More done than it seemed!

Last week was a pretty mixed bag, weatherwise, but despite feeling that we didn't get much done, more was actually achieved that I had at first thought.

I think I mentioned that I was going to relocate the old wheelbarrow from the other side of the garden across to the new patio?  I got it moved ~ no easy task as the front wheel is bent to one side! ~ and emptied out, ready for new plants to be installed.  I've ordered a selection of alpines (along with a few herbs for the back garden) from Shire Plants, as I'm going to make a mini rockery in the wheelbarrow.  I also wanted a couple of low-growing plants to finish off the black wooden planter on the right and I really didn't have anything suitable I could "shop" from the garden. 

However, I was able to use what I already had to finish off this side of the long raised bed.  Unfortunately we've had to put some of the netting panels from the old kitchen garden beds around some of the new ones as a cat (most likely Mr Grumpy from next door 😒) has been digging in it.  As I said, I got this side planted up and then topped off with bark chippings.  Although it's not a fool-proof topping, the cats don't seem to like to dig in it as much as they do in nice fresh soil!

The dwarf buddleia and erigerons were temporarily being housed in the planter on the patio.  The little variegated shrub (which has lost its label, unfortunately) to the left of the hypericum was in the back garden, in a bed which I am going to plant up with herbs in due course.  I was worried for a while about the little rowan tree, in the centre of the bed, that I had uprooted from the other side of the front garden.  It was looking very sad and dropped all it's leaves, but I'm happy to report that it is looking much better now and is putting out fresh new foliage 😊

I also relocated another hypericum from the planter on the patio, which has now planted in the other side of the raised bed, next to the hypericum which has been there for a little while.  The fencing is still in place around this side of the bed as I can't really get any more plants moved into it until I've dug up another rowan ~ which is still on the other side of the garden 😖

I moved another plant from the back garden, which I can't remember the name of, to replace the two wooden blocks that I'd put there to try to keep the cats from digging.  Needless to say, they took advantage of the freshly turned over soil and have dug in there again 😠  Much as I don't like to crowd out my plants too much, I think I will have to put in a fair few more to try to fill the gaps as much as possible.

We finally got the old wall border emptied out ~ of course, I've forgotten to take a photo of it in its bare state 😄  I really wanted to keep the lupin plant that was growing in the corner next to the escallonia and Adrian managed to dig it out with a fair bit of root still attached.  I drastically cut it back, just leaving these small, fresh, shoots.  I was amazed at how much liquid came out of the stalks when I cut them!  I didn't know that lupins retain such a lot of water.  The plant seems okay, though, so fingers crossed that it will survive being treated so brutally 🤞

The rosa rugosa, which we inherited when we bought the house, is going to have to go I'm afraid.  Lovely shrubs as they are this one was such a terrible thug, sending up new shoots all over the place.  I got it all cut down ready for Adrian to dig out at some point soon.

I had a "supervisor" whilst I was cutting back the rosa rugosa.....

it sat on my leg for a good couple of minutes before flying off.  I guess it just needed a little rest before carrying on with its day 😊

I also repotted all the new pond plants, something which I should have done when they arrived to be honest but didn't really have time right there and then, so I just plonked them into the water!  I was glad to finally get the job done, and I'm happy to report that the water is also starting to look much clearer now.  

I turned my back for a couple of seconds and found that another butterfly had taken advantage of somewhere to have a little sit down!  Good job I noticed before I sat back down on my gardening stool, otherwise it would have been a squished butterfly 😄

Snow days and dishcloths

We've had a fair bit of snow recently, with yellow weather warnings (which are still in place 😒) and one day with an amber warning 😳  Both of us tend to avoid going out when the weather is like this ~ as we get older, we are much more conscious that a fall could result in broken bones!  I haven't been totally idle, though, as I decided to restock my dishcloth pile using up some of the cotton yarn in my stash.  I like to have a good stock of dishcloths as they are chucked into the washing pile daily, waiting to be washed with the next lot of towels.   As some of the older ones have now gone in the bucket under the sink to be used as cleaning cloths, the dishcloth stock was starting to look a little depleted!

