Mother's Day and Birthday Gifts.

I have had a lovely few days with my son and daughter in law visiting.  Such a treat after being on my own for so long.  They gave me some sweet Mother's Day gifts.

A scented pillow to hang up in my wardrobe, or in my room.

Very cute.

and this lovely cushion.  My son has given me elephant themed gifts before, so this feels really special.

Such a beautiful card.  They know the colours I love and also that I love butterflies.

I picked some daffodils from the garden the morning they arrived.

We went for some lovely walks together.  I hope I didn't wear them out too much though!

For my birthday yesterday they gave me some more wonderful gifts.

I just love this set, they are almost too good to use!

The little bag has 'seed balls' in them.  

Aren't these just perfect?!

A box of chocolates!

A lovely card.

My son worked hard in the garden helping me, and removed the rest of the poles that were in the ground where the grape vines were, and also dug out the roots. My daughter in law helped me with the weeding and winding up of the wire that was strung between the poles.   He then planted his two avocado trees he had grown from the stones inside them.  Whether they ever fruit or not is another thing, but regardless, it is great to have them.  We also planted some rhubarb that has a long history to it and has had several house moves!

My son took this lovely picture on Tuesday evening.

It was lovely to sit out and have our lunch on the deck on Friday.

I so appreciated having them here, it was really nice to have their company and help.  It went way too quickly and I miss them already.  The next time they will be able to come down here probably won't be until September time.

A Very Lovely Christmas Day

What a stunning morning to wake up to for Christmas Day

The sunrise just got better and better!

The day was just perfect weather wise.

I laid the table the night before.

Just as we were about to eat.

A smaller gathering than usual with just three of us, but feeling blessed that we could still celebrate together as with the advantages of technology we were able to connect with my older son, his wife and my mother in law and her partner.

Delicious food.

My 'traditional' desserts. 

Fresh fruit salad

and pavlova of course - the first time I have ever made one in an AGA!

A late afternoon walk round the village to see the lights and decorations,  the sky greeted us with a beautiful sunset, the beauty of which I didn't manage to fully capture as I just had my pocket camera with me.

The conclusion was our house was the most colourful that we saw.

Hubby had worked hard putting up the lights, and I re-potted the 'Christmas' tree that I had dug up at the top of the garden in preparation for where the new summer house is going to be built next year.

A deluxe version of JRR Tolkein's 'Letters from Father Christmas'.   I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with the size of this, but it is still lovely.

My favourite Christmas gift from my husband, a Robin Rive (Made in NZ) Panda.  

My wedding anniversary gift (from 21st December), a pretty pendant.

I hope everyone else had a lovely Christmas.

 

My Birthday, In the Garden and a Walk.

Happy Birthday to Me

A bit of a strange birthday this year.  Normally I am in New Zealand to celebrate my birthday so have missed celebrating my birthday with my husband.  This year ironically he couldn't come down to the island as is unwell, so I have ended up on my own!  

Normally I am quite happy on my own, but I have felt a little 'flat't today, but that could be in part to the dreary weather today.  It is cold and grey outside.

Fortunately I received some surprise parcels in the post from my friends during the week with strict instructions not to open until today.

This one has come from my friend Dawn in Scotland.

Love the card, it is so me.

Some fun gifts, although as I only just turned 36 (again!) this year, she seems to have my birthday decade quite wrong!  ha ha!

Some wonderful gifts...I have already started digging over a place in the garden for the butterfly mat to go.

This parcel arrived from my friend Sharlyn.

A Rabid Rabbit Fuggler!

Ha ha, he looks like he could be trouble...

Another parcel...

This time from my friend Gemma in Devon.

Again she knows me so well, a beautiful little card with Wren's on it, and a cloth kit set to make an outfit for a baby Sasha doll which will be perfect for the Sasha baby I found in the Charity Shop just before Christmas.

Some of my birthday cards:

From my husband.

My husband bought the wheelbarrow for my birthday.

My Mother in Law and her Partner

My neighbours on one side

My other neighbours on the other side.

How lovely of both my neighbours to give me cards for my birthday.

My Son and Daughter in Law

My son and daughter in law bought me one of the wooden compost bins for my birthday

So the morning and early afternoon was relatively quiet.  The day has been pretty grey, but I managed to get out into the garden in the afternoon.  

The daffodils are looking lovely, and it is so nice to see them as I look out the kitchen window.

I have some tulips starting to flower.

The bank has lots of colour, it is so pretty.

I found the two packs of 'missing' seeds in the bottom of my back pack so planted some of those out in seed trays today.

I was delighted to see that several of the seed trays have seedlings starting to sprout...difficult to see in this photo!

Some of the pots also have seedlings.

Very exciting to see this new growth.

I worked a bit more on the top garden by the compost bins.  I laid some slabs to walk on and dug over the ground a bit more.

I plant to plant a couple of rows of potatoes in here.

I dug this patch over.

I'm planning on planting some sunflowers along this fence.

I moved some rocks from the top of the garden down to the pond.  Hoping that these will serve as a 'warning' point for Percy once he is here.

Next I decided to dig over the bit of ground between the flat grass area in front of my garden shed and the bank.

Made a start...

Getting there...

I transplanted the reedy grasses to the corner.

All dug over.  Along here I am planning on planting sweet peas along the back and my Butterfly mat along the front and if room will plants some more butterfly attracting seeds.

The Rosemary is in flower.

Pretty blossom is starting to form on quite a few trees...

Once I'd finished in the garden, I took myself off for a walk down to the bay.

The tide was out and it was the first time I have been able to see so much of the harbour wall that is now known as Spindler's Folly.

By golly it was cold down there!

I sat for a while watching the tide come in and out.

Soon time to walk back home along the coastal path.  I took one last shot of the bay.

In reply to your comment Graham about it being a very low stone wall, this is the other side, much higher!  

Brrr...it was  a chilly walk.

The wind has now picked up and it is windier than when we had the storms as I've just noticed this evening that it has blown my bird feeder over.  I will have to right it in the morning.