Monday, April 30, 2018

Monday Miscellany

 The bad weather predicted for today didn't materialise (well it hasn't yet) although it has been very windy the bonus of which is sheets quickly drying outside and the downside of which is the blossom petals blowing off the trees almost before I'd registered it was there.  We wait for ages for that lovely time of year, that blowsy, blossomy pink and white time of year and with a few gusts of wind at the wrong time it's gone before it's begun.

Anyway, it seems that things mostly garden related have been making me me smile this week
The pair of long tailed tits that have been nesting somewhere in the garden have been regular visitors to the fat balls.  They have been taking it in turns to feed, one at a time.   We can tell the difference between the two as one of them, I suspect the one who spends most time on the nest, has a slightly bent and dishevelled tail.  They visit morning and afternoon and then in the early evening they arrive together for a last feed before dark.  Imagine my surprise though this morning when not one, or two but three long tailed tits arrived at the feeder at the same time.  Have the parents reared one fledgling I wonder?

In the garden it's a case of almost there!   Peony buds showing red, Lily of the Valley, Bluebells and Tulips showing buds just waiting to unfurl.

I'd don't buy many magazines but this one caught my eye this morning.  Not only do you get  a lovely magazine full of colour and good advice but also a card which allows two for one entry to many gardens, quite a few of them local or not far away, a pair of gardening gloves and five packs of seeds for herbs and cut flowers. I had to slip it in my basket.

The rhubarb is still doing well and I picked a few stems for a crumble for tea, we have rhubarb yohurt to serve it with.


On Saturday we popped along to the Dorothy Clive Garden where Rohododendrons, Magnolia and Camelias are coming into flower. 


As are the vibrant spring flowers.

24 comments:

  1. Rhubarb here won't show until well into the summer. Beautiful shots!

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    1. Thank you, William. I think rhubarb is one of our first Spring fruits here:)

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  2. Sorry that the winds took the petals... -sigh- They are so lovely, and yet, so fragile.

    All your green is wonderful though.

    We have been having rain/showers/rain/showers... Even a T-storm and hail. But sun and warm temps are coming. Then, everything will burst forth. :-)

    Even your rhubarb is way ahead of ours. But ours looks quite pitiful, this spring. -sigh- My husband is very disappointed. He loves at least one Rhubarb Pie.

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    1. Very bad wind and rain overnight here. The winds took all the plum blossom off the tree at the top of the garden and off some the cherry trees in the gardens around here. We've had three lots of rhubarb off the plants so far this month:)

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  3. Look at all those beautiful flowers! Your magazine sounds a bargain with all those giveaways inside it. Luckily we haven't had the rain either though I've stayed in as it seemed it would arrive any minute. 😊

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    1. We have rain now overnight the wind howled wich is what I expected on Monday. Ah well! I expect a lot of the flowers at the gardens will have been spoilt by the rain:)

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  4. Lovely garden photos and hearing about your long tailed tits. It is a frustrating season with such windy days. It always seems to be the way when the blossom is out! I read the gardeners world magazine free from my library app. Sadly I miss out on those lovely goodies. Enjoy. B x

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    1. I hope we can visit one or two of the more unusual gardens that we haven't seen before - that's if Spring ever arrives this year:)

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  5. Worth investing in a year's subscription to Gardeners' World, though it gets rather repetitive if you buy it for more than a year. What happened to that day of rain that was threatened?

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    1. We have that rain and wind today, they say it is headed East from us. The wind howled overnight just like in the depths of winter:)

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  6. lovely post Rosie. I just love this time of year when it seems the garden changes every day. lots of lovely flowers to enjoy and even if the rain had come you could curl up with the mag!
    xxx

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    1. I think today is a curling up with books and magazines day, the rain and wind finally visited us:)

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  7. I'd have bought that magazine too - a thrifty purchase!
    I am envious of your rhubarb. This year, again, I will be buying mine for pies and compote. Perhaps I'll get a clump in this year.

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    1. I hope the magazine does turn out to be a good purchase especially if the seeds turn into lovely flowers in the garden and we can visit some interesting gardens in the summer:)

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  8. All those beautiful buds waiting to unfurl, a promise of what is to come. We have just planted a clump of rhubarb, its one of the things that we miss fro our old garden. Great buy on the agazine.

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    1. Hope you rhubarb grows well, glad you have planted some. It won't be long now ntil those buds open up:)

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  9. A lovely post Rosie and wonderful news about the Long-tailed Tits nesting - I think sometimes a failed breeder and relative of the main pair will help with raising young. The magazine looks a good buy :)

    Such a shame about your blossom but lovely photos of other Spring colour. I do miss growing rhubarb - crumble sounds delicious.

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    1. I'm sure you are right about the long tailed tits helping each other out as the third bird didn't behave like a very young one and we did always have three or four of them visit before nesting began. Our plum tree had just started to blossom when the winds came and it's all gone now. Hope that doesn't mean we won't get any plums this year:)

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  10. ooh I'm glad you shared this, I haven't had a 2 for 1 garden voucher for a while and would quite like another one for this year. I think I might invest in a copy of that as once we've moved in to the house, we'll need to start thinking about the garden and that's a great deal with the seeds and gloves!

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    1. I hope you can find a copy with all the additions, Louise - the gloves are lightweight ones okay for potting and light pruning and the seeds are good ones, I expect that they will be the same in each pack. Some of the gardens in and around our area look intersting:)

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  11. A great bargain with the magazine! I love seeing all the flowers around now :)

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    1. Thanks, Pam. It's a wonderful time of year isn't it?:)

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  12. How pretty your garden looks, Rosie, and that magazine really is a great bargain. It would have made its way into my basket too :-)
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. Thank you Amalia,I couldn't resist the magazine:)

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