Nancys Garden

Art house project

2011-08-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine but somewhere in all these sketch books is mine!!! and whats more a few people have actually looked at it.......thank you!! whoever you are..x

can it really be??

2011-08-14T23:54:00.000-07:00

It is nearly a year since my last post on this site.....looking back over it i realise so much has changed.

my life is split into two halves

One half is all about the flowers, last November with Miss Magpie and the Dutchman we opened our little shop, Martin and The Magpie which has taken up a vast amount of time and energy

The other have has been caring for my Mum who was ill, as she has recovered my step father has declined, so this half is filled with hospital and doctors trips, trying to stay positive while trying to understand a mental illness that changes personalities,when all you really want to do is walk away and hide.

The beauty I see in the shop keeps reminding me that nature is wonderful but sometimes cruel, the juxtaposition highlighted daily.

I cling onto the scent of sweet peas and garden roses like a talisman against the encroaching perfume of decay I fear will engulf me.

The Sketchbook Project

2010-08-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

I thought it only fitting to show you on this blog...

My sketchbook for this art house project.

My theme is 'STORYBOOK'

I wrote and drew my story of my year in Nancy's Garden.

I have not shown it all...to see that you will have to go to Brooklyn Art Gallery in 2011!!!

Please....come over here!!!

2010-05-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

As much as I've loved this blog...now that I don't actually live in Nancys house it has never been quite the same...

so please come on over to my other blog.....

Is This The Right Path?
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...it has tales of life...dogs ...bits and pieces....and gardens....

...today it has these beautiful roses...

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...tomorrow who knows!!!

Hiding...

2010-05-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hidden under the delicious montana flowers....a scented bower....in a powder blue box...there are baby blue tits....

..we can't wait to see them....their parents are so busy flitting in and out all day long....they are the source of many minutes of idleness....

orchid joy

2010-05-19T03:40:00.001-07:00

On our recent trip to Holland we visited a fabulous gardens....

in one of the exhibition halls there was a mind blowing display of orchids...

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of pretty much every type and colour..
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this one was new to me a trailing cymbidium orchids...stunning..
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we had our own little success!!...
getting a moth orchid to re flower...
i think we have counted twenty blooms....
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.. its getting warmer here and the garden is starting to bloom...

Time...

2010-05-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

...is in the grass...

in my new garden I have a sun dial in the grass.....its quite accurate....
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..when the sun shines!!!!!
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Tune in again for a tale of a scottie dog, a compost heap and an obession....

Blossom

2010-05-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

While is Amsterdam we visited the Van Gogh museum...one of my favourite paintings of his was of a sky filled with blossom which he painted for his brother and sister-in-law on the birth of their son....

the blossom was just emerging at a garden we visited later in the trip..so this is my take on that picture....

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i hope one day you may see the painting..it is beautiful...........

flowers flowers everywhere

2010-04-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

....words not necessary........such varied beauty......the scent from thousands of hyacinths....narricuss and muscari was intoxicating......

Pretty as a picture

2010-04-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally arrived in my new garden.....these art some of the planters that I brought with me....

..my lovely pair of angels haven't found just the right place yet so are waiting patiently against my french wire basket filled with moss and planted with bright red tulips..the tulips were a present from Holland...forget-me-nots have self seeded amongst them which is a happy coincidence..bright red and powdery blue..mmm...

a beautiful camellia blooming happily...

..and my absolute springtime favourite..snakes head fritillaries..quietly nodding in the breeze...perfect...

Soul Flowers

2010-03-21T13:46:00.001-07:00

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.

~Terri Guillemets

Hellebores

2010-03-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

Where I work they are replanting some borders and the other day these beauties showed up.....all standing in a line waiting to find their space......

Being a green type of girl these are my favourites....but I have to say I love them all......

This pale yellow one is new to me and so pretty....

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......what are your favourite spring flowers.....??

The Primrose

2010-03-11T23:50:00.000-08:00

I know that you are just around the corner.......waiting for a few more degrees of warmth........

