Saturday in the Garden

After walking the dogs this morning I decided to work in the front garden with the hope that DHL would deliver my parcel that they were supposed to deliver yesterday.  I stayed in all day yesterday, not daring to go up into the back garden as I knew they were due to deliver.  At about 4.45 pm I get a text saying 'they attempted delivery but I wasn't in', which was a blatant lie as at that time I was actually sitting in the lounge with its big patio doors which can also see the driveway.  Not only that but I have 'alarm dogs' who would definitely have alerted me to any attempted delivery!  I suspect that either the driver couldn't find the place, or wanted to finish work early on a Friday afternoon!  Not impressed.  I did ring them immediately that I got the text, but they couldn't get hold of the driver or the depot, so I have no idea when it will delivered now as I have heard nothing since, apart from ANOTHER email (the first was sent the same time as the text), saying they had attempted delivery and I wasn't in.  I really dislike dishonesty!

Anyway back to the front garden.  I needed to mow the front lawn, got half way through and then had a battle with the dreaded lawnmower which has been VERY temperamental since I got it.  Needless to say it is now very dead, partly because it refused to go and partly as a result of a 'death by Basil Fawlty'.  I am sure anyone familiar with Fawlty Towers will remember the episode.  So I decided to try the new mower that we bought as a spare (the original intention was to have one for the back and one for the front so I didn't have to haul it up and down the steps when I wanted to use it at the front and vice versa).   I assembled it, it worked perfectly first time - wow, such a difference from the first.  I think it must have been faulty right from the beginning as it has always been pretty temperamental.  Hopefully the new one will continue to work well as I have a LOT of lawn to keep maintained and the thought of not having a mower is not good.

The lawn looks good now.  It has been a fabulous day.

By lunchtime I assumed that no such DHL delivery was going to happen so I ventured out into the back garden, putting the grass cuttings from the mowing in the compost bin.

I then started to plant some of the plants we bought when my husband was down here.

A rose on the bank outside bedroom two.

A bottlebrush (hopefully a reminder of NZ when it starts flowering)

Some transplanted lavender.

The rhubarb is growing well and has really started to spread out.

I worked on my feature garden.  A lot more digging still to do, but progress made.

I planted two roses, two rhododendrons and a hebe.  I had already planted one hebe and had to plant a rose Thursday morning as one of my piggies died, so I buried him underneath it.

Hebes

Roses

Jay's (Jeremy) grave and rose.  The slabs are on there to stop anything digging it up.

Another rose.

The avocados in the orchard.  I still need to get in and do a lot of weeding etc there.

This patch needs levelling off for one of the raised metal beds we bought earlier in the week.

Daffodils on the bank at the back.

So pretty, I can see these from the kitchen window.

I planted this on our side garden by the driveway.  

The roses and shrubs planted today.

It is so good to be able to start doing work outside in the garden again.

 

Sunday afternoon Walk (posted on Wednesday!)

 The day after my birthday my husband and I went for a lovely walk along the cliff and then coastal paths.  He hadn't been that way before, so it was lovely to share one of my regular walks with him.

As we came out of our gate I spied a butterfly on the bank and was able to capture a photo of it.  I have been seeing butterflies for a few weeks now which is lovely.  Really feels like spring when you start to see the butterflies out and about.

Walking along the cliff path.

Container ships out at sea.

A dilapidated barn that I walk past.

My husband

He looks happy!

The view from the seat.

A picture of me. 

It was really lovely to have someone to walk with and chat to.   

(I also enjoyed the walks I did with my son and daughter in law the previous days but didn't take my camera on those walks).

This photo was taken from our deck later in the afternoon.

My husband goes home this evening.  It has been a lovely week of having first my son and daughter in law here for a few days before my husband arrived, then having all three, and then just hubby after my son and his wife left Saturday night.  It has gone way too quickly though.  Much has been achieved which is good as it was nice to have some help with jobs that weren't so easy to do on my own. We even managed to fill up the wood store today with wood from a neighbour that we went and collected by filling up the boot of the car a couple of times.  I will post another update of what has been done hopefully tomorrow.

Busy Days in the Garden

 A busy few days in the garden planting hedging, weeding, preparing ground and planting roses. I had some help from my husband who came down for a few days for my birthday. 

The roses are going to go along the front of the decking, which is always a bit of a mess.

Over the winter months it has really gone a bit wild.

Quite the untidy mess!

Started digging it up and two roses planted.

All the roses now planted.  I'm going to get a few bedding flowers to go along the front and may bark it as well.

These are the roses I have planted.  Hopefully they will live up to their scented expectations!

Hedging for the back orchard fence between us and our neighbours.

It is going to be planted along here between the path and the wire fence.

Difficult to tell, but all the hedging plants are in now.  Hopefully over time they will thicken up and give us a bit more privacy.

Hubby offered to dig over the area that was where the vines were, which is now going to be where we have the fruit cage built.

Looking better already.  I need to get in and weed the left side of it.

Digging out clumps of weeds before rotary hoeing this area.

All ready!

The rhubarb my son planted the other day is looking good already with lots of new growth.

Very pretty hyacinth, unfortunately a bit hidden between a shrub.

There was even a little ladybird on it hidden that I discovered after I had taken the photo.

Pretty daffodils.  

Some plants and compost for potting seeds.

A planter to go in my glasshouse

Another 'just because' photo of the gorgeous hyacinth.

Gorgeous day.