Cats in the Kitchen, Flora in the Garden

No more sitting in this cool shady spot reading, for a while. The weather finally broke last night. I had the living room door open and hurt a battering on the back windows, yes it was a very heavy but short shower. However, when I was sitting at the computer later, the rain began again in earnest. This time it was very heavy but accompanied by a sharp wind that was blowing the trees about. Now I have a love/hate relationship with wind. Sometimes it makes me feel exhilarated when it blows me along and blows away the cobwebs so I feel refreshed, other times I feel as if I am in a battle with it and I feel angry and exasperated with it. Although I do love to be tucked up in the living room with a throw and a hot drink whilst the wind whistles and howls down my chimney in winter, and I also love lying in bed on a cold rainy night and hearing the wind knocking the rain against my bedroom window.

However, this morning the sun was out but there were scudding clouds and the temperature was a lot cooler, I walked round the garden, and it was well watered, but some of the flowers had been buffeted by the wind. As a gardener, I sometimes feel I am never happy, I either seem to be complaining about hot sun burning my plants or wind blowing the petals off and bending them. That's gardening though, the weather is the one in control.



These photographs, were taken about two to three weeks ago, in the really hot weather. The one above on the right is where I love to sit and read when the sun is too fierce for the garden table and chairs. The photograph to the left shows the same corner without my chair in the way. The pots that are standing in the basin of the old bird bath are full of nasturtiums and calendula, and these are now out in flower, though later than the ones in the garden, as they do not get as much sun in the shady spot. The summer sun hits the shady spot early in the morning, between about seven and ten, then leaves the spot cool for the rest of the day.



These are the plants I grow in pots by the back door, and under one of the kitchen windows. I don't know if you can see it in this photograph, it could be hidden by plant leaves, if you click on the photo to enlarge it there is a log between two of the pots and a little crosslegged elf sits on top of it.



This is a photograph taken of the shady spot from upstairs, by hanging out of the bathroom window, it also shows my hanging basket. You can see my ceramic sun plaque hanging on the barn wall. Below is a close up photograph of my hanging basket, it is planted with petunias, impatiens and trailing lobelia. You can see the corner of the door in the loft of the barn.



The photograph below is of part of the main garden showing all the pots in flower on the gravel outside the outhouses and the photograph at the end of the posting shows the same view from the opposite side with my lavender bush at the side of the alleyway. Click on them to enlarge, and look at the splendid red lily that I grew for the first time this year. I will post more photographs of the main garden, and some close ups of plants another time. I took most of these photographs, if you remember I am learning to use my husband's highly technical camera. Some of my photos I was quite pleased with but one or two were a bit blurred and I had not got the light right on some of them, but I love that camera and its satisfying whirr and click.



I have a busy week this week, whilst the weather has been so hot I have washed all my curtains, throws, and rugs and hung them out in the sunshine to dry. Today with the cooler weather, I set to and started putting my house to rights, as it has been sadly neglected with the heatwave, when it was too hot to do anything except loll around and keep cool. I thought I would tackle our bedroom first, and it is now looking clean and fresh with all the curtains, cushions and rugs etc in it sunshine fresh. The lace on the bedside tables is snowy white and my perfume bottle collection sparkling. Tomorrow I plan to do the dining room which has been an unused room with all the eating out side that has been going on. It is looking very sorry for itself. I also want to make some quiches tomorrow, I have my daughter, Sweetpea, home for a few days and a flying visit from my son, the Big Friendly Giant. They are both attending at wedding at the church in the next village, on Saturday, one of my daughter's good friends is marrying one of my son's friends. Although when the couple met they were not aware of this. My son is just coming up from London for the wedding, but Sweetpea is making a short break of it. It has been a joy to have her staying for a few days twice in a month. So I am afraid a big cleanup of the house calls before I can properly enjoy doing some of my craft and garden projects again.