Welcome, pale primrose! starting up between

Dead matted leaves of ash and oak, that shrewn

The every lawn, the wood and spinney through.....

to gaze a moment on the pleasing sight;

O'erjoyed to see the flowers that truly bring

The welcome news of sweet returning spring.

John Clare

Mullion Window

2010-03-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

I love the word 'Mullion'!!!.....we used to go to place in Cornwall as kids called Mullion Cove....sand ...rock pools....swimming....just messing around....

....This however is a picture of a display I did at an really old house in Dorset...all its windows where stone mullions with diamond shaped leaded glass windows....this was an entry to a porch.....

...once we came to an outdoor performance of Romeo & Juliet in the gardens here...it was summer...it was damp.... and it was cold.....but it was an experience...thats what life is about really isn't it?

the scent of narcissi

2010-02-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

The room is filled with the heady scent of early narcissus....my mind spins with remembered memories of a flower shop by the sea.....when I was filled with creative spirit at every turn and all was set fair.....until the dark clouds loomed....

Remember how we picked the daffodils?
Nobody else remembers, but I remember.
Your daughter came with her armfuls,eager and happy,
Helping the harvest.She has forgotten........

What a fleeting glance of the everlasting
Daffodils are. Never identified
The nuptial flight of rarest ephemera-
our own days!
we thought they were a windfall.
Never guessed they were a blessing.......

a few words from a poem by Ted Hughes.

Planning

2010-02-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

...thinking about....seeds.....flowers.....

planting....nurturing.....

sowing and reaping.....

Blue and white loveliness

2010-02-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

I don't really like blue flowers...but these iris look lovely and springlike in the large transfer ware jug....twigs, pussy willow and pollen laden catkins add height....don't you just love twigs??....

White Beauty

2010-02-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

Out on a walk at the weekend.....we found a bank of snowdrops....so beautiful...

Spring is coming even though we had snow flurries today!!!

Be-dazzzled

2010-02-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

Tulips are one of my favourite flowers....these gorgeous orange and yellow striped ones are stunning.....gradually opening in the warmth of my room....

I love just a vase of one type of flower...with this I have cut some twigs from a tree while I was out walking and like 'tollys magic' they have produced lambs tail catkins which shower dust on my table every time I walk past....

Have a peaceful day.

ps. Tolly is the boy from the book The Children of Green Knowle, he brought branches into the house and watched as the develop their leaves and flowers.

simple things

2010-01-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

Christina at soul aperture is wanting lists of the simple things that make you grateful....hop over to 'is this the right path'( buttton on right) for mine and go to soul aperture for chistinas fabulous post.

dreamin'

2010-01-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

Dreaming of summer days filled with scented roses.....a lazy afternoon...a rug on the grass...a dog snoring at my feet...tea in a china cup....and the swallows soaring overhead in a cloudless sky....

...whats your dream today??

White jewel in the mud

2010-01-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

First seen today...tiny beautiful jewels of snowdrops...hiding in the mossy bank...

Spring is coming!!!

2010-01-08T08:35:00.001-08:00

Not from the garden which is covered in snow.....but the local florist...the touch of a promise....

Christmas Greeetings

2009-12-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

Merry christmas to you all....have a wonderful time.xxx

Wet, Wild and Windy....

2009-11-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

In the late autumn a few brave blooms are still hanging on.....

I just love a rusty old window!....a rambling rose breaks in.....

A bright spark of colour amongst the damp decay....

Hope you are all settled in for the winter...that your logs are chopped and that your larder is full.

Time to close the gate.

2009-09-04T12:13:00.001-07:00

Autumns fast approaching and the nights are drawing in.....there is that certain chill in the air and all is slowing down in the garden.
As the fast growing season ends my real work is just revving up!!!
Shooting season starts in a few weeks.
So from mid September to early January my life will be very hectic....and oh goodness there is a certain Christmas as well.....I'm exhausted just thinking about it..but I know once in the swing it will be over too fast and I will again be thinking of spring and all the delights of Nancy's Garden.
I just want to say thank you for everyone who has been on this little journey with me and I hope you'll come and see me again in the spring.
Here's the latest photos of the garden..........enjoy!!

