Photographs I Thought I Had Lost!

Gentle Reader ~~~ a few years ago, when my much loved Papaver Orientalis "Coral Sea" {which you have seen often on my blog, for it is a particular favourite of mine} was new and gave me just five magnificent blooms in that first season, there was a promise of what was to come ~~~ I just happened to come out of my cottage at the most opportune of moments.  I honestly think if I had been an hour earlier or an hour later I would have missed what has become 'one of those moments' in my life. 

One of the great, big, green buds, about the size of a large Kiwi Fruit, and all covered in the finest and tiniest of fuzzy hairs, was in the process of opening and oh! what an opening it was ~~~ I rushed indoors to fetch my camera immediately!

I think the whole birth of this bloom took about three hours from the first tentative cracking open of the protective bud to the final emergence of the complete and perfect bloom, like a beautiful ballroom gown, fit for any waltz, or the skirt of a ballerina as she floats across a stage ~~~ layers and layers of tulle~like petals scrunched and folded into an otherwise uninteresting package ~~~ never, ever judge a book by it's cover!  Who would have realised such magic, such beauty, was about to emerge from such a boring bud ~~~

Just look at all the textures within each image ~~~ so amazing that it survived, so tightly packed, so delicate and fragile, a perfection of God's creative hand indeed ~~~ I was over the moon to think that I was chosen to witness this and to record it too ~~~ it is still one something that amazes, delights, and humbles me to this very day ~~~ Some of the images are very similar, and some are post edited, but I have included all for you to see, for each one holds it's own special merit ~~~ I haven't even talked about the colour!

Here, Gentle Reader, is the delicate texture of the crumpled bloom, held captive for so long as it grew encased inside the tight, green bud, finally breaking free of it's bonds, revealing such fragile petals, tightly packed, full of creases releasing, like the most expensive silk dress of a Princess emerging from her tiny, Cinderella carriage ~~~

