Summer flowers and bugs

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Tove’s gift to me, first years flowers, gorgeous!
Blue thistle
Super striped bug on parsley
Green bug on tansy
Dahlia
Day lily
Poppy
Wild poppy self seed
Wild poppy self seed
Poppy seed heads
Back door
Fennel
Blessed Mary thistle or Milk thistle seed head.

Blue pine

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On a wet day walk I came across a beautiful cone fallen from a blue pine tree, I was fascinated by the detail and colours.
It had already split in two, the inside is amazing.
The colors lovely.

Green

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After the first flurry of blossom and early spring flowers it’s been a little wet and green.

The thistle’s this year are taller than me!
I love the soft sage green of the somewhat prickly leaves.
Lots of paths leading to secret places.
I wanted to do something with the triangle field that was good for me and for the wildlife too, a meadow maze!
I have cut the grass into a spiral leaving a lot of area for wild flowers, it is good to have the cut areas as it aids small animal and insects to feed easily, the long grass is close by so they can use it for shelter from predators.
I am hoping to see a lot of wild flowers too. I will have to cut it once during the season and then again just before the winter.
It is also a lot of fun.
The lawn is slowly recovering from the upheaval last year when the ground heating system was installed.

Helpful kitty

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Slim just loves to help with the laundry
Guarding the pegs
Passing Moøm a peg
Or tasting the peg
Wooden ones taste better
Checking the basket
Hiding the pegs
All that work makes for a sleepy kitty

Painting the outbuildings

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Before
After
During
After
I cleaned all the window sills, one day I would like to replace the windows with traditional ones.
This was once a dairy farm and these are the barns, dairy and byres.
I have still to paint the gable end all of the back and the long barn!
I am so happy to get this much done.
😃😃😃

Soap

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I spent one afternoon making soap, 4 different kinds, when they have done their first 2 days curing I cut them up and then leave then to cure for a further month before I can use it, most of it I will send to my children , (it’s why I first started making soap, when William was a baby he had the worst eczema, I didn’t want to use the harsh detergent soaps on his skin so did some research and found I could make my own extra mild soap especially for baby’s, and have been making soap for the family ever since.
The house smells delicious a mix of all the essential oils I used in them.
I don’t use any colours in the soap, the colours come from the ingredients I use, in this case the lavender turns into a spicy cake!
Flecks of lightly ground lavender.
Chamomile cake!
The darker blobs are the flower heads and the flecks the petals.
Calendula, marigold petals barley change to soap colour but is one of my favourites.
The green in this wonder soap is from liquidised nettles, it’s a fabulous soap packed full of tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils.

Simply lovely weather

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The bright dry days has brought on an abundance of blossom.
Along with a lot of grass to be cut.
Although it’s sunny it’s not very warm so it’s a good time to clear up after the recent night winds.
I cleared up in and around the poly tunnel ready for planting.
Moved the table under the apple tree for shade.
Filled in the old pond.
Lost my compost heap to the ants! Luckily I had used half of it already so it was not a complete disaster.
Watched splendid sunsets
Lazed in the sun with Slim Pickings.

I simply am enjoying my splendid isolation.

A walk in the woods

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First day out today to stock up on supplies, schools are still closed, there is plenty of food in the stores but it take a while with the queuing system , otherwise it was busy, usual traffic on the main road but no traffic at all on the side road, the trams and busses all running again. Now I’m all stocked up for another month
On the way home I took a wee detour to a little woodland I know that at this time of year is usually awash with beautiful wood anemones and I was not disappointed, I walked in through the a blanket of white with only the birds for company, it was delicious, beautiful, breathtaking splendid solitude, perfect I’m so glad I went.
I simply love the wonderful old trees.
When I was a child I would look forward to the wood anemones at Easter, they were always so perfect, there was one spot in particular where they always seemed so much bigger, I would always pick a bunch for my room, from then on it endless, blue bells, primroses, daffodils, daisies, buttercups, cornflowers, foxgloves, wild orchids, lupins, I could go on, my childhood favourite was meadowsweet, the scent was heavenly, I still cannot go past a meadowsweet plant without burrowing my face into the delightful fluffy flowers and drinking in the wonderful aroma.

Tree clearing 101!

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I really wanted to clear away this tree that came down in the very strong wind recently, I don’t have a chainsaw, I’m terrified of them, way to noisy and powerful for me to handle.
So I gathered up some tools, a couple of saws, an axe and a machete!
I spent the morning cutting the branches off.
Big pile to burn later when the weather is wet.
Burning pile.
This one I’ll leave in the woodland for the wild animals to use. I usually gather up all the fallen branches and make piles around the woodland every year, there are, hedgehogs, hares, badgers, pheasants and I am sure lots of other little animals who use them.
It didn’t take long to cut the branches off, it took a lot longer to cut the tree trunk into three pieces so I could move it off the track. Phew, it was tough!
But the jobs done, happy days, I need a cup of tea!
A lovely clear track just waiting to be cut ready for spring!
Woodland track.
It was a tough job, but I an so glad I did it!