A Flying visit....

Hey ho one and all I am still about albeit just a quick post. What wonderful weather we have been having however it is soon to be over. Come tomorrow the rain is on it's way again, my butts are empty so need a refill.

Nothing went to plan last week so very little gardening got done. I did manage to get out into the front garden yesterday and tackled the weeds that had squatted in the flower beds. There were also lots of new plants that had grown due to the self seeding flowers that I had sown last year. Looking forward to some sort of floral display.

The hens have been up to their usual mischief, I let them out yesterday whilst I tended the front garden and two hours later they had emptied out the soil from the planter by the back door!

Octavia & Bell on the scrounge for some corn

Lots of changes are taking place down at Wigglywoo's Craft Emporium the kitchen is going in this week ready to serve tea and cake!

I hope you are all enjoy spending some time out in your gardens, I have decided to make no plans but rather be more spontaneous! Until next time x

Niggly ill's

I cannot believe another week has passed and we are almost at the end of another month! The weather has been improving but it has been rather windy and a piece of wood had fallen on to a couple of my broad bean plants! Thankfully it had not broken them but just flattened them a little bit.

I have not been feeling too good this week so I have not managed to get any more gardening done so seeds are still waiting to be sown. The leeks that I sowed a few weeks back have refused to show their spindly little faces so I am hoping the ones that I sowed direct in the ground will do the business and grow.

At long last the chicken run is beginning to dry out, and the girls are not up the their fluffy bottoms in mud. They are having a good dig and scratch about. I am debating about moving them up the garden, which will give them a bigger area and I will be able to have a bigger hen house and maybe a new hen or two! Something to ponder on.

We had our first taste of home grown goods on Tuesday. Mum and dad came over for lunch and I made mayonnaise tuna egg and salad with some of the lettuce that I had sown weeks ago and has been growing on the windowsill. The herbs are coming along nicely too.

Well that is it from me for now, not a lot to digest but just a little snippet until next time x

Sorry back again a big hello and welcome to my new follower and viewers, I hope you enjoy your time here x

Sniffles n Snuffles & Disgruntled Hens!

I have had a stinking cold to contend with the past week and all the household has got the sniffles! Even the dogs keep making snuffling noises, I think it is just so they don't feel left out.

Again a busy weekend, I was at a craft fair on Saturday, we did not get many people through the door but the weather was awful, we had constant rain all day. A right miserable day however I had a good natter and laugh with some of the other stall holders, so the day passed fairly quickly.

Sunday we awoke to a smattering of snow, we did still venture out to a boot sale, as I thought it said it was undercover so there would still be some hardy sellers out. We all piled into the car and Jay was driving and we were heading toward the warehouse, me being totally oblivious as I was on the phone to my mum at the time and the boys were hollering 'happy mother's day!' and I thought they were saying it to my mum when in fact they were saying it to me. My mothers day present was attached to the outside wall of the warehouse. The boys had clubbed together and bought me a sign!

The best present I could ever receive. The picture is a photocopy, the weather has been too awful for me to take a proper photo.

Anyway we did make our way to the bootsale and there were three hardy stall holders! Whilst we were there about twenty cars of buyers turned up all to just turn tail and go. So you can imagine who got an earful for suggesting that she wanted to go to a bootsale! We did find a salvage yard down a little lane, oh it was like being in a sweet shop. I was like a magpie to all things that glittered!

With the weather being so cold and dreadful I could see no point in attempting to sow any seeds. I have a bag full off loo rolls all ready for leeks and  peas. Am I ever going to get my vegetable growing underway this year... So I spent the afternoon on the sofa watching Antique road trip and done some crocheting, and we all enjoyed a Chinese for dinner, a perfect mother's day for me.

We woke up to more snow today and I really needed to clean out the coop and change the bedding. I ventured out early this morning and they were making a right racket. I gave them a bowl full of kitchen scraps and even that did not appease Matilda. The other three pecked at the scraps.

I went to change their water and when I returned a few minutes later they were all back in the coop which I had yet to clean out and the pile of food scraps was still sitting there. So I shooed them all back out, they were all clucking away. It was snowing quite hard and they were eager to get back into the coop. It was the quickest clean out the coop has had. I think the girls have had enough of the horrible weather and can't wait for the sunshine and the extra leisure time in the garden.

