What A Beautiful and Productive Monday in the Garden.

Well what a fabulous day Monday has been.  Lovely and warm with a beautiful clear blue sky. 

I braved the shops first thing this morning hopefully for the last time for a while.  It was heaving, normally early on a Monday morning hardly anyone is about, but today it was absolutely awful.  I've got a new recipe for some gluten free bread I wanted to try and needed some bicarbonate of soda and even that was sold out - ridiculous!    I also called in to the garden centre on the way home to see if they had a wheelbarrow which is going to be one of my birthday presents, and also to get some seeds and potatoes to plant.    I finally arrived home late morning.  As I was walking up the driveway to open the gate I saw a huge beetle on the driveway.  

I took a quick couple of photos so I could look it up when I got inside.

It is an Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus)

I've never seen one of these before.  It looked like it was busy trying to dig into the loose metal of the driveway.

Once I had unloaded the groceries I made myself some lunch and sat out on the deck soaking up the sunshine and taking in the view while having a read of my book.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the garden.

I did manage to get a wheelbarrow and put it to good use this afternoon.

The seeds I bought.  I thought I had also picked up some red onion seeds, but I either left it behind or I didn't!

I planted some of the two different varieties of squash in the round pots.

In the two green trays I planted two different types of beetroot.

I decided to dig this area over.

I spied a little ladybird whilst digging.

Getting there.

Once I had finished I replanted all the strawberry plants from one of the vegetable beds along this pathway bed.

Now I have a free vegetable bed, which will be ready when some of the seeds become seedlings.

I mowed the lawns.

This is a big lawn, a bit messy from where the badgers keep digging it up...and no I still have seen one yet!  They could at least let me see them destroying my lawn!

I sat up the garden with a cup of tea and had a short break and read a bit more of my book.

Also taking in the view and thinking how very lucky I am.  I feel so much more at peace and happier than I have been in years.  It is so lovely and quiet and makes a huge difference from when all I could hear in our previous garden was the roar of the M25.

Such a fabulous blue sky.

I decided to dig over this area.

Not sure what it has been used for, but I was thinking I might be able to plant a few potatoes in it...not sure yet.

I haven't finished it yet and will continue working on it tomorrow if the weather is as good.

I walked down to the house and discovered that another birthday gift (from my son and daughter in law) had arrived, so after five trips I think it was carrying it up the garden I had to assemble it.

The second wooden compost bin.  I love seeing these two bins side by side, ready for action!

In amongst a small shrub I spied some pink...

Back at the house I could see a ferry in the distance.

The garden is bathed in gorgeous late afternoon light.

So pretty.  What a beautiful late afternoon (gone 4pm). 

A Day Trip to IOW

We had a day trip to the IOW yesterday, getting up at 3am, leaving the house at 4.30am and arriving on the island at 8 am, we got home at just after 9pm.  A long tiring day!  It was interesting to see just how much busier the ferry and Island was now the school holidays have started.

Leaving Southampton we had a lovely view from our seats.  We normally sit up the top with the dogs, but as we didn't have the dogs with us this time we sat in the lounge area and got 'front row seats' which was lovely.

We say this Cruise ship on our way to the Island.

Not far away now!

Our first stop was Alverstone Mead Reserve.  We went there a couple of weeks ago on another day trip and were delighted to see some red squirrels, very 'up close and personal' and I wanted to go back and get some better pictures as I only had my small hand held camera on me at the time.  Sadly though this time we only saw one squirrel at a distance climbing/running through the trees.  Funny thing is though - and this really was quite bizarre - I took some peanuts to put down on the shelves in the hide in case there weren't any, and they weren't and well I am convinced someone took them!  We put them down - several large handfuls, both inside the hide where the squirrels had come last time, and on the shelf that hangs on the outside of the hide.  Nothing came along so we went for a five minute walk - and really only was five minutes, came back and there was someone in the hide, and absolutely NO peanuts left whatsoever, not even the husks.  I made a comment about goodness they went quick and she said, oh there have been lots of Jays around, they must have taken them.  Well I have seen Jays feed, and in fact we saw some a little later, and they tend to swoop in and take one away - there would have had to have been an awful lot of Jays to have taken all the peanuts I had put down in a mere five minutes and would they have come INSIDE the hide as well?? I think not.  So our only conclusion was, was that she pocketed them for some reason which seems really strange.  When she had left, I put down some more peanuts and we repeated our experiment after watching what birds would come and feed while we were there , and we left for five minutes or so and then came back...and guess what the peanuts were still there!  So really there is no other logical explanation as to what happened to those peanuts.  Anyway back to the birds...

Now for some photos of the squirrels we saw last time we were here - not the best photos, but they still capture the experience of seeing these wonderful squirrels so close.  It was incredible.

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After we left the nature reserve we drove to Freshwater Bay.  The day was amazing and the sea actually looked very inviting.

So pretty.

Funnily enough shortly after I took these photos a sea mist came in and it turned completely grey and 'cloudy' but only lasted for about an hour and then cleared up again, by which time we were in another part of the island.

A good day, not long enough, we would have liked to have had more time to 'relax and enjoy'.