Will the peaches ever be ripe????

Will I ever be able to eat all the apples????

Will the Japanese anenomes ever stop flowering???

Will I ever stop photographing this view???

Will I ever know what these are????

Is there a happier flower than a daisy???

Late summer

2009-08-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy lately things have been quiet in the garden.......the grass grows so fast that all I have really been able to do is keep on top of things.....

There is a lovely purple hibiscus bush partly hidden ...the japenese anemones are in full bloom, weaving there elegant stems through everything......amazingly the green shoots of next years muscari are already pushing through the ground....makes for a different texture in what are a few barren spots......

The apple trees are laden with fruit......already I am picking windfalls off the lawn..dodging the wasps!!

Rudibeckia and white phlox....the perfume is very delicate and somehow reminds me of my childhood....the hollyhocks that have been such a bright beacon growing through the apple tree are nearly over.....

I still have lovely astilbe going strong and masses of hardy fuchsia with their ballerina flowers nodding in the breeze..as well as a second flush of pinks blooming.....but with the delphinium's over, the buddlia looking a bit worst for wear .....and the Michaelmas daisies just about ready to flower there is definite whiff of autumn in the garden.

Wood nymph bouquet

2009-08-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

As I walked today...round the newly harvested fields and through the woods...I gathered!! I find I always return home with something...a feather, a stone, a bag of blackberries....today I found a bank of snow berries.....I picked a small bunch as we walked ( the lodger and I)....

.......we found ivy just starting to form the berries....berried ivy is one of my very favourite things....trailing ivy....some late flowering cow parsley..or one of its kin......and the an elderflower tree with the berries just starting to turn, so there is a mixture of green and pale burgundy, add some grey foliage which wilted very fast!! and a raffia bow....a bouquet just ready for a wood nymph or woodland sprite......

I can't resist...once a florist, always.......

Heaven Scent

2009-08-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

My lilies are in bloom.......but they should all be white!! Oops!!

And the stately lilies stand
Fair in silvery light
Like saintly vestals, pale in prayer;
Their pure breath sanctifies the air,
As its fragrance fills the night.
Anon.

August...

2009-08-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

August is here already and I hardly got started on July!!!
After all the lovely flowers of spring and early summer there's not a lot going on in high summer....
We used to find that as florists Summer was the most difficult time...so much is forced to be ready early, come summer things are a bit jaded.... however there are a few lovelies showing off at the moment.......

bright blue echinops....with Japanese anemones nodding their graceful heads in the breeze...

white phlox...smells divine.....a lovely white buddlia which is usually covered in butterflies but they were camera shy today....and the pears fattening up nicely!!

Bubble gum pink hollyhocks growing through the apple tree.....my goodness we are in for another bumper crop of apples......
Bumble bees always welcome!!!

Be sure..

2009-07-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

.....Don't hurry, don't worry,

.............We are only here for a short visit.

....................So be sure to stop and smell the flowers....

Walter Hager.

Amazing!

2009-07-24T23:48:00.000-07:00

This morning those bedraggled hydrangeas had fully hydrated!!

Beautiful....

One mans rubbish....

2009-07-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

When we owned a florist we used to have a student do work experience with us and she always used to go through the bins and 'rescue' flowers that we couldn't sell or bits of raffia that had been deemed too short to use and it used to drive us mad!!!....

However today I found I was that person!!!....were I work we sometimes have weddings in the grounds..marquees and stuff.....as I walked by the lake and slid in the mud the contractors had made taking away all the debris, I spyed in the bushes a flash of blue......I investigated being quite nosey......and all the flowers taken from the arrangements had been dumped in the undergrowth!!!.....OK some were past it but the rain we had today had kept the others quite fresh........blowsy roses....echinops and larkspur which will dry and keep its colour, dead or alive... the hydrangeas are probably past it but I brought them home and dunked their frilly heads in a bowl of water for an hour and they have revived a bit......they my only last a few days but isn't it worth it....

