Living it up by the sea

Dizee123

Uralmaid your garden sounds lovely and I am always envious of those with magnolia trees as they look so beautiful.  Especially in years when the frosts don't get them.  I have two ornamental cherry trees which don't bloom until April, so we look forward to those coming into flower.  Todays task before the rain sets in is to get out the garden furniture, clean it down and oil it with some teak oil I bought a while ago in anticipation of the rain stopping!

Congratulations on winning the pub quiz and how lovely of you all to donate the money back .

uralmaid

Thanks Dizee.  Our plum trees have been in bloom for a couple of weeks. Our garden furniture is languishing in the polytunnel at the minute.  Think I will leave it in there a bit longer.  Will definitely need a good clean though. The magnolia is a "Stellata" which has lovely star shaped flowers and it really lifts the spirits to see it in bloom.  We couldn't believe we won the quiz.  There was a wide variety of questions. Our worse category was sport but the rest were not too bad. I enjoy watching The Chase and other quiz programmes so I suppose I have stored up a lot of useless information. We have lived in this house for nearly 3 years and the previous owners did like gardening so every year we still seem to discover something for the first time.  We have planted more trees since we arrived - all of which I grew from seed from cones.  We do have quite a few trees in our garden.  The worse ones are a line of Sycamore and Lime which run from our front gate to down past the side of the garages. Unfortunately we are only allowed to prune them as they are protected. They cause a lot of hassle as they send down millions of seeds and each year we spend ages trying to dig them out as soon as they have sprouted but it is a thankless task, and quite a few choice expletives can sometimes be heard. I love Cherry trees. We only have one in the back part of the garden along with 2 apple trees.  

Dizee123

I know what you mean about sycamore trees and their little helicopter seed pods .  Our tennis club has a line of them along the boundary with the school and it is always a battle to hoover them off the courts before they take root and sprout in the carpet covering.  They also need to be removed from the grounds otherwise there would be millions of sycamore seedlings growing.  This year they were pollarded which made the job so much easier.  I'll bet they grow fast though so will be back to be annoying next year.

I also volunteer at our local wildflower meadows which involves just a couple of days every few months as the aim is to leave it mainly alone to encourage wildlife diversity.  Last October we planted over 500 bulbs (daffodils, crocuses and tulips) and we were very worried that in the muddy conditions they would rot in the waterlogged grounds.  I was really pleased to walk through the other day and discover that the majority of bulbs had actually grown and were providing a nice splash of spring colour.  It definitely felt worth the effort involved and the strain on my poor back .

uralmaid

Oh that is brilliant. I bet they will look stunning by next year.  I know what you mean about your back.  I have just been out digging up Hypericum. It is another thing which seeds all over the place.  My back is hurting now too. I am a member of a little group we started in the village. We planted bulbs on some of the grassy banks on the main road.  Also we have quite a few planters and an old boat in the village and we are just getting ready to plant them up for the season. They add a nice touch in Summer. We get a lot of holidaymakers here for the season and it's nice to make the village appealing for them.

bluenose1

Have enjoyed reading the stories about your garden and winning the village quiz. Just back from a long visit to the hospital as my 83 year old auntie is on Pallatative Care and has had Last Rites. Though we know from past experience that this may go on some time. 

We have a gorgeous pink camellia outside the kitchen window and I stood watching a bird on the fence at 7am this morning with a mouthful of straw, spring is definitely getting closer.

uralmaid

Sorry to hear about your Aunt , Bluenose. It is amazing how long people can hang on.  We had the same thing with my Mum in law. Kept getting told "this is it", then she would perk up a bit.  I have been out in the garden today. Spring is definitely on its way. 

Humboldt

@bluenose1 so sorry to hear about your aunt.  Loved your description of the bird on the fence with it's nesting material (simple pleasures).

@uralmaid and @Dizee123 I really enjoyed reading about your volunteering work.  Projects like these have such a positive impact.

uralmaid

 I admit to being a lazy sloth today.  Apart from writing my supermarket order and then placing the order, and cooking a roast dinner I have lazed about reading.  The fact that it was absolutely tipping down with rain washed away any desire to get into the garden. Hopefully I will be a bit more inspired tomorrow,  

Dizee123

Everyone is entitled to a lazy day every now and then.....or whenever they feel like it .

A while ago I bought some 2 for the price of 1 tickets (very MSE) to the Hawk Conservancy near where we live thinking that we would enjoy a Friday day out when my partner is on his 9 day fortnight.  There never seemed to be a suitable Friday when it wasn't raining so we had to use them up by today.
Luckily it didn't rain and we saw some amazing birds and enjoyed 3 brilliant flying displays.  It made a lovely change and although it was a long day I really enjoyed it.

I also need to be inspired to garden tomorrow as I have 3 boxes of blood, fish and bone to put on the soil and then try and stop the dog from eating it until it works into the soil.....

uralmaid

Glad you enjoyed your day out Dizee.  Haha - it's bad enough having to put the stuff onto the soil, but good luck with trying to stop the dog.