Our Garden May/Beginning of June 2022

During every season of the year our garden gives us pleasure.  May and June are favourite months for flowers and it's gratifying to see other developments such as vegetables and fruit.  Tomatoes are coming on nicely and there are lots of flowers on the plants that will develop as the days go by.

I thought you might like to see more of our front and back garden areas (above) to get an idea of the dimensions of our plot of land where we do our gardening.

I have quite a few craft pieces in my work basket to complete.  I got this small tapestry piece called "Briar Rose" from a charity shop including the skeins of wool a long time ago now before the pandemic closed the thrift shops.  Thankfully they're open again so I shall go back and look for some more craft packs.  I like it because the picture is printed on and the stitch is a simple one, tent stitch.

Once more thank you for your visit.  Have a good week!

(Linking with Riitta's Floral Passions Blog)

Signs of Spring

Recently we've had misty, drizzly weather so we've been staying at home apart from medical appointments (still on the phone), on-going dental work and the usual food shopping trips.  In between  Mr P has been looking after his seedlings and I've been doing some Spring cleaning ready for our daughter's stay at Easter.  I learnt from the bone scan and blood tests that I have the onset of osteoporosis and my medication needs to be adjusted.  I'll continue to be careful when out walking, but at the same time I intend to keep mobile.  Our health situation is nothing compared with the terrible events happening in the world right now.

Yesterday we had a day of sunshine and blue skies.  I looked out of our back bedroom window and I could see a tree in our neighbour's garden that was full of blossom and I had to follow that up by taking a walk down our lane.

As well as the snowdrops and primulas in flower in our garden there are one or two pansies all giving a little bit of bright colour.  Most of the daffodils are ready to burst forth to show their pretty trumpet-like flowers.

nectarine blossom in our garden .....

......and plum blossom

More yellow flowers on the succulent plant on the kitchen window sill. (Mr P's vegetable seedlings are on all the other window sills although he has started to transfer some larger plants into bigger pots in the covered yard). 

I finished one of my embroidery sets that one of the grandchildren and his family gave me during lockdown and I found a spare frame for it.  My eyesight is not so good and I need to visit the optician to change my spectacle prescription.  However, I enjoyed doing some of the stitches using my imagination to sew the flower patterns.

Yesterday we also went to the library in the park as part of my weekly routine.  I took the library books back as I haven't been in the mood for reading and I can't spend time on that if I'm doing some needlework. 

I'll share the photos I took of my walk in the walled garden at the end of the week.

Meanwhile,  thank you for visiting.  Have a peaceful day.

This and That on a Monday

Hello again.  I hope that you had a good weekend.  We had rather gloomy days weather-wise.  I had intended to go out for a walk, but in the end it didn't happen. There was the usual housework and some shared cooking (layering up lasagne sheets in a baking tray).  Mr P made the tomato sauce and I made the topping of white sauce flavoured with parmesan cheese. Most of the time we just pottered, watched the Remembrance Services and the Lord Mayor's Parade televised broadcasts from London, Strictly Come Dancing etc.  I do find I get a melancholy feeling at this time of the year.  It's mainly because of the gloomy weather, not being able to walk out so much because of the cold and also I feel sad about conflicts of any kind. 

I did a bit of reading and embroidery although I can't spend too long on close work now.  I  have quite a few craft projects in my sewing basket and I thought I would start on one of the easier ones.

I like to follow an outline rather than do free form stitching.  This pack that the grandchildren sent through the post a while ago when we were in lockdown is simple as the stitches are mainly straight stitch, outline stitch, French Knot and Lazy Daisy stitch.

This is what it should look like when it's finished and then I shall have to find a frame.

As this blog is also meant to be a personal record which I find useful because it's easy to forget past events I'm still thinking of our time in Reading.  The above flowers were bought to take to put on the family graves at the municipal Henley Road Cemetery in Caversham - parents, grandparents and my uncles are all in the oldest part of the cemetery.  We also bought some slate chippings to refresh my Uncle James' grave (Little Jimmy who died when he was knocked down in the street outside school.  It was a tragic accident that I've written about before). I'm thankful that our daughter or her children who live in Reading visit the cemetery and put fresh flowers on the graves.  

We saw some woodpeckers by the family graves.  They were next to the fence that separates the cemetery from the parkland of the former British Broadcasting World Service building and the birds must spend time in one of the oak trees in the grounds as I went to take a look over the fence and could hear them there when they flew off when we approached.  Daughter D identified them as green woodpeckers.  They eat insects they find in the earth.

