Back to the home front...

It was a long drive home from London yesterday, with some very tired little ones...





I think the hood was to drown out her brothers singing! We had an amazing time in London but there's nothing quite like coming home...especially when these greet you...




And these...




and even these...




I think my garden must be shy as it always waits till we're away to burst into flower! Every time I look away something else happens- dare I go away again? who knows what will happen!

The peas and lettuces which have been struggling have put on more growth in the past three days than in the last month!







Unfortunately so have the weeds - oh well, they're a good excuse for a morning out doors - the laundry can wait...

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Why I love Chelsea ...part two

Chelsea flower is a ritual for us, an annual pilgrimage to the place where gardening dreams become reality, and a really good excuse for a top girly day out!

My highlights this year were the
The b and q garden with it's bug hotel...



Cleve Wests gorgeous best in show garden with it's inspired yellow and red planting...


Tom Hoblyns Cornish garden with it's fabulous dinosaur eggs, I mean pots...


And the beautiful Yorkshire art garden...


I also spied my dream car...


complete with picnic and radio- perfect!
We had a fabulous lunch, duck fritters with quails egg


Rump steak with all sorts of lovely stuff...


And a 'deconstructed' cheesecake - which apparently means not put together! Either way we wasted no time in deconstructing it further...



And of course there were the plants, so many plants! We did our best to resist all day but when the four o clock bell rang there really was no stopping us.

Thank heavens for black cabs...



now all I have to do is get them back to Yorkshire and get planting...

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Why I love Chelsea day- part one...

Can you tell Chelsea day is the highlight of my year? I can't get out of bed all year but today I was up with the larks. The day began with a cuppa and a biscuit with citygirl


...who has the poshest biscuits ever... I'm thinking about buying some just for the tin! The day bodes well if the early morning snacks are anything to go by...


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Countdown to Chelsea...

It's Chelsea time again and the countdown is on. I'm visiting on Saturday with citygirl who has already been this week on VIP day. I'd love to say my own garden was Chelsea ready but as growing season collides with my busiest worktime it's more shabby than chic!
It has it's moments though... And the alliums that I bought as bulbs last year at the show are amongst them. I only wish they lasted all year round...


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Flower power...

I've just completed my first ever flower arrangement...and it doesn't matter how many times I say that phrase, it still sounds surreal!
Persuaded by one my lovely neighbours to have a go, I went along after work and gave it my best shot - and after lots of trimming and snipping Im quite surprised ( to be honest I thought it would be so bad they'd ask me to leave!)

I thought I might be asked to do a small thing, maybe in a vase. Instead I was given a pedestal and my display was huge...



It's not as entirely green as it looks but the lilies are yet to open. The Solomons seal was cut straight from our garden.

And the point of all this floral madness? Our villages flower festival is this weekend, so if you're passing Rudston, East Yorkshire drop in and see if my display is still holding up, if the lilies have opened or just enjoy the tea and cakes...


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Up on the roof...

He has been allowed down since the last building blog - I promise!

The other side is on and the forecasts good - we could be 'roof completed' by the end of the week - not bad for a fella with no roofing training and a bit of a thing about heights ( the less said about that the better...)

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Marvellous Magnolias...

The time has come this year to tackle our untamed beds and borders in the garden. Year 1 and 2 were all about getting the vegplot active, but now, after living in a building site for what seems like forever, I want something pretty!

The first flower bed we've tackled we actually started last year. It was full of conifers and a huge Ceanothus. I was quite attached to the Ceanothus as when it bloomed it was the striking blue and covered in bees and butterflies, but a hard winter saw it off and it gave us the courage to tackle the rest of the overgrown shrubs. in amongst these were three conifers and a eucalyptus oh and a dried up looking stick. The conifers and the Eucalyptus came out but I had a funny feeling about the stick due to one fossilised looking flower bud. The stick stayed.

And last year the stick grew, it grew other sticks, but on the whole it stayed pretty stickish. That was the end of the story until this spring when the stick burst into life and turned into a beautiful Magnolia.

Magnolias always remind me of North London as we would see the most amazing ones in very everyday places there, and at Easter time they're at there best. I never thought we could raise one in the wilds of the Wolds, so this one is extra special - I'm 'sticking'with it...

A period of adjustment...

My blogging days have been severely curtailed of late mostly due to the reorganisation of labour in our household. The upside is BH has a job - Hurrah! downside - all of of our household stuff now needs to be squeezed into the time between children going to bed and the hour at which we collapse into an emotional heap - one often follows the other quite rapidly!

I always knew I was very fortunate to have BH keeping the ship running smoothly whilst I was at work but now thats changed, boy do I know how lucky! For one thing, where did all this laundry come from? I have laundry baskets which reload on emptying - is that normal? and as for cleaning... whoever thought of the phrase 'painting the forth bridge' should have tried dustbusting this homestead first if they really wanted to experience an eternally circular task!

In the midst of this I have taken on another plot of land - what was I thinking! I figure digging is cheaper than stress therapy or a spa break and at least i'll have some sweetcorn and potatoes at the end of it. That's the idea anyway...

But for now any spare time has been used to try and tame the borders in our own garden and get the plot ready for the getgo - and making royal wedding cupcakes of course (well...it had to be done didnt it!)