In case you were wondering, no I haven't sewn Beverly's jumper together yet 😏  I keep putting it off but will definitely have to stop procrastinating and just get the bloody job done!

Anyhoo, back to the stash-busting dishcloths, all made with oddments of cotton yarn from my stash...

The first one is just a simple square of treble stitches (US double crochet).  Normally I would start a row using three chains to equal a treble stitch, but recently I've discovered that using just two chains tends to make a straighter edge.  I think it's a particularly good idea if you don't want to add a border, as the edges look nice and neat.

I used two double knit yarns held together for this cloth, with a 5mm hook.  The blue is Sirdar Cotton DK and I think the beige is as well as it looks to be the same.  I had a look on my go-to yarn store, Wool Warehouse, and they do still carry this yarn.  The shades on the website are named, though, whereas the blue yarn I've used just has a number so I don't know if it is the same.  The beige I used has long since lost it's label so I have no idea if it was named or just numbered 😄    

Next I thought I'd try my hand at a knitted cloth, and this is the result.  The pattern is called Grandmother's Favourite Dishcloth Pattern but I'm afraid I can't remember where I found it 🤷  As you can see, knitting doesn't come very easily to me 😉  It is a simple pattern, though, just garter stitch worked from corner-to-corner with yarn overs to create the lacy edging.  This batch of dishcloths have mostly been made with leftover oddments, and this was another that had lost it's label.  It's a thicker-feeling yarn than the blue and beige used above, although all my cotton stash is double knit.  I used 4mm knitting needles but think it might have made a "stiffer" fabric if I'd used slightly smaller ones.  The pattern called for increasing on each row until 44 stitches were on the needle, then to start decreasing.  I wanted a larger cloth, though, so continued until I had 64 stitches.  It would probably look a tad better if I'd blocked it but as I've told you before, my lovelies, I never bother blocking dishcloths ~ although I expect I would if I were making some as a gift.

I may well have another go at this pattern using finer yarn and smaller needles, as I think it would make a lovely little dolls' house blanket.  I also think it would make a rather nice shawl using bulky yarn and much larger needles.  Whatever yarn was used to make a shawl there wouldn't have to be any decreasing to turn it into a square, of course, as I could just keep going until I had a triangle the size I wanted 😊  I suppose if I really wanted to torture myself, I could attempt to make a dolls' house-size shawl 😏

This rather jolly dishcloth was made using Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK in the shade Poppy.  I don't know if this yarn is made anymore, it certainly doesn't seem to be available on the Wool Warehouse website.  I made this in half trebles (US half double crochet), working into the back loops of the stitches.  It's a nice "scrubby" texture for a dishcloth but I think on reflection I should have made it a little bigger!

And finally, dishcloth number four is made with all the little bits of leftover oddments that I had.  It's just a square of trebles (US double crochet), made using a 3.5mm hook to create a slightly thicker cloth than 4mm would have done. 

The closest I've got to the great outdoors for a good few days now ~ standing in the safety of the porch doorway to take a photo 😄

Christmas Every Day: Days 2, 3, 4 & 5

image from Freepik

As promised here are the gifts for days 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Beverly's CED:

She has two cats, so virtually anything cat-themed is a safe bet!  This was one of the little gifts I bought when we were in Leeds visiting Sam in September, and it sits squarely in the "simply decorative" box...

the first of the "fancy toiletries"...

some more "edibles"...

and a piece of "kitchen paraphernalia" that ticks the "practical" box, too 😉

More to come next week!

I woke up at stupid-o'clock yesterday and just couldn't get back to sleep, not least because my nose decided to be very annoying by sneezing and running in never-ending copious amounts 😒 Being the lovely wife that I am (😄) I decided to get up so that I didn't keep Adrian awake.  It's not often that I'm up early enough to see the start of the sunrise, even at this time of year, so thought I'd better take a photo to commemorate this unusual occurrence 😉  

Not a lot going on...

