Wet Garden

Thank you for all your good wishes for Jewel.

We have seen an improvement in her.

She is able to make her own way up and downstairs,

she is eating better,

and generally seems more like herself.

So we are hoping that

she is recovering

and that there is no underlying cause.

Thanks also for your encouraging comments

regarding my orangy red elongated hexagons.

 

These photos were all taken in the garden

on Wednesday, after the rain.

I meant to post them yesterday,

but went off to a wein kirmes last night,

returning too late to write anything sensible.

Or maybe it had something to do with the amount of wine consumed.

Yesterday started off sunny and warm,

hot even.

But by midday,

the sky was very heavy,

bringing with it,

thunder and torrential rain.

It was a shame.

I had planned to go and see

the crowning of the king and queen of the wine in the next village.

But as it was due to take place in the market square,

I thought it would be a rather wet affair.

So wisely,

(as it turned out),

gave it a miss,

(I would have got soaked to the skin!)

In another nearby village,

a group of Harley Davidson bikers

have been visiting.

We could hear them

passing on their bikes all afternoon.

We felt sorry for them,

knowing that they had a run out on their bikes planned for the afternoon,

winding up somewhere for coffee and cake.

But the rain didn't seem to stop them.

We know what it's like to come to the Mosel

on motor bikes and get caught in a thunderstorm.

I remember when we visited here in 2003

(it might have been 2004),

we had to shelter in a shop doorway in Bernkastel.

I got soaked to the skin.

Once the rain stopped,

we got back on our motor bikes

only to stop and shelter under a bridge

not far from here.

Little did we know then that we would be living here now!

My sister bought me this Echinacea

last year.

But marigolds have self seeded themselves about the garden.

A bit like the one and only sunflower.

I think potatoes and tomatoes

belong to the same family.

It's easy to see why in these two photos.

The one above is a potato plant,and the one below,

a tomato.

I'm quite pleased with the tomatoes,

as they are all grown from seed.

I didn't really expect them to germinate,

so now I've got loads.

But I'm no gardener,

and so they have all been fending for themselves

and are therefore smaller than my neighbours plants.

But I'll put it down to a learning experience.

And try and do better next year.

I'm surprised to see this lupin in flower.

I sowed the seeds this spring,

so I didn't expect them to flower this year.

When I checked this morning to see if the plants were all still standing

after the deluge yesterday,

I noticed this lupin flower had turned a delicate pink. 

I hope you are all in the pink this weekend!

Going Barefoot

This is the weather we woke up to yesterday.

Mike was disappointed as it was forecast for

beautiful sunny warm weather.

I took these on our morning walk with the hounds.

But look at it an hour later.

This is taken from our window.

The forecast was correct.

Later when I was at the computer,

I heard a familiar noise.

For some reason,

this little Blue Tit keeps coming to this window

and flying at it as though it wants to come in.

It doesn't appear to be looking for insects.

Sometimes he sits on the windowsill

and looks in.

In the afternoon

I went into the garden and

took some photos.

It was too hot to do anything else.

I planted these tulips last year.

Unfortunately,

all the sunny weather

has brought out the dandelions.

It's amazing how quickly they flower.

There was only about 3 in flower the previous day.

I did manage to put some pansies in a window box.

Before collapsing back inside with a cup of tea.

A pick-me-up

before walking the hounds with Mike.

There's patches of white blossom

across the hillsides. 

Is it wild plum do you think?

We kept our walk short as it was so hot

and tried to stay in the woods

which offered some shade.

It was 24 degrees centigrade on the balcony

when I looked earlier.

It was all too much for Jewel

who just had to lie down

while waiting for Mike to take

the boy's collars off.


Once back home,
I had a shower to cool off,
and then went barefoot
for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

Today,
it has been raining!

Dozing

After a misty start,
as forecast,
yesterday turned into a beautiful,
sunny,
warm day,
It was above 20 degrees centigrade in the shade.
So what did we do?
Did we go out for a ride on the motor bikes?
No.
Did we take the hounds for a walk somewhere new?
No
Did we eat cake on the balcony?
No.

I dug the garden
and Mike put up a fence.
All hot work,
on a hot day.

But I did sit on the balcony afterwards.
And as I looked through the seeds
waiting to be sown,
thinking ahead to the beautiful garden we shall have,
if we ever get the garden dug over!
I dozed off for a while.
What a lovely feeling.
So I did get to enjoy the warm weather on the balcony
after all.
But only after some hot work beforehand.

Blogtoberfest Day 20, Tidy Gardens

Setting off down the stairs with the Hounds for their morning walk, I stopped to take this photo of the sun pouring through the blinds in the spare room. Just perfect, the position of the shadow beneath the hat I thought.

We've had a few days of sunshine now after that wintry weather. I've even been doing a bit of gardening wearing a sleeveless top. It was just bordering on being cool. People round here seem to be very keen on keeping their gardens tidy, so much so that as soon as the leaves fall they are swept up. We've a long way to go with this garden before it comes up to scratch. I'll just have to hope that the sun continues to shine!

A Bit of Colour

The sun is shining today
so I thought I would go get me some colour.


The Cornflowers,
Poppies
and Nasturtiums
I grew from seed.


These berries are in a wild bit behind the house.
We passed them this morning as we came back from a walk in the forest
with the hounds.
A feast for the birds
I'm sure.


I've been waiting for the Clematis to flower.
There were lots of buds just biding their time.
Yesterday one flower opened,
and today there are more.


The Poppies are scattered across the garden,
in various flower beds.
Mike thinks they look untidy!
But I think they are pretty,
so I don't care!


I always love Nasturtiums.
Their unruly habit seems to suit me.
These are in a window box with some herbs.
They are all going past their best now
and I can see some seeds.
I will collect them for next year.
More unrulyness!


Pontentilla,
my favourite colour.

Not sure what this is.

It's a shrub.
A lovely pink don't you think.
I hope you are in the pink today!

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!

Back on Track

We haven't seen this chap for a while.
But he was back again today.
Just like me!
I haven't been blogging for a while or even visiting any of my friends here.
But that will change.
We have been having some changes here too.
I showed you the Daffodils that were about to flower.
Well here they are flowering.
It seems as though they've been this way for weeks now.
They just stay the same.

The trees are coming into their own glory now.
This is a view that greets us from our front door.

These Wood Anemones can be seen growing wild all over the place,

but these particular ones are underneath one of the shrubs in the garden.

Here is a pink one.

There are even some garden flowers showing themselves now,

or just about to,

like this Peony.

I don't know the name of this flower.

Or this one.

This is a Dicentra growing underneath one of our windows.

Mike put the hammock up a few weeks ago when the weather turned nice.

But the first time I tried it the rope gave way!

Luckily it was low to the ground.

It's still awaiting repair, otherwise I think I would have been making use of it!

We have had some lovely weather at times.

The nights are drawing out.

Tonight when we walked the hounds (at 22.30), the sky was still blue above us,

a star was twinkling,

and a bird was calling.
Bliss!