August Bank Holiday 2012

For a change I'm showing my holiday weekend in photos

Thursday - Afternoon Tea at Trelawney Garden Centre - a real treat




Friday- Lands End







Saturday - bought some new succulents, just 84 pence each - a bargain!



Also - made some scones, individual sultana and round of cranberry scones.



Also - painted and varnished terracotta pots



Sunday- made a proper afternoon tea, with smoked salmon and cucumber sandwiches, pâté on water crackers, Cornish Cream Tea (clotted cream and jam on scones) and cakes.



Monday- gardening, planting bulbs and weeding, focussing on the rockery


And repotting my Coleus seedlings



Tuesday (OK I know this is no longer the weekend but, well, I've had a lovely day and want to share it) - repotting my old and new succulents, with the introduction of some sweet little gnomes I found at Lands End.






My favourite ones:-









The gnomes in situ:-











It's been a lovely weekend and I've enjoyed every minute.

Until next time
Gillian

The Minack Theatre

Last Friday we were lucky enough to get tickets for a steam punk musical called The Book of Mirrors by the Hertfordshire Players at the Minack Theatre. All week we watched the weather forecast with growing horror- the Minack is open air and performances go ahead in all but the most horrendous weather such as gale force winds- and the forecast was getting worse each day!

Friday morning arrived and it rained.... A lot! We still drove to the Minack as we knew that cancellation would only be one hour before the performance was due to start. By the time we got there the rain had stopped...hooray!

The performance was fabulous! Amazing costumes, songs and story. Unfortunately the rain didn't stay away... It rained heavily halfway through the first act, but we had come prepared and snuggled under our upside down waterproof picnic rug-cosy!







We wrapped up well and, though wet and windswept, thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon.

It is the most magnificent setting- truly wild and rugged- there is the constant sound of waves smashing on the rocks, and wind blowing from the sea... The sort of place where you can sit for an hour waiting for a performance and not notice the time passing as you relax into natural peace and tranquility. It's a really special place!







We would happily go again, even on a rainy day, it is a unique experience!

Until next time
Gillian

Realisation

The thing with gardening is that you are strongly dependent on the weather. Through gardening I have realised a few things...

1- Cornwall gets a lot of rain
2- Cornwall is prone to drought
3- Cornwall is very windy

All three have played havoc with my new garden this year. First we were put under a drought order, following a hot March during which there was heaps of watering with a watering can. This was followed by heavy rain that seemed to go on for weeks, leading to some very soggy plants. During this time my new plastic covered greenhouse was blown over three times - I know they aren't that strong but I didn't expect them to go down so easily. Each time was followed by the horrible and depressing task of trying to rescue my poor seedlings from the upside down jumble of pot, soil and greenery. A few tears were shed the first couple of times, but by the third time it was a more matter of fact job of just tidying up as quickly as possible!


Early days ---- May 2012

Somehow the garden has made it though. Though most of my vegetables are not at all productive. So far there have been a few sugar snap peas, peas, strawberries, potatoes, courgettes and tomatoes, though certainly not enough to make more than a meal or two. The remaining plants aren't liked to give much more either and are mostly looking rather awful now. I console myself with the awareness that many of my more experienced gardening friends have not fared much better this year.

At the moment my plans for next year are not to focus much on vegetables after this years poor crops. Instead I plan to concentrate on flowers so that the garden will look great and be a lovely environment to sit in and enjoy. I've planted lots of perennials seeds to overwinter for flowering next spring/ summer and have been buying lots of flower seeds ready for sowing next year (most are half price this time of year).



August 2012 - plenty of growth but not much in the way of actual vegetables!

I really wish I had grown more veg, but, if nothing else, at least this years experience of gardening has given me a love of it- and if I can enjoy something when it doesn't go right too much then I think I may have joined the ranks of the "proper Gardeners". I even garden in the rain! (My kids think I've gone mad when I do). So now, when I see the weather forecast, my thoughts go to whether I'll need to water, drain trays or stand up fallen plants- I now realise that weather will happen and I just have to cope with it...

So until next time, take care
Gillian

Summer in Cornwall

Hi again,
I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I last blogged, life has kind of got in the way.
I've discovered the joy of gardening! The one thing about gardening is that it takes a lot of work and obviously a lot of time.
We've lived here twenty years now and have intermittently weeded, mown and trimmed the hedges- just doing enough to control the jungle out there. This year that all changed. It started with a couple of pot plants in our newly refitted bathroom, then I wanted to grow lavender to use to make lavender bags. Then it seemed like a good idea to buy four very cheap little tomato plants. Soon after I was buying herbs and various vegetable seeds.




It became quite addictive and soon I was gardening whenever I could find a few minutes spare.
John has been very supportive and so my little garden has grown...




It's become a early big job. John has been fabulous and has been busy clearing both front and back gardens. It has made all the difference, claiming back our space, but wow, it's been hard work with some major jobs (getting our huge conifer cut down, clearing our garage and removing all the rubble and broken shed at the bottom of the garden.)
I'll be showing more of our garden over the next few weeks...along with my other work in progress projects (still lots of sewing and crochet, plus taking lots of photos). We've also been out and about a lot recently too, so I'll be showing more of beautiful Cornwall.
So until next time,
Gillian