Hobbies and Crafts

Will answer later as off out, just to say wedding photos are on the photo blog for those interested. :-)

I live in the North Ann and it has been warmer than it was last week. Mind you having said that it's raining here at the moment, so it's gone a little cooler than it was yesterday. I think you're right, nature is going to be confused again with the temperature changing every few days. Pleased to see the wedding went well and everyone enjoyed themselves. Sorry to hear about the tummy bugs though, hope everyone is okay now.

I planted some Crocus bulbs a few weeks ago Gwyn and have noticed they have started to grow, I wasn't expecting them until next spring, there are lots of things in flower that should of died back by now. I'm not complaining though, they're nice to see and it's not very often we have nice summer's is it? We'll, probably have a wet summer next year, now I've said that. Hope I haven't jinxed it though.

Pleased to see you have your greenhouse sorted Vera, now all your plants will be safe over the winter. Your pond sound nice I'm sure any frogs will love it. Is your fence finished now? Have a lovely time away, hope the weather is nice for you.

I'm almost 52, but I don't have as much energy as I did in my 20's. I was doing okay until I hit 50 then I started to notice the odd twinge every now and then, although I did lay over 110 flags then, so I don't suppose that would of helped.

I was watching Gardeners World the other week Kandj and Monty Don was saying there's going to be a shortage of bulbs all over the UK next year, so if you need any bulbs I'd buy them now if you can, just in case you can't get hold of the ones you want next year.

I've been busy again over the weekend finishing off the planters, the Ivy's all done now and I bought some plants on Saturday and put them in yesterday, I still have the bulbs to add, but that can wait until the rain stops.

I bought a Sollya which is similar to a bluebell, it's an evergreen climber the same as one my mum gave me last year and should fill the trellis at the back, over time. I then put a Choisya on one side and a Leucothoe on the other side. When the flowers come out, along with the red leaves of the Leucothoe, it'll look very patriotic in Red White and Blue :-D :-D

OH is making me another planter for the back garden, I will put the Sollya mum gave me in that one as it's growing very big now. It's in my greenhouse and almost fills one side, at this rate I won't get it out of the greenhouse, so it's definitely ready to be planted into something larger. I'm not sure what else I'll add to that plant though with it being so big, so I'll wait and see how much room is left over and take it from there.

I bought two Hellebores in White, I couldn't get hold of Penny's Pink but was told they would be in the shops late November or December, so they'll need to go in the greenhouse over winter, then planted out next year.

As you can see I've been very busy lately and still have more bulbs to plant when the weather is right, but we're getting there slowly. I was hoping to put plants in the secret garden, ferns and the like, but after putting all the summer plants down there, there is no room left, so it looks like it's going to stay as a storage area now. Luckily you can't see it from the main garden and all the plants are also protected should we have another bad winter. I lost a couple of Fuscia's this year with all the snow we had, so I need to protect them better this time. I wouldn't want to lose anymore.

Nature is going to be confused again with a short cold snap followed by warm weather. It cetainly feels warmer to us today but not sure if that is because we have come back down south and it is warmer or it has turned warmer everywhere.

There's a flurry of activity locally as people cut their grass in readiness for the council garden bin collection tomorrow. The recent rain and warm weather has rejuvenated the grass, making it... and the weeds ....flourish again.Only a few weeks ago it was like barren short hay, so we've been let off grass cutting for much of the summer.

In the next road to here,this morning I saw a magnolia with many buds on, some opening in this current warm weather.
Bushes are full of ripening berries and rose hips, so quite a mixed scene at the moment.

We had blue sky, brilliant sun and no wind all day yesterday. Everything went well, the little ones were stars of the show and it was a lovely day altogether. Only cloud on the horizon the family with the two boys have been succumbing one at a time with a tummy bug, luckily either side of wedding. We are hoping none of us here have caught it. Luke the 5 year old seems to have avoided it so far. Daughter of course looked lovely. Photos on the blog later in the week.

Dry today with some sun. I hope the day has been bright for Ann's daughter.

Gill, you put us all to shame - you've certainly got more energy than me, though I suspect you may be a good bit younger. Your garden is going to look great.

My "greenhouse" is in place :-) Rather than attach it to the garage wall, OH has drilled into the concrete it is standing on and fixed it to the ground with the brackets he made. I don't think it will be going anywhere however strong the wind. It has a good metal frame, covered with a very strong plastic which zips down on two sides to enclose everything and keep the frost out, or it can be rolled up for ventilation. I have a few pots of cuttings in there and I will take a few more, and there will be space to overwinter some of the more tender plants in the garden. I am well pleased with it.

The weather means OH has been able to get on with fence painting and he is about a third of the way round with the second coat. I hope the weather is going to stay dry as it would be good to get it finished by Monday. On Tuesday we are going away again for a week or so.

