Cats in the Kitchen, Flora in the Garden

Shhh! say it quietly the rain has finally stopped and I got out into the garden this morning. The plants had stood up to the winter better than I thought they would. I only lost one lily in bud, the stem was broken and the last of the poppies lost their petals quicker than then would have done. I weeded and I deadheaded and in general gave the garden a litle TLC. A few of my lilies have buds on them. there are buds on the phlox and my shasta daisies are coming out. My troughs and pots on the back wall are beginning to flower, although the nasturiums are not doing anything yet. One of my nasturium boxes was blown off the wall in the wind, but luckily, it landed the right was up, so was not really damaged. I don't think this is going to be a great year for my sweetpeas, due to the bad weather earlier in the year. I also made a 'comfrey mixture' which is comfrey leaves covered in water, left for a fortnight, stirred occasionally, and then it can be used 50/50 with water as a plant food. A few weeks ago I planted some Coleus seeds, and after a slow start they finally germinated and now have outgrown their seedtray. At the garden table this morning I potted them on into small individual pots, although I am still keeping them indoors on various windowsills. I hope eventually they will look as diverse as the ones in the picture above. I love the varigation of coleus leaves and use them as houseplants.



I love looking at clouds especially near sunset when they are tinged with the most beautiful colours. These two cloud photos were actually taken to finish off rolls of film. In the first one I can see a giant bird pulling a chariot containing a lady across the sky. In the second photo, wait for it, and I know no one else will probably see this, but I assure you I can, it's a sheep jumping through a hedge, you can even see his eyes.



Have you seen the sheep then? Well the head is near the front of main cloud, you can even see its two eyes and the left part of the cloud is the hedge it is jumping through. Well I am convinced!


I spent yesterday, reorganising the table I work on in one of the bedrooms. That's my crafting and sewing table, not where I sit at the computer. I sorted and cleared and put necessary materials near to hand but still leaving me room to work. At the moment this table is in my daughter's bedroom, although she lives in London, she loves her room which she decorated herself, when she comes home to visit. I have decided to redecorate the spare bedroom and turn it into a crafting room, because I can move all my fabrics which are in bags and boxes at the bottom of the linen cupboard, into here and have more space for my books, magazines etc. I can then have a working table and a sewing table. I doubt it will be as serene and dainty as the illustration above, knowing my chaotic working ways, but I can dream. I think this will be my autumn project, because I always need something exciting to do when the nights darken and gardening activity dies down.

I don't want to spell this out in detail yet, but I am mulling over doing something I have never done before, but have always wanted to, and privately have dabbled in it. It's nothing earth shattering but to me a big step. I can do it once a week and will be virtually participating with other people who have taken this step. I have to decide by the end of tomorrow, and have the first part of what I want to do 'done and dusted' if I am going to participate. Sorry to sound so mysterious but I needed to put something in my post to prove to myself that I am serious about this thing. Will let you know how I get on and what I decide. Please indulge me the above silliness.



Just to remind you that it's almost Fairy Day and they are gathering to celebrate.