...mostly just crochet, to be honest 😏

I came down with a cold a couple of weeks back, and didn't start to really feel better until this last weekend.  It seems to have been just one "health" thing after another this year, although I shouldn't really complain about getting a cold I suppose.  I haven't had much energy so have kept myself occupied with crochet and reading!  

I've made good progress with Beverly's sweater, though, despite feeling sorry for myself 😉  I confess that I've been putting off sewing all the pieces together, but I really must get on with it.  Because of her shift patterns and no public transport on Christmas/Boxing Day, we won't be spending Christmas Day with her.  Instead we are having Christmas dinner early, on the 20th, which will be a combination of both Christmas and Adrian's birthday which is on the 18th December.  I'd really like to have the sweater finished by the 20th, so I really must stop procrastinating!

I also managed to surprise myself by getting Beverly's annual "Christmas-Every-Day" packages wrapped and numbered in very good time!  I didn't feel well enough to take the little packages over to hang them up this year, so instead I put them all in a very large Christmassy bag for her to take one out each day which Adrian delivered when he went over to Kirkwall last week.

 

I know it's a tad naughty but I've started another project, which has sidetracked me from the sweater 😄 I'm still trying to use up more of the leftovers stash, so pulled out an assortment of the colours that I have the most of to make a patchwork blanket.  It's a Dottie Angel pattern, her "ordinarily extraordinary blanket", which I have made before.  It's a simple pattern and grows satisfyingly quickly.  My squares are 23 stitches wide by 14 rows high which isn't as large as those in the original pattern, but I like the way these smaller squares look so "patchworky" ~ very satisfying 😊

In other news we've had our first proper snow of the season, which gave me the ideal excuse to continue hibernating 😏  Thankfully it didn't hang around too long but I expect we shall see more before next spring.

We've also been lighting our log-burner in the evenings.  It's so lovely, very cosy, and nice not to have to sit bundled up in thick cardigans/sweaters!  We were very thankful for having this extra source of heat last week when we had a power cut one evening.  It didn't last more than a couple of hours but it's amazing just how quickly the house cools down once the heating goes off 😳

 

A stroll around the "grounds" ~ part one

Monday and Tuesday this week were lazy days, really, as was Sunday.  I got caught up with all the laundry though ~ who knew just two people could create so much washing between them LOL ~ as well as paperwork and emails, so I was kept out of mischief!  

Yesterday was lovely ~ sunny and warm with a wide expanse of blue sky as you can see from the photo above.  I decided to make my first job having a stroll around the front and back gardens ~ you know, just to depress myself with how much work is waiting to be done out there 😉  As it was such a nice day, I thought I'd take some photos to bore you with share with you.  I took rather a lot, I'm afraid, so I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that I'll post those I took in the back garden another day 😄

It's amazing how much the plants have grown since I shared the photos I'd taken a few weeks back.  I'm so pleased with this bed as all the plants that were moved seem to have settled down very nicely into their new home.  The rather lovely purple plant in flower at the moment is symphytum x uplandicum Moorland Heather.  It's so nice to get such a close view of the plant now that it's in this raised bed. 

The London Pride in the wooden tubs are sending out their delicate pink flower stems ~ they are such a pretty plant.  The roses and buddleja have lots of new growth too.

The only piece of lawn that we have now is over on the ornamental side of the front garden.  As you can see, we don't go in for a "bowling green" style lawn 😏  Still, the dandelions and daisies are good for the bees and other insects and although Adrian mowed the lawn today, they will soon be back to mock us!  Just look at that sodding dwarf elder still coming through 😠  The border will definitely have to lie fallow for this year at least whilst we try to eradicate the bloody stuff.

All the ornamental borders on this side of the garden need to be tackled this year, otherwise it's just going to get harder to tidy them up.  The lenten roses are still flowering.  They are growing very well in this spot, so I guess they are happy here.

The peonies just keep on getting bigger, with more buds, each year.  I've probably mentioned before that they were already in the garden when we moved in.  I just dug them up and moved them to where I wanted them to be.  I've read that they don't really like to be moved but these guys didn't seem to mind! 

