponies with their Shetland acolyte that we normally see

on St Leonard’s Road had strayed somewhat from their normal beat.

This evening we all dined on cheese centred fish cakes; piquant cauliflower cheese; tangy ratatouille; roast white and sweet potatoes; tender runner beans and broccoli stems; crunchy carrots and firm cauliflower, with which Jackie drank Zesty and water and I drank Mighty Murray Australian shiraz.

Sunshine And Showers Today

Before this morning’s first shower descended I carried out a session of rose dead heading. Shirt sleeves kept me warm enough.

After a heavy spattering on our roof I introduced my lens to the sun briefly flirting with scudding cloud clusters.

Raindrops on various blooms and a few garden views came into view. The day, much of which I spent nearing the end of the second volume of Richard Church’s autobiography, continued with more overcast skies than with sunshine.

This evening we all dined on succulent roast pork with perfect tooth-testing crackling; crisp Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes; crunchy carrots; firm broccoli and cauliflower; tender runner beans and spinach; and meaty gravy, with which Jackie drank more of the Lieblich and I drank Hacienda Uranus Garnacha Old Vines, 2020.

Warm October Sunshine

Early this morning I watched a recording of last night’s rugby World Cup semi final match between England and South Africa.

Later, sporting shirt sleeves, I wandered among the garden plants with my camera.

As usual, accessing the gallery by clicking on any image will reveal individual titles.

Before dinner, Jackie drove me to Hatchet Pond to catch the sunset.

While waiting for the sun to reach the lake I was entranced by

the calm communing of a lone woman who was unknowingly blessed by a rainbow as light rain fell.

Jackie had also glimpsed the colourful phenomenon as it appeared above the car park.

We each photographed the sunset, the last two in this gallery being by Jackie.

The above mentioned dinner consisted of Jackie’s delicious chicken and vegetable stewp followed by her spicy pumpkin pie. We drank more of the same wines of yesterday.

More Unlikely Bedfellows

Shirtsleeves were just about adequate for my post-gale walk around the garden this cooler and brighter morning.

Once again plants, albeit somewhat weatherbeaten, most unlikely to be found together in the flower beds at this time of year are featured. The yellow climbing rose Summer Time, and the ginger lilies should, for example be over by now.

Today’s gallery harbours more plants not recently photographed which bear titles once accessed by a click on any image. I think the butterfly is a Speckled Wood, which we have not seen before in 2023.

Afterwards I made good headway on Nevil Shute’s “On the Beach” which I had begun reading a couple of days ago.

Elizabeth and Jacqueline visited this afternoon and were very impressed with and bought some of Flo’s all natural materials hand made jewellery. They also chatted with Ellie.

I then watched a recording of the rugby World Cup quarter final match between Wales and Argentina.

We then dined on oven fish and chips, onion rings, mushy peas and pickled onions, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Doom Bar.

Unlikely Bedfellows

Early this morning I watched a recording of last night’s rugby World Cup match between France and Italy, and before my afternoon’s viewing of the games between Wales and Georgia and England v. Samoa, walked around our warm, sun-filled, plot to photograph

another selection of unlikely garden bedfellows, each of which bears a title in the gallery.

This evening we all enjoyed Jackie’s meal of her well filled mound of beef and onions stacked beneath short crust decorated pastry; crisp roast red potatoes; Brussels sprouts, carrots, and broccoli al dente; and thick, meaty gravy, with which she finished the Blush and I finished the Bordeaux.

A Fly In His Eye

With the day growing steadily warmer and sunnier, Jackie began seeking stems for plant cuttings, continuing this afternoon, when I raked clippings, leaves, and twigs from gravel paths and added two more empty compost bagfuls to the heap for the next dump trip.

I made a start on reading John Prebble’s history of Culloden, then wandered around the garden with my camera.

Each of these random photographs, some featuring the various flying insects flitting about, bears a title in the gallery.

This evening we dined on a variety of Subway’s excellent fresh and tasty sandwiches, followed by berry strudel and vanilla Cornish ice cream, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Bordeaux. Afterwards we sampled Lyme Bay Winery Traditional Mead.

Pressing Necessity

Today I had had my fill of photographing raindrops inside or outside our window panes, so, with precipitation persisting, I prised the protesting ironing board out of the utility room where it has languished since before Christmas, and made a start on eight months of neglected ironing.

I managed a dozen shirts.

Later Jackie took over, adding two pairs of trousers, and starting on a pile of serviettes.

By the end of the day, although a little cool, the sun was in evidence, the breeze had dropped, the chairs were dry, and we were able to enjoy pre-dinner drinks on the patio admiring blooms such as

these, all labelled in the gallery, except for the lilies just around the corner, from our chairs.

Our dinner consisted of cheese-centred haddock fish cakes; piquant cauliflower cheese; peas, sweet corn and carrots, with which Jackie finished the Zesty and I drank La Vieille Ferme red wine 2022

The Phantom

Today was largely overcast yet remained dry.

This morning I carried out a dead-heading session and filled another old compost bag of cuttings and weeds for the next dump trip. I was watched by a robin on the Rose Garden fence, but didn’t have my camera with me.

Later I returned with the camera and photographed

a bee and a hoverfly (lower down to the right) on For Your Eyes Only;

and other insects on or approaching other plants titled in the gallery;

we have more Japanese anemones, and fuchsias;

various hydrangeas, including the phantom which is having its best year yet;

numerous dahlias;

a white New Zealand hebe, a few lingering clematises, some recently flowering blue agapanthuses, the peach climbing rose, and a hollyhock refusing to stay tied to protect it from the wind.

Jackie’s recent plantings include these baskets suspended from the eucalyptus, and the begonia and lobelia perched on a brick stand.

This afternoon I helped Flo to manage my camera and the iMac editing facility for a photographic project she is embarking upon. She is a quick learner. The pictures are hers, so I won’t show any of them here.

This evening we all dined on tender roast lamb; crisp roast potatoes and softer sweet ones; crunchy carrots; and firm Brussels sprouts and broccoli, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank François du Bessis GSM 2021.