Wednesday 17 July 2019

Meanwhile, A Trip to the Tip!

Hello Friends!

Goodness, it's been three weeks, most of which have been utterly glorious Summery weather, since I last wrote. If we have had the odd rainy day then it's gone mostly unnoticed, blanketed by blue skies and warm sunshine, and lazy ocean breezes billowing gently across sun baked hay meadows and ripening corn fields.

Welcome to my new followers! Thank you, and I am thrilled you now follow my ramblings.


I have a little news to share!  I started a new job on July 1st, and this is the reason why I haven't written an entry here for a short while.  I applied and interviewed in June, and shortly after was told I was the successful candidate! Yay Me!!!  It's part time, and that suits me well right now. It's taking a little getting used to, but I do love it.  My official title is Retail Assistant, but it also involves giving out a lot of information on the area to tourists and visitors who are looking for things to do, places to visit, and general things that all tourists need help with. I love helping people, and I simply love it!  Oh, it's with the National Trust, by the way. Many of you will know I am a huge fan of the National Trust, and I know many of you share my passion, so I am doubly happy to have got this job.  I am so grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to work for them.

So, today is a day off and when my lovely neighbour asked if I would like to go to the "tip" with her, I jumped at the chance.  Those of you who know me well know that I can get a little excited over a trip to the tip {officially, it's the Civic Amenity and Recycling Centre} as it brings back such happy memories of going there with my Dad when we had rubbish to take for recycling, and we would always route around to see if there was someone else's unwanted treasure that we could use. I've always been a recycler long before it was fashionable, you see.  Off we went to take away her garden waste, and I could not resist taking photos of all the flowers growing around the centre, they are such a haven for wildlife!  Here are a few.

There was a huge bank of Convolvulus and the pristine white flowers were simply gigantic! It has many names, including bindweed and morning glory, but is generally considered the bane of gardeners and farmers alike as it chokes out everything in its creeping path.  Did you know there are over 1,650 species of Convolvulus?  Neither did I.  I think it is a very beautiful plant.



A hedge full of all sorts of wild flowers, and some that may have seeded from the nearby composting centre


I love umbelliferous plants of any kind. Their flower and seed heads make my heart go pitter patter and the birds will feed happily for many weeks to come.


Teasels in a tiny patch by some giant concrete monoliths. Loved by goldfinches particularly, and also by me to put in dried arrangements for Autumn decorating.


I think this one is having a 1980's style aerobic workout!



Another umbel gone to seed


Such a pretty colour on the sorrel plant. As a child, I would pull all the seeds off in my hand and scatter them like confetti as I walked the country byways with my Nanna. Little did I know my sweet game was spreading the seeds far and wide!


Buddleias abounded everywhere! Butterflies will be in abundance when the sun comes out, for sure.


One of the fun things is finding new treasures from the discarded items others have brought to recycle, and today I found these two, tiny cut glass bowls. I think they may be salt cellars, but whatever they are, they are pretty, vintage pieces that I am happy to give a new home.



Uh oh! As we approach the junction back on to the main road, we suddenly discover we will be stuck behind a tractor pulling a trailer full of hay bales. The joys of Summer in the country!


Soon enough, though, he turns into the farm lane and once again we are on our way!


So, I hope you enjoyed your little trip to the tip!  I am gathering material for more gardening entries, but you will have to bear with me as I adjust to working and I settle down into my new routine.

Until next time
Deborah xo

16 comments:

  1. Thanks again Debbie. You definitely have an eye for beauty, even at the dump.

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  2. Well, first off Deb, congratulations on your new position with the National Trust. I could sing their praises forever! I'm sure you will be wonderful at your position and I'm sure they are happy to have you on board!
    I enjoyed seeing your trip to the tip. Great finds of the salt cellars. I have one that looks very similar that belonged to my grandmother. Isn't it amazing the things folks throw away? The bindweed flowers are lovely, and you captured their beauty perfectly, but I must admit to having a problem with them wanting to choke out my daylilies as they wind themselves around and around. They are the dickens to get rid of! Have a great evening, my friend! xoxo

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    1. Thank you, dear friend. I am always amazed with some of the things I find at the tip, or in charity/thrift shops. Bindweed is such a fiend, but oh! I forgive it all when those flowers open. Enjoy your day! xoxo

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  3. Congratulations on your new job - I guess you will meet all sorts of people every day which will be interesting.
    A visit to the tip is much more boring here, the men are grumpy, there is no hanging around they want everyone in and out ASAP but they don't help and nowhere to rescue any of the stuff dumped either strictly Not Allowed!
    The Salts are so pretty

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    1. Thank you, yes I do meet a wide variety of interesting people now. Sorry your tip is staffed by such grumpy men.

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  4. Congratulations on your new job and I am so glad you are enjoying it so much - it sounds interesting :)

    I love all your flower photos - I spotted some Bindweed today along a country lane and teasels are a plant I really do need to grow!

    Your two cut glass bowls look lovely :)

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    1. Thank you, and yes, I am learning a lot of new information daily now!

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  5. Beautiful photos! Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet! We are not allowed to take things from our tip.

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    1. Thank you! I guess we are lucky at our tip.

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  6. I enjoyed hearing about your visit to the Tip center, your great find, and the lovely wildflowers surrounding it! Your job sounds like the perfect job for you, Deborah. I'm glad you could get a part-time job so that you'll still have time to write to us all here on your blog.

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    1. Thank you Cathy. Yes, I do enjoy my new job very much indeed.

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  7. So glad you got to go to the tip. I know how much you enjoy the ride and need to go there for odds and ends.

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    1. It was fun seeing all the lovely plants growing so wildlife friendly about the place!

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  8. Congratulations on the job - it sounds perfect.
    I had no idea there were so many varieties of convulvulous! Amazing.

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    1. Thank you. I know, I was looking up to see if the particularly large flowered one at the Tip had a name, and that was what popped up.

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