I am not sure if the original frog is around, Kandj, but there seem to be plenty of others coming and going. Last time I cleaned the pond out there were 7 frogs in it. Gill, my "pond" is the size and shape of a large washing up bowl and, with a marsh marigold in a pot and a pond grass in a pot and a rock so that any wildlife that falls in can climb out again, there isn't much space for water and frogs :-D

A bright dry sunny day and no prizes for guessing where I will be and what I will be doing soon. Still sitting out and raking the dead patches in front and back lawns.
I don't/can't stay out for hours on end like when I was younger, but I do get carried away and then suffer aches and weariness for my silliness. It helps to pass the time.

Ann, I do hope the sun is shining on your family for your daughter's wedding day.
Exchanging original wedding rings is so meaningful and brought a tear to my eye.

Vera I hope you and hubby are well and managing to potter without too many worries. Do you still have the frog around or is he long gone now?

Gill you have a lot of energy and been really busy with the planters and weeding as well as planting out all your Spring flowering bulbs. I haven't even bought mine yet.

Hi everyone, I haven't been online for a few days, been so busy in the garden sorting it all out ready for the winter. That's the problem with having so many pots, it takes ages to move them all around. I've taken out all the summer plants and replaced them with winter ones, mostly evergreens, while I was doing that I got rid of all the weeds in between the pots and the fallen leaves, although I'll probably have more leaves soon when they fall off the neighbours trees.

I still haven't done the Ivy on the second planter as we noticed it was coming apart so I had to take out all the compost and plastic to get to the screw which seemed to just be going round and round. OH put in two new screws so it's all fixed now, but of course I had to put the plastic and compost back again, so that was a day gone. I then had to put some of the bulbs I'd bought into the front garden, I didn't want to put them in to late so they're all done now, just a few more to put in the planters when I've bought the plants to put in them and of course the Ivy has been done on the second planter. So still a bit more work to do before everything is finished. I was hoping to use some of the plants I already had for the planters but I seem to have used them all sorting the winter borders out, so with a bit of luck I'll be buying some new ones tomorrow.
It rained here for a few days which is why I'm so behind with everything, but at least the gardens are almost finished now, so that's something.

Keep going Kandj, your lawn will appreciate all your hard work. I agree with you once we start working we just keep going. I must admit I love doing the garden I find it very relaxing. Not to keen on the hard landscaping, paving, fencing and the like, but putting in the plants and bulbs is a great way to spend a few hours. The conifers at the back of the garden are quite thin considering how long they have been in the ground, I think it's because the neighbour's hedge was so big the back of our conifers never got any light, so although they are quite tall they don't block out to much light, they are also about 10 foot away from their garden so the sun isn't blocked out, they have tall plants themselves so I don't think they are that bothered, they've never said anything to us so I assume they're okay with them.

I hope the weather improves for you Vera and your OH can sort out your mini greenhouse for you. You won't know yourself when it's up and running.

So your daughter is marrying again tomorrow Ann, how lovely, I hope the weather is sunny for them and they have a wonderful day. What a nice thought to use the rings from their previous marriages in memory of their late partners.

Thank you Kandj, it feels a bit strange, Jon was such a big personality in our family. Thankfully he still is, both he and Lyn’s new partner’s late wife are remembered with photos among both new families displayed all together and the rings they will exchange are both from their previous marriages so their late partners are still part of their lives.

A dry bright day here and I have been back sat on my stool raking up such a lot of the dead patches. Done too much today really and I'm shattered, but isn't that what we gardeners are prone to do.. plus now I'm alone, it does help to pass such long hours.

Fingers crossed Vera you have a dry day soon for your OH to sort out things out.

Gillx, I hope that you have decided what to put into your planters now?

Ann, I well remember your family all being together for Jon's death around Xmas/New Year time?... how lovely that you are all meeting up on Friday for such a happy and blessed family occasion. I'm sure everything will go well for your daughter and your future son in law, please may I send my Congratulations and also my very best wishes to them both and wish them a long happy married life xx

Thank you Vera <3

Keep plugging away Kandj, a bit at a time and your lawn will be lovely next spring and summer.

My mini greenhouse isn’t up and running yet because it keeps raining so OH can’t get out to do it. He has made brackets to stabilise it and hoped to fix it this morning but guess what? It poured all morning......again. It has stopped now but everything is still very wet. We are out tomorrow morning but I am keeping my fingers crossed for the afternoon.

Very best wishes to your daughter Ann. I hope the sun shines for her on Friday and that she has a very happy future with her new husband.

Kandj do you have blackbirds in your garden they will thank you for raking up the lawn where all the worms lurk deep down.