Well that was a rundown of my weekend. I hope all you mums had a wonderful mothers day.
Until next time x

Washed out!

I am beginning to wonder if this years growing season is ever going to happen. We are still getting a lot of rainfall and very little sun. The strawberries have had all the flowers knocked off! Not going to be many of them this year. The ground is so went you can't work on it and I fear the onions are going to start rotting! There is just no happy medium.

We have had more rainfall in the past two weeks than over the whole of the winter. However all this rain is not having a great impact on filling up the water reserves. It would need to continue raining for the rest of the year to replenish the shortages because of the last two very dry winters. But us gardeners will still persevere and try to grow something.

I think even the girls are fed up with it all, they spend most of the day huddled up under the coop. They only venture out when we have a small break in the rain fall and then get caught out and get all wet and back in they go huddled up together for warmth and to get dry. The run is getting worse by the day. We are expecting severe rainfall and winds tomorrow, Hopefully I will be able to get in there on Monday to try and sort something out.

The seedlings in the summerhouse are coping quite well considering the temperature. I have held off on any more seed sowing as I don't see much point at the moment. The only thing I have sown is some chili seeds as they will grow on the windowsill in the kitchen.

As I can do no gardening I am going to spend the day baking in the kitchen. Have a good weekend everyone where ever you are, whatever you are doing I hope the sun is shining for you x

Scarf, gloves and hat at the ready!

Everything is wrapped and protected now as we sit and wait to see what comes. Parts of the country has seen snow and sleet and in large areas rain. So far I have just had a few drops of rain but it has turned rather cold. I have my hat, scarf and gloves on the table in the lobby ready for walking the dogs tomorrow and I always wear my wellies even if the sun is shining!

The girls laid two eggs today, I think they spent most of their energy on emptying out the coop! There was bedding and newspaper scattered all in the run. I cleaned out the coop and cleaned up the mess they had made. They sure are a mucky bunch.

I sowed a few more seeds today some sweetcorn and a couple more of tomato. I will need to sow some more cabbages and peas but I think I will give it a week or two before doing anymore sowing and hope that the weather improves.

I removed the flower from the rhubarb today and hope that by doing so this cold weather will not cause any damage to it. The little round ball behind the pinkish flower looks like it is going to be another flower. I only planted the rhubarb last year so we did not get to have much from it as you are not supposed to take anything from it during it's first growing year. It seemed such a waste that I did take four stalks and made a small crumble with it. It looks like there is going to be plenty this year though.

And finally.....Just as I am finishing this the heavens have opened and my water butt will be filling up nicely. I bid you a good evening or day x

An oddity among the rhubarb!

Well the sun was still shining today, all gardeners are talking weather in the forums. It is supposed to change mid-week. Everyone is busy placing fleece and cloches on everything in a vain hope it will survive. We had a very warm spring last year followed by a wet summer, throwing everything in the garden out of sync. I wonder what this year will hold for the humble gardener.

Whilst having my daily wander around the garden doing my inspections this evening I noticed something rather odd looking growing out of the rhubarb. The only way I can describe it is that it looks like a head of broccoli. After a quick look on the web I have since found out that this is in-fact a rhubarb flower and needs to be removed as it takes all the goodness away from the production of the rhubarb. My battery had run out on my camera so I will post a photo tomorrow before I remove the flower.

Two of the pepper seeds have started to emerge today, however my seed germination does not appear to be as good as last year due to the much cooler weather we have had this year compared to this time last year. It has obviously had an effect on seed germination. I think I will look into getting a heater for the greenhouse for next winter to help speed things up a bit.

The girls laid two eggs today, Matilda has been busy jumping for flies, whilst Octavia was contending in the cabbage leaf chuck! She would take a peck at the leaf then fling it over her head. It was quite comical to watch and Dory and Bell were having a tug of war with a cabbage leaf stem. They sure will make great contenders for the chicken Olympics!

And finally..... It's getting late and my bed is calling. I'll bid you goodnight and good day x