Our Week

Today it's raining.  Yesterday was a better morning so we went to one of the garden centres in the nearby countryside.  It's good to browse as some sections are under cover and the grounds have many mature trees.

We bought sweet pea seeds and a sweet pea plant, a gift of Yorkshire fudge for Daughter D to take to a friend down in Berkshire, etc. 

When the weather is better we'll do some gardening as the earth is beginning to warm up - but not today!

I took photos of the plants and flowers in our garden and will share them next time.

Thank you for your visit.  Have a good day!

Visit to the Local Garden Centre

Hyacinths in bloom - a gift from daughter M.

My calendar hanging in the kitchen indicates the fact that it's February!  January seemed to be a long month with less opportunity to go out and about except for the usual errands at the shops and a few trips out to local places.  We stayed in a lot of the time as I felt under the weather with a sore throat, which has now gone.  

the Snow Moon (photographed last night) clouds prevented sharp photos 

I'm thankful that we've had no snow recently and I hope the weather, although changeable, will not bring any as we shall be travelling 'down south' this month to stay with our Berkshire daughter D. 

I felt the need to get out for a short drive and as Mr P needed some feed for his vegetables we went to the local garden centre down one of the nearby lanes in the countryside.  The displays reflect the season of year when gardeners are growing seeds and planting bulbs if they haven't already done so.  Mr P has been busy nurturing his seedlings in the covered yard and indoors and I'm looking forward to seeing the Spring bulbs that are popping up through the earth in our garden.

Bedding plants were for sale.

  Hardy grasses were creatively displayed on colourful matting.

We've some yellow uva fritillary flowers in a pot on our kitchen window sill like the above, but it was interesting to see this variety.

This pink pussy willow is unusual.

I enjoyed seeing the different varieties of witch hazel.  I would love to have one of these shrubs in our garden, but even a small one on sale was expensive.  However, it's always good to wander around, have a wish list and spend some time in this garden centre.

more pussy willow

Our garden furniture is still stored away, but it was uplifting to see displays of garden furniture in the covered areas.  It's a reminder that warmer days are ahead.

We drove back home through the country lanes and stopped for a moment to take photos of the snowdrops that had been planted by local residents on the village green at Loxley.  Later on the narcissi will be in bloom there.  That's something to look forward to next time we pass by.

An old stone mounting block for horse owners  is on the village green. The horses are kept in the fields across the way and we saw a rider exercising her horse during our drive out.

Thank you for coming by.  I hope you enjoyed the visit to the garden centre and our drive in the local neighbourhood.  Have a good day!

Our Saturday Drive (Continued)

There were different displays at the garden centre from our last visit - this time pumpkins were prominent.  They're becoming popular at this time of the year to purchase and carve into lanterns although I think we would have to go further afield to see any growing in our hillside fields as the farmland is mainly given over to sheep and cattle. 

Inside the various outhouse departments stalls had been set up where local small businesses were displaying their products.  We didn't realise this was a one-off event to promote them so missed out.  However this garden centre is definitely a good place to get gifts and prepare for Christmas right on our doorstep.  Christmas cards, an Advent calendar and a calendar for 2023 were purchased.  We shall go back to look at the other Christmas items when we can.

These were the calendars and the box of cards I chose.  There wasn't an RNLI calendar on display this year so I chose one with countryside scenes.  I don't usually like whimsy, but the cats on the Advent calendar are delightful.  The ginger cat reminds me of Jasper, daughter D's pet.  

The mature trees in the garden centre grounds were looking even more colourful than last time especially this acer.  We can appreciate them growing there even if we haven't room in our own garden to grow more trees unless they're a small variety.

 

Mr P fancied getting another heather.  On the way out of the garden centre we were asked to choose a complimentary cyclamen plant so here they are back home in the covered yard.

We've had more sunny weather this week which meant that I could hang out the washing which soon dried in the breeze.  

Most of the yellow lilies in the bouquet that daughter M gave us have opened.   

Thank you for your visit to my blog.  Have a good day!

A Garden Centre Visit

I'm so grateful that we have a garden and I'm mobile enough to be able to be out in the fresh air, appreciate the plants that are still flowering and in a small way prepare for the Springtime by planting up some pots of bulbs.  A visit to the local garden centre and the high street was this week's plan of action.  I was also looking forward to meeting my friend for a coffee and a chat.  You may recall that I didn't get to meet up with her a few weeks back because of the extremely hot weather at the time.  We also changed the venue to a café on the high street so that my friend didn't have to walk far from the bus stop and we certainly enjoyed our time together.  

The day before Mr P and I went to the local garden centre - a five minute drive along the Loxley Valley.  It was also an opportunity to take in the beauty of the countryside.  Again it was a break from our domestic routine and television watching of national and international news events.  

The garden centre is a big one and I always enjoy seeing the seasonal flower displays, this time with an autumnal theme.

Retail centres and individual shops are displaying photos of Queen Elizabeth II as a sign of respect at this time and the garden centre was no exception.  I was touched by the photo of the Queen and Prince Philip. 

Mr P and I had a leisurely walk around the garden centre site and we even sat down and had a coffee and a chocolate brownie cake. 

Before going back home we stopped in the lane in a safe place as I had spotted a newly engraved stone that had been placed in a parking place by Bradfield Parish Council.  Robin of Loxley, that is the mythical Robin Hood based on a real person, is said to have been born in Loxley.  Whether true or not it's an interesting story.  There are so many paths to walk around our neighbourhood.  This one is next to Loxley House and one that I hope to walk along another day.  The leaves on the trees are beginning to change colour especially the horse chestnuts demonstrating Autumn is with us.  

A 'conker' (the glossy brown seed of the horse chestnut tree) 

lay on the ground among the fallen dry leaves of the tree.

Back at home the bulbs and seeds are ready to be planted in pots or in the flower beds.  

Once more thank you for coming by.  Have a good day.