So after the last post where I was Bad Gardengirl I decided something needed to be done.And since the weather yesterday was nothing short of perfect (shorts! t-shirts! sunglasses!) I got my butt in gear and started doing things.In my defence it's not like I haven't been doing things all along, it's more that it taaakes foreverrrrr.... Everything takes SO much longer than you would believe!
So. Yesterday.
Dug over last year's onion bed to make it a home for the last remaining strawberry plants. The others had been planted a few days earlier into the raised beds that used to be drawers (remember them?). I had planted shallots (why?? mini onions which means you have to peel, like 6 of them to have enough for anything! Pain. In. The. Butt!) and asparagus (which died... or failed to grow at all... sad sad sad) in them last year. So we have strawberry plants. Probably WAY too late and we may not get much from them this year, but hopefully they'll do something and then we are ahead of the game for Next Year. Hmm...
Continued to dig, weed and de-stone the rest of the veggie patch. I swear it's like I never grew anything there ever before. Where do all the stones come from? Do they grow too? I picked out a bucket-full just yesterday! Did I not notice them last year? How?!
Resurrected last year's beanpoles and started creating the trellis for the peas, at which point: STRING! Took my string to church for some craft thingy and never got it back, which means I am stringless and unable to finish the bean-pole project. WaH! But since I am on such a roll I gather my minibeast hunting offspring up and we scooter over to our neighbourhood mega-store and buy some STRING, which allows me to finish that project and get the wee pea-lets into the ground. Yay me!
Also got the bedding plants in which had been sitting around for a week looking sadder by the day. Now they are in their new homes and all they have to do is get big and lovely and grow lots of purdy flowers which the happy bees and butterflies will love.
So here you go, evidence of productivity!
Oh, and by the way, the baby robins have fledged! Maybe Momma and Poppa Robin will manage a second brood? We have some version of a tit (blue? great? too small and quick to tell) nesting in the nestbox at the end of the garden. Which is very cool. Maybe they are all making up for lost numbers during the winter? We've never had so many nesters in our garden.
Look who's nesting in our garden! We have an extractor fan by the back door. It doesn't work, and never has. One of the vent covers on the outside is missing, and the other day we realised that some friends had decided that it was a Des-Res! We had a quick peek while Mom & Dad were out and two little mouths opened wide - so we skedaddled and left them alone. We have been able to watch from the kitchen as the parents fly back and forth all day long with beaks full of worms. It's SO cute!
It's spring, don't you know, and so all over the garden things are happening. Not just in the nesting department. The apples are in blossom - nothing quite like apple-blossom, is there?
Except for Garden-Boy's favourite flower, the cornflower. We have lots. He would happily let them take over the entire garden.
And how can you not love these bright, cheery, colourful flowers! Tulips may just be my favourite flower. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em!
And so, after months of neglect I am back in gear and doing some serious gardening. I have been weeding the flower-beds thoroughly, which is a Big Deal. We have Snowberries (what's their official name? I don't know. They have white berries about the size of large blueberries, and they send up runners/suckers everywhere. Leave them alone and they will take over your garden). We have been trying to get rid of them, which is not easy. It takes a lot of digging and vigilance. They come up through the grass, through the plants you actually want, everywhere. And then there's couch grass and creeping buttercups... I am a Bad Gardener. It hasn't been pretty. But I am trying to remedy this. I think, like the robins, I am suddenly in the midst of an irrepressible urge to tend things. Not my children, of course, who are still being raised according to the benign neglect/free range method. But my garden... weeding, digging out unwanted bushes and stones, digging in sand and compost, planting lovely perennials, sowing seeds (everything from gourds, tomatoes and peas to butterfly-friendly flowers that came with the latest issue of National Geographic Kids). It's looking a lot better, but there is still a long way to go. And I MUST get those strawberries in! But first, of course, I need to finish weeding the veggie patch and dig in all that sand and manure! Urg. And the pea seedlings are ready to be planted up the yet-unconstructed wigwam... So to distract you (and me) from those unfinished jobs, here's a bedtime serenade from Spike:
We went, we saw, we conquered, we returned unscathed. The long distance driving was fine, and we were glad we did it that way, Icelandic Volcanos being considered! The boys were excellent and we just stopped when we needed to. Small bribes were used when necessary, and everyone ate more junk-food and sweets than normal.
The route down from Annemasse to Assisi we had planned to go via Florence (the central route) but the GPS said to go on the coastal route (via Genova). Word to the wise. Don't go that way. Very, very hilly and you spend the day driving through tunnels. The Italians are very fond of tunnels... not a very nice way to drive. Go for the central route every time. We did it on the way back and it was just fine... very easy drive.
Our holiday house (Chez Raz) was fantastic, and I can recommend it to anyone wanting some space to breathe outside of Rome. Velletri is on the trainline and it is very easy and cheap to get into central Rome. Chez Raz is spacious and has a big garden with a big trampoline, a ping-pong table, a foosball table, two friendly, dopey labradors, two friendly, dopey donkeys, oranges and lemons growing in the gardens, grapes and olives growing in the garden and just outside... idyllic, and just what the boys (and we) needed after a day stomping around Rome. And the owners are lovely too. Paola is Roman and her husband, Paul is Scottish... so they speak English (handy for us!) and are very friendly and welcoming. Accessible without being intrusive.
So here are some photos to entertain you:
Choosing icecream in Annecy
Assisi
Cluny. Stopped there on our return journey. Had the best meal of the whole trip in a little restaurant there... lamb... divine!
The Forum
Pompeii
Pipsqueak on the beach for his birthday. His day, his choice.
Oh, and by the way, the baby robins have fledged! Maybe Momma and Poppa Robin will manage a second brood? We have some version of a tit (blue? great? too small and quick to tell) nesting in the nestbox at the end of the garden. Which is very cool. Maybe they are all making up for lost numbers during the winter? We've never had so many nesters in our garden.