I can't believe that some bride would have paid hundred of pounds for these arrangements and nobody wanted to take some home!!

There was also yards and yards of a beautiful oak leaf garland but with four dogs and an armful of soggy blooms I reluctantly had to leave it!!

Mid July

2009-07-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that its the middle of July?......where is this year going?......
One minute you are standing in awe at the first appearance of snowdrops.....

.....and the next you are watching gorgeous day lilies opening in the sunshine!!!

The sun being a bit rare at the moment...the days seem to start OK and then the grey descends...and we go back to the sort of days that have made up our summers for the last few years......

.however things continue to grow..Michaelmas daises are growing tall..the apples and pears are filling out......Japanese anemones are producing buds.....and I finally got to make raspberry jam...

I hope your summer is being fruitful.....

Perfume and Praise

2009-07-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

The scent that hits you as you walk up the path is glorious!! Roses and clematis entwinned....perfect!!

Carol at the Writers Porch recommended a book for me a while back..she thought it was very like Nancy's Garden........

Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers was a great read and quite spookily similar apart from the fact that I never knew Nancy nor she me!!

It also teaches a great deal about our relationships with others and that sometimes you may think you know the whole picture but often you don't.....

I also wish that my garden would get in shape as quick as Leotas!!! But I expect that's the writers artistic licence.......thanks Carol for telling me about it.....I know it'll be one of those forever books that stay in the bookcase instead of finding their way to the charity shop!!

Baby birds..

2009-07-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Nancy's Garden is awash with baby birds!!!!

..there are masses of sparrows.....baby blackbirds....finches and I even spied a spotted flycatcher which has nest in the garden next door....but best of all are the swifts that have been flying in and out of the log store..their little babies fledged this week..the picture is of Mum (or Dad!!) protectively watching them swoop about as she (he ) chattered instructions!!!

Happy Hollyhocks!

2009-07-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

I just love these cheerful flowers......tall hollyhocks in such pretty colours.....

..there are lots more yet to bloom under the apple trees....

Happy Day..

2009-06-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Warm day......soft breeze.....pottering in the garden......watching the baby birds....

.....fragrant perfumes.....heaven scents.....garden roses....starry jasmine....walking dogs ...chilled wine.....simple food.....perfect Sunday.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend....

Happy the man, and happy he alone,

He, who can call to-day his own:

He who, secure within can say,

To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.

John Dryden 1631- 1700

First Crop..

2009-06-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have had my first little crop of delicious raspberies..not enough yet for jam but lots to go on my morning cereal....
Yum!!

Giraffe Love!!

2009-06-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

I came across a webpage with the most bizarre request!!

Send in your drawing of a giraffe......

How could I resist Ola?......but you didn't believe my age..I know it looks like a 4 year olds sketch but its the best I can do!!

Fruits of the Garden

2009-06-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Even through we have had hardly any rain for a few weeks now, all the trees are starting to show another bumper crop of fruit........

I love the gnarled old branches of this apple tree......and I have masses of raspberries but I suspect it will be a race against me or the multitude of birds that I have in the garden as to who gets the most!!!..

I am longing for pots of raspberry jam to put in the larder though!!!......This old pear tree is not in very good shape but it seems to have quite a few fruits on it.....

...the large apple tree that I have my swing hung from is groaning under its crop....this tree provided me....my mum....the blackbirds and the rats (ugh..well it was a really hard winter and I guess they were starving as much as the birds...) with lots of bounty last autumn...

A lovely fragrant pink rose is rambling its way through the pear tree...

....mass ranks of delphiniums in many shades of blue are flowering now...

..and the fence between my neighbour and I is heady with this white rose..there are hundreds of clusters of flowers.....it smells divine..