The two clumps of poppies in the front wall border get larger each year, too.  They are such delicate-looking little flowers but are obviously tougher than they look 😄  I see the border is full of that horrible sticky weed again, so I shall have to remember to wear long sleeves when I tackle it.

I'm hoping that we get time to tackle the "wild" area this year.  The little nature pool is under all that growth somewhere, believe it or not!  It's going be rather a big job, I fear sigh  I want to make the pool larger, so I think that virtually everything will have to be dug out 😖  Probably best not to think too  much about that at the moment, eh 😉  

I was pleased to see that the kitchen garden beds haven't sprouted as many weeds as I feared they would whilst we've been away.  This bed is the worst of the four "working" beds, and I don't think it will take too long to clear it out, thankfully.

The strawberries are looking good, with some flowers starting to appear now.  I think I may transplant some of the narcissus bulbs I grew for cutting into that gap in the middle of the two sections of pots.

The celery plants that survived are looking rather good.  I still have no idea, to be honest, what I'm doing with them but.....

beneath that canopy of luscious green leaves appear to be stalks.  Whether or not they turn out to be edible remains to be seen 🤷

The extra Jazzy potato tubers that I planted in these two pots are sending up shoots already!  I've since covered them with a nice thick layer of old compost.

The pansies, Matrix Mix Coastal Sunrise, are looking very pretty although they need a spot of deadheading methinks.

The rhubarb plants are all looking good.  Despite its slow start, Timperly Early on the right has now overtaken Fulton's Strawberry Surprise in the middle!  I pulled some stalks from Goliath along with a couple from the Timperly Early yesterday, which we are going to have in a crumble 😋

And here we are, back where we started looking out across the harbour.  I heard Hamnavoe coming in so thought I'd try to take a photo of her ~ shame about the telegraph pole but I'm still pleased that I managed to get a half-decent picture 😊

Views from a garden

image from Freepik

When I was out in the front garden taking photos a couple of weeks ago ~ and depressing myself with how much work needs to be done this year 😉 ~ I also took some snaps of the more distant landscapes.  I never tire of the views from our house and garden, we really are so very lucky to live here 😍

Our neighbour has had the tree surgeon in recently, so we now have even better views.....

and it's easier to see down into the harbour.

The sheep very obligingly decided to mill about just where the gap between two houses is so I could take a photo of them 😄  This is the spot where we get the bus driver to drop us off when we've had a jaunt out to Kirkwall.  We're lucky here in that if it's safe to do so, then the drivers will let you out even if it's not an official stop.

I took this photo some weeks back.  We often have spectacular sunsets and sunrises ~ I just wish I was a better photographer!

Home...

A guide from Northlink Ferries about the beautiful islands that I call "home" 😊

Bits and pieces

image from Clipart Library

As per usual, I'm behind with my garden photos 😉 

I'm really happy (and not a little surprised!) that we've managed to get as much done as we have over the last few months, but must confess that I was glad when put our garden work on hold until the spring, as I was starting to feel pretty tired!

There were still a few flowers to be seen in the garden last week, though.  I'm not sure what this shrub is called as the writing on the label has disappeared, but I'm pretty sure it's viburnum bodnantense Dawn.  It was totally smothered by weeds before I got this section of the border cleared, so it's very pleasing to see it flowering.  Less pleasing to see the bloody weeds coming through again though 😒

These two plants are papaver rupifragum.  I was surprised to see the larger plant flowering again, plus the newly-forming buds, at this time of year.  Like the viburnum I guess it was happy to have been released from it's weedy prison 😏

Some of the fox and cubs plants (pilosella aurantiaca) were also flowering.  

Early last week I tried to use my somewhat dodgy photographic skills to capture a picture of the moon.  It was late afternoon and the moon was so silvery and gorgeous that I thought I'd give it a go.

Alas, my photos just couldn't do it justice 😳 Despite the different shades of the background and the moon herself, by the way, these three photos were in fact taken one-after-the-other!

Still, I gave it a whirl and I'm fairly pleased in as much as they are the best photos of the moon that I've managed thus far in my very nondescript photographic career 😄