Between the Raindrops

Gosh, what a lot of rain we've had.  It hasn't been possible to get out into the garden although yesterday was dry until late afternoon so I was able to nip outside and sweep up leaves that had gathered on the paths and steps and take a few photos.  Everywhere is so wet.

At the top of the garden the Wild Garlic is in leaf and spreading everywhere.  There are several clumps like this.

The rhubarb is doing well.  A few days ago we used the final bag of rhubarb we'd frozen from last year to make a crumble.  There's just one bag of frozen plums from last summer's crop left.  Perhaps that will make a pudding for lunch when friends visit next week.

I seem to remember a song from my childhood about a lonely little Petunia in an onion patch.  Perhaps it used to be played on Uncle Mac's children's favourites along with songs like Tubby the Tuba, Sparky's Magic Piano and The Runaway Train.   We were talking the other day about radio shows from the 1950s and remembering things like Toytown and Larry the Lamb on the wireless and Patience and Prudence Kitten on the television.  Anyway we don't have a lonely Petunia but do have a Crocus amongst the Snowdrops.

The Snowdrops have been in a large tub close to the house for a few years now, I remember buying a couple of plants at Leek Market just before lockdown in 2020 and they have spread and will need splitting this year but there was never a Crocus amongst them until now.  Where did it come from? I hope it isn't lonely.

Also coming along are the Tulips we planted in the Autumn.  I think there are a couple of layers of them so they will flower at different times.

 

Indoors we have little seedlings of tomatoes

 

  and sweet peas.  

 

 Not many of these have germinated so we may have to sow some more seed or buy a few plants later.  I do like to have sweet peas in the garden.

 

It's windy and raining here today.  I know lots of you here in the UK are experiencing very wet weather and local flooding. How is the weather where you are?  

Five on Friday - Recently

1. LastThursday we went over to Nottingham to have lunch with some friends.  We drove our usual route from here to Ashbourne and then to Belper before driving through Kilburn and Codnor on our way to Beeston.

We stopped in Belper for a coffee and leg stretch on the way and I spotted the wall painting as we walked around. 

2. At Trentham Gardens the circus has arrived in readiness for the half term holidays next week.  I remember being taken to see a circus when I was a small child.  It was in the Blackpool Tower and ended with a water scene when the whole arena filled with water and some of the entertainers were stood like statues on plinths above it.  I don't remember much from the experience except perhaps that I felt sad for the animals and that I wasn't sure about the clowns, they seemed a bit scary. I think one of them was Charlie Cairoli and there was another clown with a painted white face, wide trousers and a pointy hat. I've no idea how old I was, perhaps five or six. Elsewhere in the building I remember a huge organ rising up out of the floor with a tremendous noise and applause from the crowd .  My mother told me later that the organ was a Wurlitzer and the person playing it was called Reginald Dixon.  I also remember feeling so sleepy as we sat on a coach driving through all the lights on the sea front.  I expect it was the illuminations.  Did we go for the day?  Did we stay overnight?  I have no idea.  All these memories from the sight of one big top.

3. I've found another family photo.  Back to 1908 again and the same time and place as the wedding photo I showed you a post or two ago. These are just the Edwards Family rather than the whole wedding party.  My great grandfather Thomas Edwards, my great grandmother Sarah Ann in the middle at the front  and their eleven children, one of them, Rose, is my grandmother.  I know the names of them all and have identified eight of them on the photo.  There are just three sisters on the back row who I'm unsure about.

 

Back row Thomas, Rose, ?, Ellen, ?, ?, John

front row George, Clara, Edith and Alvin.  The other sisters are Sarah Ann, Elizabeth and Mary.  I'd love to identify them on the photo. I know that two of the daughters, Ellen and Clara, were in service at Catton Hall in Derbyshire.

 

4. Two books from the library.  I've never read either author before but they were mentioned on various forums by  authors that I have read.  I hope I'll enjoy reading them.

5. We popped up to the City Museum to visit a new exhibition. Carboniferous Monsters.

 

Fortified by coffee and a shared slice of cake we made our way to the gallery tickets in hand.
 

What a fabulous exhibition it was.

Creatures from land and sea that pre-dated dinosaurs by 100,000 years.

 

I was rather taken with the dragonflies.

All for now.  I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. 

Spring Flowers

 Into February with a bit of colour and cheer from some seasonal flowers. Hellebores at a local garden centre.

Such beautiful colours and so cheerful

I wish they would grow in our garden but they don't like the damp, clay soil.

 In the large tub by the back door the early Spring flowers are blooming.

Snowdrops

Small Iris and Winter Aconite.

 

Indoors the Hyacinths are gently wafting their scent around.