.......Oh and there is the small matter of hedges to cut......I am surrounded on three sides by hedges and over the last two evenings me and my ancient shears have managed to cut two of them...very good for my upper arm muscles!!!!

...lovely flowers cut for my pleasure and to make the house look pretty......

mmmm.....

Sun Rising

2009-06-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Wishing all of you the happiest of Midsummer days.......

..may the Sun always shine on you and yours!!

Watch and Wait

2009-06-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Continuing the policy of watching and waiting to see what beauties appear.......just keeping the weeds in check and adding a few touches to bare spaces......

What loveliness....

..so cottage garden....sweet peas by the front door..these are the everlasting ones that come up each year.....my old fashioned scented sweet peas that I planted ages ago are finally starting to take off,,...but in anticipation I bought some today from a stand by someones gate....one day I want to do this!!!

mmmmmmmm...that summer smell.....

Two weeks ago....

2009-06-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I arranged the flowers for Liz's wedding.....

..today she sent me some photos of the day and how the flowers looked......they all looked beautiful..don't you agree?

There and Back!!

2009-06-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

I've been away on my holidays....a hot island where the palm trees grow...it certainly made me very grateful for the lush abundance of our 'green and pleasant ' land..and I couldn't wait to see how the garden had grown in aweek!!!

I knew the peonies where just about to flower when I left and thought they might be over when I got back......but no they had saved their blowsey splendor for me to see...

beautiful pure white......

gorgeous frilly pink........

full bloom and as big as saucers........and they smell of Summer......

Colourful days

2009-05-26T13:22:00.001-07:00

The garden is at last starting to look very colourful....but in a really restricted palette..lots of purples, lilacs and pinks with occasional shot of yellow.....it all so wonderful seeing what is emerging......

...some times I left a plant..not sure if its a good plant or a weed.....the delphiniums are budding up as are the peonies and pinks.......

Most striking is this beautiful flag iris....simply divine!!! unfortunately only a couple as the other leaves appear to have no flowers.....they maybe too old....I think you should dig these each year and divide them to get continued growth.....the ground here is bone dry and pretty poor....I foresee much digging and compost adding through the year.....

..through another blog I found this great web site...Labour and Wait..( how true!!)..it has lots of great simple things for sale but I particularly liked the Heritage Seeds.....

..with names like...Lazy housewife Bean..and ...Drunken Women Lettuce...who could fail to smile!!....past the gin please.....

Stepping back

2009-05-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

...before I came to this place ....I was a florist ....I loved it but couldn't earn a good enough living...but last year I'd promised to design a friends wedding flowers.....and Sunday was the day!!.......
An early start...the components of the buttonholes.....

Silver foliage, eucalyptus, jasmine flower and avalanche rose...all wired and bound.....

X 12.......

......pretty bridesmaids of white and dusky pink roses, phlox, rannuculus and grey foliage wound with ivory ribbon....

The Bride.....two types of vintage old roses with white orchids and grey foliage bound with ivory ribbon......
...heavenly flowers....a beautiful early summers day......when love and happiness was in the air......

Aquilegas' Everywhere

2009-05-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

There are many different aquiligas self seeded in the garden....making an elegant display......also coming up are my mystery plant....they are very where and I think may be verbascum..whatever that is....they are very cottagey though and definitely fill a space....the grass grows on a pace and roses and peonies are ready to burst!!

One of my lovely feathered friends keeping an eye on things!!

White!

2009-05-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

The beautiful frothy abundance of cow parsley is breathtaking on the path to the garden......no-one else seems to have such a 'crop' along our row of cottages......

..its getting so you may have to fight your way through soon.....

but it is so beautiful I can't bare to hack it back....

..entwined with bright green ivy......

...fruit may well be in abundance soon to.....strawberries are popping up everywhere...

..and the gooseberries are filling out nicely....mmmm....gooseberry fool I can't wait!!!

Making progress?

