Wet Weeding and Cucumber Facepacks

There is nothing better than weeding after the rain. It is a pleasure. As I am weeding I am constantly finding self-seeded plants which I dig up and pot on. Amongst my sweetpeas I found three beautiful lambs ears plants. I have also been searching for forgetmenot plantlets. My packet of seeds failed. There is a lesson to be learned here.

Here is the leek bed after it has been tidied up. Love in a mist seeds collected and scattered, plantlets saved.

And everything looks wonderful after the rain.

Children have been making their own arrangements of fairy things.

The new grass continues to grow in ideal conditions that don't involve watering.

And the waterliles are flowering despite their sojourn in the water trough.

The dahlias are beginning to look beautiful.

The donkeys were indoors due to the wet. Their coats are not waterproof.

They were looking for apples from me. I must remember to take some treats.

Lots of visitors. Some are lucky enough to get vegetables from us. There are plenty of courgettes and cucumbers though I did have to dispose of about three plants due to mosaic virus.

I have had several  facepacks made with processed cucumber and aloe vera gel added. 

My face is as soft as a baby's bottom!!!

Sunflowers and Pond Progress

The pond is progressing very well. The yellow grass is improving. The better turfs have started to grow.

The frogs seem to love basking on the new grass bank.

The green and blue dragonflies have been darting back and forth, whirligig beetles are scooting around and you might just catch a glimpse of a newt. The waterlilies are flowering. I am amazed how quickly things have got back to normal.

Today I have been busy collecting seeds, corncockle, poppies, love in a mist, clary. I will leave them to dry a bit and put them in envelopes ready to sow next year.

The new wooden flowers are up on the fence. They are made from marine plywood.

Underneath the sedum plants are thriving, so much so that I took cuttings today.

The sunflowers are wonderful at the moment and the bees are loving them.

And this sunflower has 27 heads on it.

It is well worth growing the multi-headed ones.

Summer is well under way.

Pastel Fairies and Papery Poppies

I have been creating fairies for the fairy palace.

Yesterday I completed the palace itself though no doubt more things will be added over the rest of the summer.

Around the garden there are still papery poppies with incredible colour changes as they age.

I was very upset to find one sunflower snapped off at the base but this one is intact.

Butterflies are starting to appear in greater numbers, the reason being the buddleia and its perfume. Here is a peacock.

And finally an incredible dahlia in the watertrough, called Smartiepants.

Cherries and Ladybirds

Thank goodness we had the good weather during the first weeks of lock-down. There has been some sunshine but wet days continue and the wind has been a nuisance.

Yesterday the farm welcomed back visitors.

Not such a good day to arrive, however, with wind and rain.

The day before we did the last tidying up round the pond, though we still need turf round the edge. 

The logs are in position so people can sit quietly and watch.

The cherry tree by the insect hotel has produced an amazing crop of cherries. How often do you get to pick a bowl of cherries.

Delicious.

Elsewhere around the garden the fairy yurt platform has been designated as a sitting area this year with seats and bunting and a nearby insect hotel.

We've moved the fairy palace into a new position with less danger of falling in the pond.

We have a smattering of new ladybirds.

A rogue poppy is growing on the path to the compost heaps. It is beautiful.

 We've spread more of the chipped bark, which spruces things up.

And I've completed the fairy washing line.

The blackcurrants are nearly ready to harvest. 

All in all everything looking good. Now we just need more sunshine.

Woodland Fairies and Ladybirds

 

Well here I am on my new Apple computer at long last. I am prepared for a few mishaps along the way with this blog entry

Anne asked me to make some new woodland fairies for the willow tree. I experimented.

The floor and sofa were covered in all sorts of crafting materials, wire, pipe cleaners, old stockings, multi-coloured punk hair, flowers, leaves, green wool. 

Sometimes I wish I had a work table but I would not want it in the living room.

(As I sit here with this new computer I am thinking about a work table that swings out of the way and maybe in two planes.)

I had some very pretty light floaty fabric. I always knew there would be some time to use it and this was it.

I made 15 altogether .... some for our own garden.

 

Also for the willow tree area, some light floaty bunting, from left over snippets of gauzy fabrics from other projects, weighted with a beach pebble with a hole.

There are some new stone ladybirds and even wooden ones for the new fence.

The weather has been atrocious especially the wind which makes me particularly cross. Today it has rained all day. I had to pick the raspberries at 7 a.m to miss the rain but I got wet anyway.

We had to run around tying in as many things as we could. Talk about chasing our tails. The dahlias at home are blighted by

blackfly. None at Freshwinds yet. I've tried washing up liquid, rubbing them off and hosing. But I have to keep on top of it.

Sometimes the gardens run away with us. Lots needs cutting back now and clearing.

But the pond is planted up and frogs and newts safely back home.

And the newest yurt is up and looking lovely.

What a spot.