Yes we had a lovely day and are now looking forward to Friday when daughter gets married again, making memories with the family.

Today is very sunny with blue skies after overnight rain and very windy. The wind is very cold but we have been down on Roanhead on the Duden estuary and the views of the fells were wonderful so clear.

I'm sure you and hubby enjoyed your anniversary Ann, making memories together.

Is your mini greenhouse fastened yet Vera. It will be really useful so enjoy it.

Gillx, have you finished fastening the artificial ivy to both planters and decided what plants to put in there yet?

I am still "on a mission" sat on the stool working and raking the compacted dead patches away and I'm surprised at the dead grass and moss that is underneath there.

Thank you for your good wishes Kandj.

Hellebores are a good idea Gill. They don't mind some shade as long as they get a bit of light and some of them bloom for a long period. I have a couple of white ones and they keep going if they are deadheaded but I also have a dark pinkish red one called Penny's Pink which has masses of flowers from around February till June or even July.

Kandj, I am sure your grass will respond to all the tlc it is getting from you and will be perfect next spring.

My mini-greenhouse isn't up yet because OH wants to get a second coat of paint on the new fence down that end of the house, and it keeps raining. But he has said that, as soon as he has got those few panels painted, he will put it up before he does the rest of the fence. I am just relieved he got round with one coat of paint before the rain really started to come down.

I just had to come back on here after reading on General Thread that Ann and hubby are celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary today. Congratulations to you both and I hope that you have very many more to follow on xx

I did a weed and feed earlier in Springtime and well before the long hot dry Summer and quite surprised with the weeds that have grown whilst the lawn died back. No idea why that should happen, especially as I have been watering it regularly either early morning or late evening (fortunately no hose pipe ban here).


Gillx, I am surprised that the near neighbours at the bottom of your garden haven't complained to you about the height that 10 year old conifers can become?
Leylandii were very popular at one time and good for quick growth/privacy but they can become really high so quickly and often require cutting twice a year to keep maintained. 320 bulbs will give you so much colour next Spring. Good planting.

Ann I do have a lot of patience and I am ok to follow your "slowly slowly monkey advise".... and yes, I agree this method is giving me daily exercise and fresh air too, I just hope this will work/not entirely sure as yet though? I will keep you all informed.

Vera, is your mini greenhouse up and running yet?

Thanks Ann for the suggestion of Hellebores, I Googled them so I new what they looked like and they look lovely.

Because my borders are made up of pots I don't have any trouble with things growing in front of the Leylandi trees. I live in a bungalow and there is a massive house very close to the bottom of our garden so the trees give us privacy which we like, it also hides the bit of garden behind them so I can use that space for storage to without it being seen. I planted the trees 10 years ago and I'm so glad I did, it makes a lovely backdrop to the border we put there this year. With our garden being North facing it doesn't block any sun off the main garden to, which is a bonus.

I didn't know we had about 6 to 8 foot of garden behind the trees until I started cutting the huge hedge back, it belongs to the neighbours over the back and had grown towards the sun on our side, so once I took away the very long branches I put a fence up which gave us our secret garden, now it's all flagged it can be used. There is a bit of light, but no direct sunlight, so the Hellebores should do well down there, thank you for your advice.

Yes, we have quite a lot of garden centres around here so I'll take a look and see if any of them have some evergreen ferns as I think they would be ideal in the shady spot Kandj. Gardens can look bigger than they actually are sometimes depending on how they are laid out. I bet it was a surprise when you measured it? Keep going with your lawn I'm sure you'll get there in the end. Maybe you could feed it, that might help it grow back.

Well, I finally finished one of my planters yesterday so that's ready to be planted up once I decide what to put in it. I keep changing my mind, but with all the pot plants I've got, there's plenty to choose from. I'm hoping to start wiring in the artificial Ivy to the back of the second planter tomorrow if it's not raining, then that one will be ready to. It's pouring with rain here today so I won't be working in the garden today. Once I've finished the planters I have the lovely job of planting the 326 bulbs I bought the other day. I'm going to put some of them in the planters and some in the front garden, the rest will go into pots to dot around the two large borders I have in the back garden, so hopefully next year I'll have some colour everywhere. Most of my plants are evergreen so I haven't had a lot of colour this year.

Gill do you have a good garden centre near you? If so go and look at what ferns they have and the labels will hopefully tell you which won't die back. If there is a little light getting in there how about trying a couple of Hellebores.
I like to see mirrors in gardens they add interest. We had leylandi at the end of our garden but the people they belonged to took them out thank goodness as they stopped anything growing near them.

Kandj slowly slowly catchee monkey I think with the lawn. I expect the exercise is as good for you as it is the lawn. the sun is shining here now but it was chilly this morning.