2009-05-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

A 'petite' bouquet of the most beautifully scented lily of the valley which grows in abundance in the garden.....mmmmmm....At last ,I feel that I'm making a slight dent in the volume of work that needs doing to make this garden beautiful again.....today was a day off from work so really spent some time trying to get the grass out of the beds....( i'm convinced whoever seeded the lawn threw that seed about with gay abandon!!!).....bucket and bucket loads of waste later and I had just about managed to see the two main beds emerging from the lawn....I try to do an hour a night after work while the weather has been settled and I guess its slowly starting to show.....

I daren't show a picture of the veggie....no daffodil patch...help may be needed!!

Masses of pinks are starting to bud up and the delphiniums, astilbe and phlox are growing apace, there are also masses of a plant I don't know..will have to look it up sometime...it looks like a stock but has no scent...it has self -seeded everywhere and is definately a flower..not a weed!!!!

Rosy welcome!!

2009-05-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

The first rose of summer........

.....a tiny climber...pale lemon with a pink stripe......gorgeous..

Feathered Friends

2009-05-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

You only have to wait a few minutes standing quietly in the Garden or by a window to see the very varied bird life I have here.....
The Dunnock with its slightly mauve colouring...in this 1950's book it is also called the Hedge Accentor which I've not heard before.....I have plenty of sparrows to...they look pretty similar..

I thought I had an injured one of these this morning but as I got closer I realised it was two locked in battle!!

.........every gardens friend the robin......

The amazingly quick jenny wren...I have just watched one in the apple tree having a feast on the aphids....good girl!!!
There are lots of finches...chaffinches, green finch....nut hatches...

I have feed these birds all winter ....as do most people here.....I notice that they all have their routine and you see the chaffinches and sparrows in the morning...the blackbirds later..the blue tits and great tits are always about......but best of all and my most favourite little feathered things are......

....the gold finches......stunningly beautiful.....acrobatic.....cheerful little chaps.....once caught for their fine singing and always in a crowd!!!.......

..several together are called a charm...isn't that wonderful........

May Day

2009-05-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

The end of the daffodils and the start of the bluebells.......

note to self.....must get out into garden before nature takes over!!!!....

...down the garden path on May 1st.....
Blossom falling and peonies starting to bud up....

Coming Home

2009-04-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

I've been away for a few days and I couldn't wait to see how Nancys Garden was doing!!....I really saw a difference ......so much is happening!!!

Bluebells down the path...

Alchemilla Mollis ready to burst.....

Apple blossom in gorgeous abundance..I can't wait for balmy evenings..to light the lamp and sit under the tree with a glass of wine......

One of my Christmas gifts from Miss Magpie and Her Dutchman..Tulips that are such a fabulous colour...thank you!!

Elegant Aquilegia gracefully nodding in the breeze....and of course the grass hasn't stopped growing either.....

2009-04-21T01:22:00.000-07:00

A sea of Lily of the Valley just about to bloom......

The Bare Bones

2009-04-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

These are the bare facts....originally...so I'm told all this was garden with only paths as grass.....however last year most of it was dug up and put to lawn....and a very inferior grass seed used..

In these two bed are a multitude of old cottage garden plants and bulbs and lots of grass!!!.....and even more dandelions...I may have to buy a rabbit!!

I'm gradually working my way around the identifiable plants...putting in supports as I go..but it is a slow process....

This was going to be my veggie patch..until February arrived and I noticed lots of bulbs appearing...hundreds of daffodils...I can only assume that whoever dug up the garden transplanted the bulbs here as they are all in rows.

Many are blind so am going to sort them out and replant the good ones in the main garden.

I may have to wait for vegetables this year!!

This the blossom on a very ancient pear tree....I did get a few pears from it last year but need to read up on pruning pears....add it to the list!!

2009-04-16T00:12:00.000-07:00

When we arrived last Autumn all was fading ......with the last remaining flowers putting on a show for us....

....always lots of wildlife about.......