While a Gardener's Work is Never Done, some days the rewards are more special than others ~~~

 ~~~A Gardener's Work Is Never Done~~~

Summertime ~~~ and the snails think it's easy!

Gentle Reader ~~~ Summer is now a few days old and Wimbledon is upon us again; I make no secret that I am relieved, for I would rather watch proverbial paint dry than watch the World Cup these days {remember, this is a one time 'wouldn't miss a game' 'dyed in the wool' soccer fan speaking, but these days Wimbledon, with strawberries and cream, and Pimm's or champagne is more for me}

We are basking each day in glorious, gentle, warm sunshine, tempered by {slightly irritating} stiff breezes which are whizzing and whipping things around the garden, and as I sit here I can hear the stiff rustling of trees full of dry leaves that are calling for rain.  The winds make it comfortable if you do not like the scorching, baking~hot days, but towards the end of this week there is a low pressure system currently journeying across the Atlantic towards Britain, bringing with it predicted thunderstorms and a lot of much needed rain, but also a substantial unseasonable dip in temperatures too.  Just as I have planted things out ~~~ I guess that means I am to blame?

Over the weekend I was given two tomato plants!  What a lovely thing to receive.  They already have fruit, and were in desperate need of potting on, so I cut open a grow bag {which will give feed for up to six weeks} and planted them, giving them good staking too, to keep them upright and sturdy against the winds while they settle in and put out new roots.  I put one on each end, and being the constantly thrifty person that I am I put a catch crop of mixed leaves that I brought on from seed a few weeks ago, I think it was May 26th I sowed them in a tray of cells.

Here are my two tomato plants with the catch crop of leaves in the middle ~~~

and the mixed leaves, which in a couple of weeks will be cutting and cropping for about six weeks into August ~~~

I think it was about June 2nd I sowed my soaked runner bean seeds and two germinated in the direct bin sowing, four in the cells, so yesterday afternoon I potted the cell grown ones in with the bin grown ones ~~~ the bin is wrapped with double layered bubble wrap to try and compensate for the wind chill factor ~~~

So, you can imagine my utter horror this very morning when I came out to four plants eaten {by something, probably slugs} overnight down to almost all but the growing tip {so that is something to be thankful for!} and two relatively intact plants ~~~ Garden Emergency Services to the rescue immediately!  I cut the bottoms off my stash of 2 litre water bottles and they are now placed securely over each individual plant in the hopes they will recover {as I said, the growing tips are still intact} very soon ~~~ I raised the bubble wrap blanket a little higher too, giving more protection and hopefully keep them better insulated to help them recover ~~~

Remember these guys?  Such pretty, but voracious devourers of my mullein {verbascum} plants?  Well, another horror story!  My lovely dwarf pink verbascum {below} has hardly any leaves and all the new flower buds are almost all eaten.  I came out to find the plant covered in these white, black, and yellow caterpillars merrily munching their way through all the juicy leaves and tasty buds ~~~ what to do now?  I cannot kill anything {I think the caterpillars, slugs, and snails all know this} nor do I use pesticides, so ~~~

 

 

I picked them off, one by one, and put them all down on the path hoping they would move on to some other garden ~~~ no sooner done than Mrs Blackbird arrived and promptly started to scoop up the offending bugs in her beak to flit off with a tasty feed for her hungry brood of chicks!  We helped each other out! ~~~

This is one corner of my garden, with a thousand shades of green ~~~ the rosemary {almost out of shot on the top left} I bought in 1995 and it moved house with me three times!  I have taken many cuttings over the years.  The oregano I bought at the same time and that has grown and seeded everywhere ~~~ it is in nooks and crannies, growing among the paving stones as it would in it's native Mediterranean habitat, and I use it in small tussie mussies along with other small, suitable flowers and foliage plants to give to friends.  See the lavender spikes pushing up in between the green?  I love to let things mingle and mix like this, softening each other and complimenting other plants ~~~

My sage is in full flower ~~~ beautiful, purple spikes on one of my favourite herbs {I love roasted sage leaves!}

Now, earlier in the year I said there would be departures, so, Gentle Reader, this is my first foray into sharing a simple recipe.  As a vegetarian I eat eggs, and I have a supply of lovely, fresh, organic, free range eggs available to me.  I do so long to have hens of my own, one day I will but for now I have to buy them.  Here is my recipe for a very simple egg salad ~~~ it is what this gardener loves to eat!  All measures are approximate and you can adjust everything according to your preference ~~~

First, hard boil four eggs ~~~

Peel them, and while still hot ~~~

Crush them in a ricer ~~~

This gives a really fine texture without any mashing around with a fork and stops them from going too mushy as they might in a processor ~~~

Working quickly, while the eggs are still warm, add 1oz unsalted butter, 1/2 oz butter spread {such as Flora or Utterly Butterly} 1 tablesp Heinz Salad Cream, season to taste with salt and pepper {I like lots of pepper as you can see, and I use Steenbergs Organic Four colour peppercorn mix }

Blend it all together and chill until ready to use.  It will keep overnight if you wish.  I love it on thick slices of home made bread and butter as an open sandwich, with a small salad of tomatoes and onions ~~~ or piled into lettuce leaf 'dishes' ~~~ Cos or Little Gem work well, I've even used it to fill cherry tomatoes ~~~

There, that wasn't so bad, was it?  How did I do?  Who knows, maybe next time I'll do cake! ~~~ of course, you can do more and adjust everything accordingly!  I've made it with finely chopped celery and onion too ~~~ but very finely chopped, and about a tablespoon of each ~~~ I hate to overpower the delicious organic eggs ~~~

Would you like to see some flowers now?  I thought you might, so here we are ~~~

I bought these Argyranthemums and crimson, highly scented dianthus in the local independent plant centre.  I will be potting up tomorrow ~~~

Can you imagine the fragrance from this David Austin rambling rose Frances E Lester?  It greets me every morning as I awake, for it is planted very near my bedroom window and the fragrance flood fills the cottage all Summer long ~~~ as well as the garden! ~~~ it is totally intoxicating ~~~

A pink osteospermum with a tiny, seeded grass ~~~

My dwarf clematis is not doing very well this year, hardly any flowers, they are much smaller than last year's flowering, which was quite magnificent.  They are also much more grey and the stripe is more defined I think. I am wondering if this is some sort of balance, after last year's all out effort ~~~

The herb Feverfew {in the background} is growing madly and I'm sure there will be much weeding and transplanting of seedlings next Spring, for it is prolific ~~~

Buttercups and Daisies are full the lawn ~~~ I have not mowed for three weeks, can't you tell?  I will be doing this job, which I really do not like, tomorrow evening as it is long overdue and with rain coming in towards the end of the week it is a job that needs to be out of the way ~~~

Here is a tiny jewel of a treat ~~~ an alpine strawberry ~~~ I have many hundreds of these plants that I have allowed to run through the borders as they please, for they are a great ground cover and weed suppressor and a tasty treat for the gardener going about her jobs, to find a tiny red morsel of sweet delight ~~~

The raspberries are nearly ready, in fact I picked my first one today and promptly ate it, forgetting to take a photograph to share ~~~ it was slightly under~ripe, but I could not help myself!  The few blackcurrants that have come this year may yield enough for one pie, which saddens me that there will not be jam for the Winter, for I value it for it's Vitamin C content as it makes a delicious warming and comforting drink with lemon and whisky if I catch a cold.  The gooseberries, too, are very nearly ready, almost ripe enough to pick so I shall check them daily now.  Things are moving as Summer days are with us, but remember that ~~~

 ~~~A Gardener's Work Is Never Done~~~

 

 

