"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes ........

........... on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time." -   John Lubbock

I was pleased to have another article published in the Hardy Plant Society Northern Leaves newsletter this spring.

Macro photos of flowers in my front garden

In the front garden this week, its really filling out and coming together That black, brown and white weed with the ridiculous ears is back tho.

This week Isabel and I have been blitzing the gardens, weeding, tidying and cutting back plants that are finished flowering and need a haircut. The weather was kind and we got all the gardens done in three days. It’s a great way of seeing how plants are doing, what needs replanted and if there is any seed ready to harvest yet.

It's important to make the most of a sunny day when you are Maisie the official nursery dog

First dinner in the garden for a while, not complaining as all that rain has been very welcome and stopped me having a complete meltdown at the nursery! A busy week and a very busy weekend so very much looking forward to my days off. As a customer said today sometimes you become a victim of your own success which is very true, I'm exhausted physically and mentally.

Amazing sunset tonight! Love living somewhere where I can see the sunset again

A day out on Monday accompanying David up to Tain where he had work to do. Lunch with a view over the water then Maisie and I explored Tain while David was doing bat stuff. Lots of impressive clouds as the thunder rolled over the water. We also visited Pointzfield nursery on the way home who I've been buying plants from for years. Yes I did buy plants, no im not sorry Driving shared and a chippy tea in Pitlochry on the way home. It occurred to me half way through the day that I'd been kidnapped! That in fact to force me to sit down and relax and do nothing for a change could be achieved by having me stuck in a car for 8 hours!!! He didn't deny it! Lol

Rain over the water, views from Tain

Pointzfield Nursery

It's so good to be growing food again, even on a very small scale and enhanced by the love of friends who are also growing. Tonight's dinner was paprika chicken accompanied by potatoes I grew in a bucket on the patio and our own lettuce x 2 varieties and parsley. We also had 2 types of cucumber from Sarah-fiona and beetroot from Isabel what a colourful plate of food

A busy day at home in the back garden on Tuesday. My fig has come home, having been moved around and at the nursery since I moved from my last garden 9 years ago. Into a lovely new pot and looking good, Acer also got potted into a matching pot, the ones I got at the pot place a couple of weeks ago. I harvested the tatties I’d grown in a bucket, very tasty. I created a fruit corner, with 3 types of rhubarb (‘Victoria’, some of my grandad's rhubarb from his allotment (memories) and one that was from the plant at EM, one of the only plants left in the derelict garden, a blueberry that was in a pot, left behind in the garden here when we moved in and a black current from my last garden. Finally I removed all the awkward wooden edging to the lawn that sat 6 inches higher making it impossible to edge the grass. These bricks were all in various parts of the garden and I’ve repurposed them into a lawn edge Last photo shows the wooden edging. Back to work for a rest tomorrow, ha ha, chance would be a fine thing!

Lots of colour in the herb border

My fig, in a new pot, finally home

Harvesting the potatoes

The teeny tiny fruit garden

Reusing the bricks I found in the garden,

great recycling

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