Category Archives: Uncategorized

The garden is winding down. Not much colour now except for a few tiny stray roses and the last of the asters and marigolds. Meanwhile, the evergreens are doing their job of providing year-round colour and form. The blue-green grasses and the conifers give some structure to the fading garden and still please my eyeContinue reading “Sunlight, Planning and Painting”

Another week has flown by. The weather has been mixed but a few nice days allowed a bit of gardening. So many leaves everywhere. The garden looks very untidy and a bit sad as everything fades away. So, lots of sweeping and cutting back to do. A few lovely marigolds and pansies to enjoy now.Continue reading “Apples and Air Fryers”

Halfway through October with misty mornings and sunlit days. Leaves drop and drift around the garden and collect here and there in damp, scenty, heaps. The acers are changing colour in a lovely way but usually hang on to the leaves until next month, when they shed them suddenly. The fruit trees are losing theirsContinue reading “Autumn Planting and Creative Urges”

I missed writing my blog last week and yet the time has flashed by. So here I am again with all the latest. Lovely autumn days, which are sometimes wet and windy, fresh mornings and early nights, are upon us. The garden is full of changing leaves, seedheads and berries. The asters are just beginningContinue reading “Autumn Colours and Parsnip Wine”

That Autumn feeling is in the air. The scent of golden leaves underfoot and a certain change in atmosphere. So difficult to describe, yet a sensation we all know so well. From September onwards, the perfume of apples greets me when I fetch garden tools from the shed. Now and then a ripe, juicy plumContinue reading “Scrummy Cakes and Garden Pleasures”

Our Queen has been laid to rest in a moving ceremony. Time perhaps for us all to move on and think positive thoughts about our own lives. Time to appreciate those things which really matter. Regular readers will know how much I value my home comforts, creative pastimes and self-sufficiency. As Winter approaches once again,Continue reading “Sausages, Squash, and Fading Beauty”

It’s been a week of great sadness and yet, also, a time of hope and renewal. The death of our Queen shook the nation but the ascension of King Charles offers hope and continuity in a time of turbulence and trouble. At times of social upheaval, we take comfort in the familiar things in ourContinue reading “Loss and Renewal”

September, the beginning of the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”. A little change in the air, cooler nights and a bounty of good things to eat. Some of the apples and pears have been gathered in. Some are high in the trees and will need a bit of effort to reach them. Plums areContinue reading “A Fruitful Season”

It’s been a week of mixed fortunes. Lovely warm days, some rain to revive the plants and the gardeners, a new fence and the excitement of planning for a flower border. On the downside, the garden is full of wasps around the fruit and my husband had a very unpleasant sting with an allergic reaction.Continue reading “Fencing and Feathers”

More than half the month gone and harvest time is apace. Apples and pears are begging to be picked and fall off the tree if they’re ignored. So much to do at this time of year. The fallen fruit is being appreciated by the garden wildlife so it’s not going to waste. I found timeContinue reading “Preserving for Winter”