Cats in the Kitchen, Flora in the Garden

I am posting some more photographs of my garden. I was going to post them yesterday but blogger didn't want to co-operate with me. The photograph opposite is of my beautiful red lilies. I have never grown such a deep coloured lily before and was quite impressed with it. The rain has been pouring down all day today, so that is two days worth of heavy rain now. The weather is a lot cooler, in fact after the heat I found it slightly chilly today. I am quite satisfied with the rain but rather think I would like to get back to some sunshine now. I am happy to note that the new dahlia flowers that have opened today are beautifully white and not burnt at the petal tips like the ones that bloomed during the heatwave. My crocosmia and my windflowers are now in flower and I have one sunflower out, though I grew 'Russian Giants' this year and have not been impressed, I usually use just a common or garden variety which have always reached about nine or ten feet. These 'Russian Giants' are a miserable six feet, but perhaps it is due to the odd weather we have had this year. I always think that once the windflowers are in bloom it is getting towards the end of my gardening summer.


This is a photograph of one of my favourite garden ornaments, my moon gazing hare, which sits there staring at the moon all night. The hare is sitting next to my pot of bay. The photographs that follow on from this are, my shasta daisies and nicotiana, a close up of the shasta daisies, then the first of this year's flowers on my clematis, and my deep yellow lilies and finally a view of my salvias and dahlia buds, looking over towards the bed where my sunflowers are growing.


These are my shasta daises, and my red nicotiana, they are surrounded by phlox, both pink and white, which are just beginning to flower, and my white lilac bush that flowered in the late spring.


This is just a close up of my shasta daisies, I only planted them this year, my children bought me them as part of a mother's day plant selection present. They will probably be much more profuse next year.


This is a close up of my clematis on the rear wall of my garden, this was the first flower that bloomed on it this year, on a later roll of film I have some photos of it in full bloom.


These are my yellow lilies from last year, I just took a risk and left the bulbs in their pots over the winter, and no harm came to them and they are just as gorgeous this year.


You can see my sunflowers here, staked against the outbuilding walls, then in the bed in front of them are, to the left my large purple salvias, that the bees love so much and to the right my white dahlia, which is just in bud.


I was busy cooking yesterday, as my daughter, Sweetpea, arrived yesterday afternoon. I always ask her what meals she would like when she is at home, as she says she loves to come home to some home cooked meals. Last night we dined on Hungarian Goulash, which was her choice, and she likes my quiches, so I decided to make a couple in the morning and she could have a piece of one with salad for a late lunch. I made a courgette, mushroom and tomato one, but I also made a spinach, mustard and tomato one, the receipe for which was posted on Vintage Pretty's blog. It truly made a delicious quiche, the mustard adding a lovely sharp tang. Thank you Vintage Pretty for such a delicious receipe.



Last night, Sweetpea's friend, who is getting married on Saturday came and picked us both up from our cottage to take us to see the cottage her husband to me and herself have bought. It is in the next village to mine, it was so small and sweet, the only way to it is up a lane and down a long but narrow hedged entrance way. They have a lovely rowan tree at the entrance to their garden, but unfortunately, it is being choked by japanese bindweed, and does not look to well. She delightedly showed me all around, the cottage has many wonderful period features, such as three beautiful fireplaces, two of them sandstone and wonderful quirky cupboards and wooden floors. It took me back to the time we moved into our first home, it was a furnished studio flat in Manchester, and I can remember trying to add little touches to it to stamp my style on it. Ah the excitement of your first abode, with all life ahead of you, but I am still happy to be where I am and with the life I have.