Flowers in July

Thank you for your kind comments after my last blog post.  I'm glad to say that the members of our family who were ill are better now.  Our local daughter and the rest of the family have helped us from afar by keeping in regular touch.   Recently our daughter M who lives locally was able to visit us once more and gave us a beautiful bouquet of  roses and lilies.  It was our 58th wedding anniversary last month so I arranged the flowers in a vase and placed them near a favourite photo of Mr P and I relaxing in the garden which had been taken by our granddaughter.

The weather is a lot cooler now in the UK and there have been frequent rain showers, but in other European countries and in the United States I understand that extreme weather conditions have caused problems of drought and wild fires.  It must be very worrying to be living in such conditions.

I took a walk in the park and saw the patches of wild flowers that the park staff  had sown near the library and rose garden earlier in the year.

In our own front garden the row of sunflowers grown by Mr P from seed have all done well.  There have been rain storms and strong winds, but they've survived.......

....... and there are many new flowers in the covered yard and indoors.

The grapes are developing in the greenhouse along with courgettes and other vegetables.  Hopefully we'll get some sunshine soon to ripen the grapes.

Thank you for coming by.  Have a good day!

Five on Friday: The Walled Garden

 

The old Blogger is no more and so I've been forced to start using New Blogger functions.  Thankfully I'm still able to use my photography edit programme without too much difficulty and make collages so here are five of the walled garden next to the library in the park.  

I haven't been in the walled garden for some time so I was delighted to see that the entrance gates were open on a day when I visited the library last week.  It's obvious that the staff and volunteers have continued to maintain the different areas in the walled garden.  The pergola has been cleared of the Montana clematis and other vine like climbers.  A sitting out area that had a many sided wooden pergola has gone - perhaps because the wood was rotten.  In its place is a bench and a natural sculpture made from a dead tree.  The rose garden has been maintained as before and there were still many blooms and varieties of rose.

There are many wide paths with vistas that invite a walk to other interesting areas and plenty of benches in every corner of the garden. The fountain and fish pond is usually a focal point for carers who come through with young children after a visit to the children's library next to the main building.   

I enjoyed seeing the flowers that are typical of the season such as the Michaelmas daisies and the dahlias.  The roses are also a delight.

As for my experience with getting back into reading that has been more difficult as I realise that my eyesight has deteriorated over the months.  I've made an appointment at the opticians and know that I shall need a new prescription for spectacles before I'm comfortable with close work such as reading and embroidery.  So far I've read  Elly Griffith's The Stranger Diaries - which is a recent stand alone novel, but I prefer her books that are a series where the reader gets to know the characters over time. 

Well, this is all I could manage with New Blogger today.  No doubt I'll improve as time goes on and write longer posts.  

I know this is posted on Thursday, but tomorrow we're busy preparing for our No 1 grandson and his little family who are coming to visit on Sunday. There'll be five us who'll be socially distancing in the garden.  We've also made more room in the covered yard which is another big space where we can open the gates on one end and the French windows on the other end to create an open air environment.   We're looking forward to seeing them as they haven't been able to visit for many months.  It looks as if we shall continue to enjoy dry and pleasant weather conditions during the weekend so we're planning a bbq with some baking done beforehand.  

Wishing you a good day and a lovely weekend.  Thank you for coming by.

Observing Trees

Yesterday the weather was so good, the light was clear and the skies were blue.  It was time for another walk and an exploration of a park nearer to where we live than the big park where I go to the library.  It's about five minutes walk from where we live, but I've never been in it.  Actually, it's more of a recreation ground for a housing estate, but at the same time there are wooded areas, high banks and downhill grassland and, therefore, suitable for a quiet walk.

Here we are at the far side of the field.  In the distance you can see a residential home for the elderly and that was the way into the park through an entrance on a road by the buildings.

On the other side of the field, being high up, I could see the the wooded hills of the Loxley Valley.

A willow tree that has fallen, but is still alive.

I could just imagine children running up and down the grassy banks, playing football, racing around in the wooded areas, but there was no-one around except a lady out walking with her dog.  The nearby primary school, of course, is closed, locked up and silent.

I walked a little way along a path that leads to the housing estate and could hear children playing in a garden over the other side of the fence.  The gardens are quite big and it's probably safer to play there where a parent can see them.

Can you see the owl ornament on top of the fence?  Owls are popular as a mascot around our area of Sheffield.

I walked back up onto the field.

There was a sycamore tree glowing in the bright sunshine...

and a cherry tree showing the first signs of developing fruit.

There was a tree with fluffy catkins which is probably an aspen.

I liked the way someone, (a park keeper) had painted the trunk of this sapling (possibly a preservative) and then painted a pattern in white paint on the railings.

I walked on to the park entrance and passed the old people's home.  There were people in the gardens that are surrounded by thick beech hedges and flowering shrubs such as yellow broom.

At the top of the short road  which acts as a drive into the park is a church and the primary school....

and at the crossroads the shops are the nearest to where we live which includes the post office and small store.

Here there's a sculpture of woodland animals carved in wood which I've featured before on the blog. It has weathered considerably since I shared photo images in 2013 and I'll show more closeups another time.

This was another tree glowing in the sunshine.  I think it's some kind of oak judging by the leaves.

holly flowers

A Prunus Padus or bird cherry is an ornamental tree with white flowers growing in the grounds of the sports centre and charity centre hub that's also closed and locked up at the moment. 

The ancient village stocks outside the pub.

Inside the pub a rainbow paper chain has been created for display.

On the fence of the sports centre community hub children have been encouraged to put up their drawings.

I'm back at the corner of the road where we live.

There are even more flowers on the rosemary bush.

The peonies are just coming out in the front garden.

The hawthorn tree in the neighbour's garden behind our hedge in the back garden is now in full bloom.

I hope you enjoyed the walk.  Have a good day.