I know I said ~~~

Gentle Reader~~~I know I promised not to deliver more than two blog entries a week, but the photographs are starting to pile up, and being a person of minimal organisation skills they get lost in the ether of cyberspace {did I actually use that word here?} or the darkest recesses of my hard drive, along with the other few thousand pictures {yes, you read that correctly} that infest my computer where they remain unnamed and unsorted, catalogued only by the date they were taken.  I know this is very bad practice indeed and I really should sort myself, and the photographs, out.  Life was so much easier when all was on 35mm film and the temptation to shoot everything that poses or stands still long enough did not exist, or was simply too expensive.  Imagine taking over 200 images a day on 35mm film!  My bank manager would never understand or give me an overdraft facility for that!  I would have to lie and tell him the money was for new tyres for my car ~~~ which as I do not own a car would be a bit of a stretch! {giggles}

The weather is simply perfect and glorious now.  I could throw all manner of descriptions out, from simple adjectives to flourishing sentence fragments, but comfortably warm to sit out, too hot to dig and weed, big blue skies, bright sunshine, contra trails not clouds, deck chairs, and Pimms {or home made lemonade} on the lawn just about sums it up.  In other words, it just feels good.  After the Winter we had it feels like a miracle!

I did dig a bit this morning, because yesterday I removed the big weed smothering covers from the veggie patch {that took forever!} and this morning I started to turn the soil over, breaking it up, ready to receive several of the courgette plants that are coming on very well now.  I went into Spider Town {aka garden shed} and brought out several of the home made cloches which will give the plants extra protection from everything that threatens them once they are in the soil, so all is ready.  These home made cloches are 5 litre water bottles that I cut the bottoms off and they make great cloches, the tops come off and on to regulate the heat inside the little mini greenhouses and I am recycling instead of adding the bottles to landfill.

So, I did say that I'm bursting at the seams with photographs to share with you ~~~ would you mind waiting just a moment, it is getting very hot here in the living room, the sun is streaming in through the French doors and I must draw the curtains ~~~ ah! that is better ~~~ ironic too!  We spend all Winter trying to keep warm, if only we could harness some of today's starting~to~be~searing heat to use in January and February!

Gentle Reader ~~~ are you still with me? ~~~ here is the reason for my digging and preparing ~~~ do you recall, a few short weeks ago when I planted my courgette seeds here and then this happened ~~~

Then this ~~~ 

and a few days ago this ~~~

 

Well, today they are even bigger and are rocketing ever up in size with the increasing Summer warm days and lots of watering on my part, so I think they are now ready to plant up.   It really is one of the best feelings in the world, to see the tiny seeds you sow germinate and grow into healthy little plants ~~~hence the digging and clearing, but only in little bits and often as it is very hot and uncomfortable working out there today, with the sun beating down on my back and almost no breeze {well, there's a change, isn't it, no breeze?}

There are runner beans too, but they are quite behind, in total I have six plants, three in the big bin and three in the tray that I planted as my 'insurance'.  However, I am confident that they will come on and give some cropping, even if it isn't huge.  Anything fresh from the garden is a treat, even if it is small ~~~

  

Across The Shire drifts a lonesome drone~~~the farmers are busy making hay while the sun shines! 

 

While back in the Garden busy bees drone as they go about harvesting the bounty of pollen from the poppies ~~~

  

Do you notice the wings are beating so fast they look as if the bee is wingless! Oh My! ~~~

 

  

 But here, you can see the blurry wings whizzing to keep the bumble bee in the air!  A miracle ~~~

  

I was thrilled yesterday to be watching, off and on, all day long two darling little wrens and here is one for you to see ~~~ 

 

Then, late last evening, one of them came flying straight at me, why! I thought he would fly straight in to me, but no, he sat on a nearby wall, close to where I fill my watering cans, and just looked at me, you know "that look" that says, well, look at me, here I am, aren't I just so cute? ~~~ Magic, and made me so happy too ~~~ that momentary connection with nature at it's best ~~~

The light was amazing too ~~~ every corner of the Garden bathed in a glorious golden rose glow as I have seen often, of late, in the Shire evenings ~~~ here are some photographs, which by no means capture it, for it is so hard to do, so it is a poor imitation of what was really there ~~~

 

 

 

This morning, the native Mullein are opening too ~~~ one of my favourites which I will allow to freely self~seed across the garden, as I feel privileged it has chosen my garden in which to grow ~~~ but see how badly eaten are the leaves? ~~~ Do you recall the Mullein Moth I showed you here?  Well, this is what the do {sad face icon here} ~~~

One final image for today ~~~ this magnificent view {after all, I only capture what God gives me} across the Shire ~~~ where the sky is blue and big, the fields are green, and hay is being made ~~~ I just had to share with you today! ~~~

 ~~~A Gardener's Work Is Never Done~~~