Thursday 24 May 2012

A Dry Garden & Meeting a Blogger

Conference was amazing. Don't think there was anybody who was not touched by the Holy Spirit
You know it was a good conference when one comes away feeling things will never be quite the same again!
Much healing and empowering


and
I was serving refreshments at the beginning on Friday when a lady came up to me and checked out my name tag
It was Jenny above, a blogger who recognised me from my blog


Come Tuesday Alan began the mammoth task at the bottom of the garden by digging up some enormous tree roots
Nothing has been done since because of a combination of weather and an unexpected visit from someone we last saw in the 1980's.
Having been hampered by 6 weeks of almost non-stop torrential rain (it felt like that anyhow) the temperatures rose from upper 50's to mid 80's almost over night and I can't remember it ever being so humid here in May before
We are going to have to pace ourselves in this heatwave


The herb garden is flourishing


as is everywhere else



Everywhere one looks we are surrounded by things to do with the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations
and in my garden too!






Hard to believe that not too long ago a great swathe of this was under water





The fence panels arrive tomorrow and I am itching to get on with my part
watch this space!



Friday 18 May 2012

Ramblings in the garden in mid-May

Having a quick journey into Blogdom before a weekend conference beginning tonight that our church is hosting.
'Living Supernatural'
with Chad & Julia Dedmon who were ordained as Ministers by
Drs Rolland & Heidi Baker and Bill & Beni Johnson of Bethel Church, Reading, California



As far as the garden is concerned we had a completely dry day yesterday, the first for a long time so I was able to get out there and do some much needed work



Having removed an ailing shrub here I came across this miniature 'Red Robin' - Photinia and will be looking forward to seeing how it compares with the much larger kind that I already have






It has been impossible to get on with our 'bottom of the garden' project because of the weather 
All the old fence is gone now and we have been getting rid of some of the dead foliage in the garden at the back of us which caused the damage to our fence in the first place


So with fence, greenhouse and shed gone sorting this area out feels a bit overwhelming to me
We are wanting to make do with what we have got and not spend much money
Would be easy peasy if we could just dump it all and start again
However the first job once Alan has put up the new fence will be to lift up the different levels and try to make something of it
I don't want to lose what is already planted so making it even harder working around that
We'll get there I don't doubt but probably not as quick as I would like
at least the torrential rain and hailstones has stopped and it is set to get warmer next week





I could not resist adding a photo I took of Bekah recently while we were baby sitting, she loves her floor puzzles (and pink)

And in closing Alan jumped on a bus yesterday morning for 2 stops
(5 minutes) between the hospital and shopping centre to meet up 
with me and during that time he had his Kindle (one of his 80th birthday presents) stolen out of his zipped up shoulder bag
Are we all going to need to carry our bags under our coats!

Wishing everyone a great weekend 






Tuesday 15 May 2012

Changing Seasons in the Park

As this park is virtually at the top of my road I can enjoy the changing seasons almost every day but for April and May this year it has been a matter of finding ones moments in between the rain which has been almost constant at times 


We begin with a view of the Grands who are growing fast, seen here on a recent visit with their bikes, and yes, the rain came before we left




and son Peter on Oliver's bike


Oliver loves the cross trainer, taken a few months ago before the trees were in leaf


Rebekah enjoying herself at the same time


and this week the Cow Parsley


and Hawthorn dripping with blossom





The Blackthorn in late February






and the snowballs in early February



and here a local field of Oil Seed Rape taken with my mobile when passing last week - a most beautiful perfume but a great cause of Hayfever


Friday 11 May 2012

Castle Hedingham

After our visit to Hedingham Castle we opted for a walk around the village of Castle Hedingham







Before having a very nice lunch at Buckley's Tearooms






Some of the various teas available


before strolling around the rest of the village




Not the place for lunch in the middle of a day out








and walking back to the castle where our car is parked