Silk Mill

We visited a silk mill, it was quite interesting, however, the lines of coloured silks on display were breathtaking.

I am joining am embroidery group, the members are the most amazingly talented people, I figure all I can do is learn. Wouldn't some of these silks look fabulous in some stitching?

Look at the sheen on each spool. so deliciously dreamy and each ever so slightly different from the ones either side.

Spring in December

It has been so mild that plants are very confused.

The daisies have not stopped flowering and the primroses are very, very early.

End of October 2

Just some photos of pretty leaves.

End of October

As the weather gently changes through October I feel I should think about the successes of the garden, and the things that did not go so well.

Without a mole along the wall the runner beans, sunflowers tomatoes and ornamental gourds would have had a better start and maybe would have been more successful, however, the runner beans were great later than everyone else's and there were plenty of tomatoes, although I ended up picking the last ones green to ripen later. 

Need more veg plots, as the strawberries seem to be taking over the root plot, still have potatoes in the ground so that plot is not dug, roots still in so that is not dug and the brassicas are all going well so that is not dug. Need to get digging on the beans plot and feel I have done something!

I am still enamoured with the colours of the leaves on the trees.

Someone said that one night in November there will be a wind and the leaves will loose almost all their leaves, no doubt it is tru, but for not how lovely it this?

Candy Corn

Trying to track down Candy Corn over here, have not found any yet.

However, while searching I did come across these on a shelf!

They do look very enticing. 


Early this evening a neighbour brought down his son to ask where the pumpkins decorating around the front door came from, the poor lad did not believe that they could be grown here. 
Worse yet, he has never had pumpkin pie!
Guess there will be some baking going on here this weekend and we can change that for him.

Hope to get a picture of the front door pumpkins and decoration and post that tomorrow.

October Flowers and Vegetables

The weather has been cooling and I wonder how much more I can pick from the garden.
Most other people have pulled up their runner beans, but, as mine still have a few flowers and beans growing it seems a shame to put them on the compost just yet.
There are still sunflowers and sweet peas, and for reasons I have no idea about the lavender is also producing flowers, I do not know if cutting it back at this point will hurt the plant.

Picked lots of tomatoes for tomato soup, it was delicious and there is some in the freezer for a winters day.

These are a few little sunflowers that will not be left to make seed heads for the birds, however, I love them and think that I should enjoy them inside.




This is pretty much the total of what I picked the other morning. Runner beans, courgette and lots of tomatoes along with the sunflowers and sweet peas.
Pretty coulourful and most were very tasty. 

This Makes You Think of Misty Autumn Mornings

A small thing, but, so evocative of misty English autumn mornings.

Produce

Some one was very lucky and was given a box of fresh garden produce all organically grown here.
There were more potatoes and there was kale too, but I didn't get them in the photo.

The man on the gardening program was pulling up his runner beans as they were pretty much past it, ours still have flowers on.

A selection of berries from the edge of the field, picked this afternoon.

Blackberries, either for blackberry and apple pie or blackberry jelly, which would you like?

Elderberries with the leaves. 

The round berries with the distinctly blue tinge are sloes, I am going to make sloe gin with them, it should be ready for Christmas, remind me to offer you some.

Autumn Colour

Harvest Festival

The church has a Harvest Festival on Sunday. 

The church needs to be decorated and I was asked to decorate a window! 
(so no doubt with my floral skills this will also be the last time I get asked).

I decided to try and ignore the flower theme and go for the 'produce' rather than flowers. 
So here come the pumpkins......
and hops .......
and some apples and ornamental gourds.



Here are two photos of the window sill.

Sunflowers

The little bit of garden on the outside wall at the front, has caused so much pleasure to those walking by, that I shall plant it up again next year. 

People have loved watching the beans and tomatoes grow, and the sunflowers have garnered much admiration and even some photos!

The wall is 6 feet high, so the sunflowers must be about 8 - 9 feet tall.

The foliage has died down on the pumpkin so it can be seen and is also admired.

Of course somewhere down under the ground are a lot of potatoes that must be dug before the frosts. But, for now they are stored in the ground and out of the way. We just dig some up when we need them, very convenient.

Beginning of Autumn

This week saw the official beginning of Autumn. 

Roses

These are not edible, however, from the little plants that I planted in the spring, we now have these lovely roses.

Red

These are chilli peppers that I grew in the garden, no greenhouse.

Picked all these red things this morning.

 Lots of lovely sun ripened tomatoes and a couple of chilli peppers.

There were a few things that were other colours.

Then cut up all the tomatoes along with a red pepper and a red onion.

Roasted them in the oven with some olive oil, basil and salt and pepper.

When cooked they looked like this.

They were then liquidised to make wonderful tomato soup.

Now in the freezer for a cold winters day treat.

Damson Down

Sadly the damson tree has fallen down. 

I think that there is another small one growing further down the orchard and must remember to label it so that it is not dug up later!

However, its demise is not totally in vain as I picked some of the damsons and they are now sitting in brandy awaiting Christmas consumption.

Onions

I had planted some onions in the spring and now is the time to dig them up.
You have to see that the leaves have fallen over and are looking a bit on the dead side then you can dig.
We really did not grow many, shall be increasing numbers next year, but, my goodness the few we had 
GREW! 

The trowel is there to give an idea of size.

The weather forecasts that we have seen have been for miserable wet weather, we have planned activities accordingly. However, the weather people have been wrong. We have had some glorious days, so picked lots of plums, took the stones out and made apple and plum chutney, plum jam, brandied plum and lavender jam and elderberry jam.

Also planted some broad beans to overwinter and get an early start on the spring. 

Yesterday we had more 'Andy' clouds.

Toy Story Wall Paper Clouds

No doubt you remember the clouds from Andy's room in Toy Story.

Today we had clouds that were pretty similar.

We had been promised rain and a generally miserable day, so had plans for all sorts of indoor jobs, then the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we had to rethink the plans for the day.

SeaSide

We do not often get to the sea. 

However, we went today and it was pleasant if not particularly sunny.

No sand, just loads and loads of pebbles and some old boats along the North Sea coast.

Caterpillars

Really and truly I have spent lots of time over the summer putting sticks in the ground, then placing butterfly proof netting over it, staking the edges and putting bricks along the bottom to secure the netting.

All in an effort to protect the brassicas, (kale, cabbage and brussel sprouts).


Well, no doubt you have guessed what has happened, 

some sneaky little cabbage white has managed to place its ovipositor on the very edge of some kale leaves and WHAM, infestation!


Denuded cabbage leaves and hundreds of caterpillars.

A long time later I had collected many of these, now rather fat, caterpillars and took them so that the birds and pheasants might find them.



Warning
If you are of a squeamish nature look away now....

September

Sadly August ended in a soggy mess and September has been only slightly drier.
However, the plants are continuing to do their thing and the plums are looking rather good.

While the sun is shining on the plums, you may notice the rather ominous clouds behind, rain was on its way.

Hope to get out and pick these as soon as they are a little darker purple. 

Wonder if there is a real 'plum pudding' recipe out there to make for Christmas.

So Long, Farewell,

The summer is coming to an end.
The swifts have already left and it looks like the swallows are lining up and thinking about heading out too.

The barley is cut, and the straw baled.

It did seem like the man driving this machine was having, maybe, just a bit too much fun.