Ramblings
This afternoon I wandered around the garden with my camera.
Each of these images bears a title in the gallery. It will be seen that some of the tulips have survived the stealthily stealing squirrel.
Afterwards I sat down with ‘The Cunning Man’.
This evening we dined on succulent roast pork; crisp Yorkshire pudding; boiled new potatoes; crunchy carrots; tender broccoli stems and runner beans, with meaty gravy, with which I drank more of the Malbec.
Just before lunch the dry weather and intermittent sunshine tempted me into the garden for a very brief garnering of material for a post I had imagined a day or two ago. After a good rest I began it.
What I had noticed was that the West Bed contained many self-seeded hellebores which were too well arranged to have arrived there by accident.
One occupied the end of the Phantom Bed opposite.
Although there are many such plants in the garden this, double headed, is one of only two introduced by Jackie.
Like this cyclamen in the front garden gravel the main crop of hellebores is self seeded. It will eventually find itself transported to a more appropriate location, which is what The Head Gardener and Martin between them have done with many of the hellebores and other such volunteers, usually when so small that I wouldn’t have recognised them for what they are.
Once more I lacked sufficient concentration to continue with my book.
This evening we enjoyed a reprise of last night’s chicken piri-piri meal supplemented by fresh cauliflower and broccoli, with which I drank more of the shiraz.
Late this morning a took a walk around the garden with my camera.
We have a number of daffodils and primulas that have survived the ravages of the squirrel in search of tulip bulbs, because Jackie has continually kept putting back disturbed soil.
There is hardly a bed without a cluster of our peripatetic spreading snowdrops sometimes sharing space with
prolific self seeding hellebores,
or a planted pot containing neither violas nor pansies.
Camellias are not the only currently flowering shrubs; we also have a
couple of Daphne Odora Aureomarginata aptly named for their very sweet fragrance.
Bergenias have bloomed throughout the winter.
This afternoon I watched the rugby Six Nations championship match between Italy and France.
Our dinner this evening consisted of baked gammon; boiled new potatoes; crunchy carrots; tender runner beans; moist ratatouille; and piquant cauliflower cheese topped with sliced tomato, with which Jackie drank Diet Coke and I drank more of the Côtes du Rhône Villages.
When the heavy rain and stormy winds seen as the precursor of storm Eowen made way for a sunny afternoon I rambled around the garden perusing plants in search of signs of Spring.
Those I pictured bear their titles in this gallery.
I spent the rest of the afternoon learning more about ‘The Brontës’.
This evening we dined on tempura prawns and spring rolls on Jackie’s colourful savoury rice; and tender runner beans, with which I finished the merlot.
The forecast overnight heavy rain persisted, clattering on the kitchen Velux window until shortly before dawn. Slowly, sheepishly, the sun crept into the skies, warming the garden enough for me to walk around in shirtsleeves, looking at the difference in the light from yesterday.
The gelatinous liquid aiding temporary hibernation of the bees was now running freely, for most had left their roosts.
One tottered tentatively around its berberis berth.
This evening we all dined on succulent roast breast of lamb; crisp roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding; al dente carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli, chopped cauliflower leaves, and tasty gravy with mint and cranberry sauce. Jackie, Becky, Ian, and I drank Sacchetto rosé.
Against the soundtrack of the nesting raucous jackdaws I took a short walk around the garden, photographing
some of the many clusters of snowdrops;
more recent hellebores, unusually holding up their heads;
a few more camellias;
trailing vinca, a survivor of last year’s primulas,
and a white cyclamen.
Jackie’s numerous pelargonium cuttings are happy in the greenhouse.
This evening we all dined on tasty pork and garlic sausages; creamy mashed potatoes; fried onions; crunchy carrots; firm cauliflower and its chopped leaves, with meaty gravy. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Mayu, gran reserva Carménère 2020.
After lunch I recovered pictures and substituted feature images for the following posts:
His waterproof hooded jacket glistening from fairly steady light rain Martin had spent the morning cutting back last year’s dead garden material.
In order to improve the view from our kitchen window,
he began with the Pond Bed.
As will be seen from a few views I photographed on a walk round the garden, there is much more to be done.
Pearly drops slowly slid from camellias
and hellebores.
Tête-à-têtes and snowdrops happily co-existed, and
the lichen on the Nottingham Castle bench continued to celebrate the purer air of its last resting place.
This evening we dined on succulent roast chicken; sage and onion stuffing; boiled new potatoes; crunchy carrots; firm broccoli and cauliflower; tender green beans; and tasty gravy, with which Jackie drank Diet Coke and I drank more of the Malbec.
On this warm and sunny day Jackie unwrapped the wooden patio chairs and
we set them in place;
Flo continued her work in the garden, clearing twigs and leaves of cordyline
Australis and setting about burning them;
I wandered around with a camera.
Jackie and I took a forest drive after lunch while the others dealt with banking.
I photographed wild woodland daffodils along the banks of the rippling, reflecting Lin Brook, where bent a broken tree trunk.
We continued along Highwood Road, with shadows
falling across last autumn’s fallen leaves and the trunks of trees.
A field horse churned up a mud bath and splashed around in it before joining
its companions in a run,
while others grazed in a field opposite.
A drift of daffodils enhanced a neighbouring piece of land.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken and vegetable stewp, with which she, Becky, and Ian drank Portuguese Rosé, while I drank Patrick Chodot Fleurie 2019.
Apparently yesterday’s weather was simply a precursor of Storm Dudley, due today. As the wind began to pick up this morning, we took a walk round the garden.
I had begun with four views from overhead, the last two of which featured camellias,
now quite abundant, and
beginning to drop blooms to soften the gravel paths.
Both bergenia and snowdrops are becoming widespread.
Pale blue irises reticulata; golden daffodils including têtes-à-têtes; white osteospermum; sprawling blue vinca; pale yellow primroses; and rich red cyclamen add their splashes of colour.
The strong sweet scents of Daphnes Odorata and Jacqueline Postill pervade the air.
The Head Gardener was on hand helping hanging hellebores hold heads high.
Dudley is tipped to be less fierce than Storm Eunice, due to arrive in UK on Friday, bringing us gusts of 85 mph.
This evening we dined on baked gammon; boiled potatoes; crunchy carrots; tender runner beans; and a mélange of fresh vegetables in a piquant cheese sauce, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Merlot.
On a warm day with sunny intervals it was time to record the garden as it comes alive.
The Brick Path and the Back Drive borders each hold some of the plants I am about to show, like the euphorbia fronting one of the dead stumps on the Back Drive.
We have many tulips in pots and in the beds.
Varieties of daffodils proliferate.
Camellias have been blooming since last November, and are now accompanied by magnolia Vulcan.
Hellebores hang about everywhere.
Japanese maples are coming into leaf.
Spring snowflakes are spreading nicely; forget-me-nots; primroses; pulmonaria; white fritillary; epimedium, wood anemones; cowslips; chionodoxa; and mahonia are further delights.
Unfortunately, on my rounds I found the body of the ailing dove, which had suffered no further damage.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s delicious chicken and vegetable stewp and fresh crusty bread, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Red Blend.