A Lazy Day in my Garden

We've had a fantastic couple of weeks and I'm lying here in my sitting place by the shed on my blanket with my book, baking in the sun. If I get up to make a cup of tea it is quite cold on the other side of the shed by the kitchen door and I have to put my jumper back on. The sun shines down from a cloudless blue sky from about 12.30 when it peeps over the top of the house until about 4.30 when it hides amongst the willow branches and Iwill take Finn for his walk. Finn thinks I need entertaining and every so often will throw a ball at me. I ignore him and he goes away, the air is filled with a garlicy onion scent as he tramples across the alliums on his way indoors. The buzz of insects forms an unobtrusive background hum and every so often a couple of sparrows chatter their way across the garden. Smudge looks on with interest from his vantage point under the hedge. He caught another vole a couple of days ago, I wouldn't mind if he ate it, but he left it in the middle of the path.
As I lie here I take stock of the ravages of this winter. The rosemary has died, luckily I took some cuttings at the beginning of the winter, but they are too small to use yet. The mint, both the applemint and the ordinary mint seems to have disappeared. On the plus side both the marjoram and the oregano are thriving. These marjoram plants are next to where I am lieing and give off a marvelous aroma if I brush against them.

The chives which I thought had died a couple of months ago are doing so well I have just split them up into three clumps. The wild garlic is also thriving, the origional clump amongst the london pride was split up last year and the new colony is doing well by the front door. These are next to my table so I get the galicy scent while I eat my dinner.


A few days ago I got myself motivated to make a new archway for the clematis, it's coming into bud now and I want it to have settled into position before it flowers properly.


As you've probably gathered by looking at some of the photos of my garden, I'm into recycling things and hate throwing anything away if it can possibly be used for something. Well the neighbours have cottoned onto this and I am the last stop before the dump! I was given a whole load of wood for the fire and some of it was just right for my clematis support. It looks a bit Heath Robinson at the moment, but by the end of summer the clematis should have covered it nicely! (I hope).


Looking from my sitting place by the shed towards the tadpoles bath. The drystone walling around it needs repairing and the bath needs leveling up somehow, it seems to have sunk unevenly over the years. There are primroses and day lillies and aquilega in between. Later on I'm hoping to put some of my fuschia cuttings I took in the autumn there, but it's too early to risk them outside yet.


The pieris on the far side of the bath is shooting nicely.

And finally. the collection of pots by the shed door, there's london pride a bamboo and a heuchera.

The shed door is open slightly reminding me that I should really be making more candles to take to our local country market, but it's too nice lieing here in the sun so I will have that cup of tea and finish my book instead!