We saw mistletoe berries there too.

To finish off here are some images of the Oxfordshire villages we drove through on our way back home. 

a church built of knapped flint at Stoke Row near Henley-on-Thames

the War Memorial at Cookley Green

a black and white timber framed cottage, Watlington

The Market Hall, Watlington, built by the Stonor family in 1663, refurbished in 2013

A Remembrance Day display, Watlington

Stopping at roadworks in Watlington allowed me to take more photos. To the extreme right is the entrance to Watlington Methodist Chapel.

more brick and flint

Back at home the bouquet of flowers that was given to us by Berkshire grands are still looking fresh and lovely.

There's a lot to share with you regarding the garden in November.  That will have to wait for another day.  

Meanwhile, thank you for coming by.  Have a good day!

Flowers and Stitching

I love being surrounded by flowers and plants and the month of May was an exceptional month for them in different forms.

Our granddaughter arrived on my birthday with a bouquet of flowers that had been bought by her on behalf of her cousin and his girlfriend who live far away in Berkshire.  She thought I would like a bright selection.

Our granddaughter and her boyfriend also brought us these orchids.  Aren't they a gorgeous colour?

From our daughter-in-law I received this cushion that she had made decorated with crocheted flowers. The embroidered panel had once been given to her by my late mother and it was thoughtful of her to incorporate it into the design of the cushion. 

Above, if you look closely you'll see Bobby, our granddaughter's first soft toy dog.  Because of much cuddling the top of his head had become worn and his eye needed a few stitches to secure it in place.  She asked me to do a few repairs on him.

I darned the delicate net fabric covering the soft material and stitched on his eye. (Before and after photos). When our granddaughter comes to collect Bobby I'm sure she'll be pleased with the result and also happy to have him back with her again. 

Here is the embroidered tablecloth that I showed you in my last blog post.  Now I shall start another project as I have two different tapestry pieces to work on.

May has been a good month for rhododendrons and these are the ones under the birch trees in the local park.  It was a damp day.  When I came out of the library I found that there was drizzly rain so I didn't stay long to take photos.

This little robin came and landed at my feet.

Yesterday our eldest grandson and family came to visit on their way up to see the other grandma who lives further north in York.  The sun was shining and after lunch we had a lovely time in the garden.  No photos of the family this time, but instead a photo of the pot plant (a bromeliad) that they gave us.  We were also given a stand for the mobile phone that we can use when we do face-to-face phone calls.

Thank you for your visit.  I hope you have a lovely June.  I understand that it's officially Summertime!

Our week

We live in the north-west of our city close to high areas of moorland, but these days we don't venture there when we know that there'll be deep snow drifts and narrow lanes like switchbacks that look down onto the valleys below.  However, our daughter drove out to meet a friend on Sunday afternoon and sent us some photos of what it's like up there.  Under the restrictions we have to stay local right now and can only meet or be with one other person in an outdoor setting to get some fresh air and exercise.  The time spent has to be under socially distanced conditions.  The two friends took the friend's dog with them for their walk and he loved the wide open spaces, of course.

I've been out for walks a couple of times this week and I'm glad I took the opportunity to do so when I did as today it's really cloudy and not the sort of day for taking photos which I like to do in order to record where I've been during this time when often our routine is similar from day-to-day. Yesterday the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I knew that the local reservoir would be a good place to go especially as it's only a short drive from our house.  I'll show you more of my walk next time.

I've been waiting eagerly for the first lot of crocuses planted in pots to start opening because of the warmth of the covered yard and the sunshine that appears from behind the clouds now and then.

The snowdrops in the garden have survived the snow.  How resilient they are despite being delicate looking flowers.  

These are the ones in the churchyard where I walked on Monday and they particularly seem to thrive in the sheltered areas under the trees.

Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day marks the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar. As usual I made some pancakes as part of our evening meal.  In Italy different types of special biscuit or sweet pastries are served at this time.

Finally, this is the embroidery that I'm working on at the moment.  It's taking me quite a while to do and I realise that it's nearly a year since the embroidery set was gifted to me, but it keeps me occupied in an afternoon when Mr P and I sit and relax. 

Thank you for coming by.  Have a peaceful weekend whatever you're doing.