Is it possible to be a 'lavender junkie'? If it is, then I think I am! Lavender to sleep, for stress and distress, for cuts and bites, for hands, headaches, and lavender bags as presents. I think I need therapy...lavender bathsalts?
This is what this morning looks like: real summer weather, but it hasn't actually begun raining.
Progress on the shed! The Hub has been hard at it all weekend, and now the roof is on (minus the felt membrane) he isn't getting as wet.
Yesterday I thoroughly weeded the veg beds and boy! did they need doing. I had to slather myself in Jungle Juice as it was very buggy, but tidy veg beds are so satisfying to gaze upon.
Lots of broad beans coming along, we had the first batch with dinner last night- it's my favourite veg, but only home grown, the bought ones have no flavour.
The packet instructions of these mangetout said they were low-growing, which I took to mean they didn't need staking. Obviously it meant they only need short stakes! With all the little curly tendrils they are now a tangled mat, but very happy and putting out plenty of flowers, so I'm hoping the harvest won't be affected by my ignorance! Mum used to grow mangetout when we were children, but she kept eating them straight off the plants! The Hub tossed this mat back onto the bed whilst cutting the grass but it has to be out as a few tomatoes and a basil have decided to grow beside it.
Here you can view the rogue potato which has taken over the carrot patch. I pulled as many of the carrots from under the potato leaves as I could find, and we had them for dinner too as they weren't going to bo doing much more growing with that monster breathing down their necks. I suppose I could have pulled the potato? Oh and the white flowers are self seeded rocket.
Finally found where the nasturtium went, it was hiding under the dock leaves- what? you don't have dock leaves in your veg patch? What do you do to remove nettle stings then? Oh, you don't have nettles either? Well don't boast about it, if you had extreme rheumatism you would be wanting to roll naked in a nettle patch at dawn...or maybe sunset...or is that arthritis I'm thinking of...
I planted two whole packets of tomato seeds and something ate most of them and the rest are kinda spindly. The single tomato I DIDN'T plant turns up in the scallion patch and is thriving. Sometimes I think my veg patch has its own agenda, or else it just really knows how to get up my nose.
And then when the rain set in and I was waiting for the dinner to cook, I got out the quilting and did quite a bit. Kim, at
http://kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/ is having an 'Encouraging August' for all those sluggards (like me) who need a bit of motivation to get their projects finished. Great idea, especially since I need to have two small quilts done and delivered by the end of August and I'm finding it hard to keep at them. The other top is still in blocks, not sewn together.
And as if you aren't fed up with all the photos, here's a few from the hedgerows which I took this morning. As I've said before, I love the way hedgerows develop and change with the seasons, and year to year. Patrick Whitefield has a new book out which is about how nature changes landscape through time as well as between places. Its on my wish list for next year when all the expense of Debs' dress, Kenya visitors, Sos and Dilly's College monies are done. (Tried to do a link but as some of you know my links are a bit dodgy:book is called 'The living landscape: how to read and understand it')
(
http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/books/book_pages/natural_history.html#LLS)
Harebells
several different ferns growing on the wall together.
Irish lanes are often so worn down that they are almost tunnels, here the top of the bank was way over my head (as are most things...)
And there you have it! or as Bugs Bunny says 'That's All Folks!'
It has borders now and is waiting to be fleece backed, which I've not done before, but thought I'd try.
Not much of a hardship really, huh?!
