A Tour Round the Garden

It's been raining forever
or at least that's how it feels.
It's nice to be on the inside looking out.
But when it comes to taking the Hounds out for their walk,
it isn't so nice.
It's a case of getting all our coats on
in an effort to protect ourselves from the constant rain.
The walks have become quite a chore today
as the rain has continued.
We've kept to the track where there is more room to walk
rather than ploughing through long wet grass
and ducking beneath wet branches.
Not nice when it drips down your neck!
In addition to the rain and coming back soaked,
It has got a bit colder,
my fingers are feeling the cold as I hold onto the leads.
It has been so wet even the Hounds have had second thoughts about going for a walk in it.
They don't like the rain.
In between their walks I attempt to dry off their coats ready for the next walk.
I have to change out of my wet trousers, that's how wet it is.

When we come back from a walk,
we come in the back way so we can stand on the terrace
sheltered from the rain.
The Hounds all stand in a row
waiting to go inside.
But not before they have
had a good rub down.
They just love that.
It makes the walk worthwhile.

So to try and forget the rain
I thought we would
take a tour round our garden.

The first photo (above) is a little pot hanging in the porch at the front door.
It was given to me by my sister
many years ago from one of her travels to Greece I think.

The photo below shows a boulder surrounded by grasses and some other plants.
It is in the middle of the lawn more or less.
There are lots of loose boulders in this area of Sweden and it is quite usual for them to be incorporated into the garden landscape.
Our garden like many Swedish gardens in Dalarna (that's the county)
is informal.
It suits us.
It is easy to manage
and pleasant to be in
or to look out onto.








The birds enjoy it too.






We don't often see the Thrush.
I've never seen it feeding with the other birds.
It's always hopping about the garden looking for worms when I do see it.
Here it's looking for food for it's young
I only ever saw one fledgling.
The Pied Wagtails I showed in an earlier post were successful
in having young.
I know because earlier last month
they were often on the eaves of the terrace
peering in through our back door.


Did I mention our lawn?


Can you believe that this is a lawn?
It's full of wildflower plants.
One of the things that I continue to marvel at in Sweden is how rich the flora and fauna is.
Some of the leaves that you can see in this photo are from the plant Ladies Mantle.
It is a cultivated plant in the UK and looks lovely after it's been raining and the drops collect on the hairy leaves.
Suitable for our current weather then.





This shrub stands in the middle but over to the right on the lawn.
My dad used to have lots of shrubs in his garden
and this would have been one of them.
It looks particularly nice on the lawn
with the branches sweeping over in arcs.
Even in the winter when it is dormant
it still looks lovely because of it's shape.



Peering through the branches
you can just catch a glimpse of the barn.
Can you see the giant sieve standing outside?
I've never seen one so large.
When we inherited the barn
there was some old farm bits and pieces left inside.











I showed this Peony in an earlier post.
It was in bud then but a lot shorter.
It has grown taller
but several weeks later
it is still in bud.
It's also covered in ants.
I don't know what they are after.
I will have to ask my friend
the ant expert.
There are lots of ants here.
I could write a post about them all to themselves.



Back to the more conventional.
A rose climbs round the dinining room window.
It looks lovely.
Unfortunately it doesn't have a fragrance.
I won't buy roses unless they do these days.

Walking on past the window
we round the corner of the house and there past some outhouses are
some wildflowers.
Can you see the forest in the background?

This is a Scabious

another cultivated flower that grows in the UK gardens.
Not sure what the insect is though.

Nor this one.

It is yellow and black like a bee or a wasp

but not.

If we go back to the front door

and turn to the left,

a path takes us to my workshop.
You might just catch a glimpse of the hammock there if you look closely.

You can also see the path to the left here which leads off into the forest.

A popular walk with the Hounds when it's not raining.

Here we are standing in front of the birdbath looking over to the forest.

We'll have to take that walk into the forest another time,

Mike is still away with the camera.

Well that was a nice way to get away from all the rain

and the wind which has started now.

Till next time!