Blame it on the Olympics...

I could blame it on the rain, the endless weeks of dreary drizzle. I could blame it on the workload, the schedule or even the building work - there's always the building work... But no- the reason why my garden is running to ruin is that I am totally hooked on the Olympics...


Weeds so high I can't even see where my crops were...peas turned to pigeon food... And I even managed to miss the arrival of my first ever globe artichoke...



But I can't say I'm sorry... I'm completely hooked! I stepped away from the action for two hours yesterday and we got another two gold medals! Needless to say last night the whole tribe cheered Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah every step of the way and while we were watching that we went and go another gold in the long jump!

So today it's Olympic weeding for me...I'm expected to medal but may fail the doping test due to traces of back ache painkillers...I must just have to down tools for the tennis- just for a bit-promise...


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Things that make me go Wow!!!

The oriental poppies I planted last year have started to burst open - and I mean burst! They are eye poppingly bright, completely jarring any attempt at a subtle colour scheme... and 100% fabulous! And there's loads more to come...



The best bit is their blue centres - multiple coloured bees have been spotted after visiting them so watch out!!!




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Aquilegias everywhere...

Aquilegias...I love 'em. I don't plant them, I don't feed them, I don't even have to stake them. As long as I don't accidentally weed them they do their thing...



They crop up everywhere and last and last...



And they surprise me every year with new colours...



And plenty of ruffles...



Yes, I love 'em! All I have to do now is let them run to seed and look forward to next years crop...



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Jubilations...

   

Now the holiday is nearly over Im catching my breath after the nonstop fun I want to ask the big question...

What did you do to celebrate?

We had a bunting festooned dinner..

I made a lot, and I mean a lot of cupcakes for street parties...The red and white ones were already in the car when I took this!

Oh and I got a bit tipsy at our village talent show and sang 'how much is that doggy in the window' backwards - no photos of that one thank goodness...there are some talents that are clearly best kept hidden!

The post Chelsea post...

Blimey where does the time go? One minute I'm counting the days till Chelsea flower show, the next I'm wondering if it really happened, so much has happened since. Weve been awash with bunting and jubilee flags since then...but thats for another post...back to Chelsea...

I think this may be my favourite Chelsea yet. The gardens were amazing despite the cold start to the year, and then the drought and then the rain! Here are some of my favourite moments...

Cleve Wests garden won best in show and deservedly so. More than any Chelsea garden ive seen, i wanted to sneak in and stay in this all day...very secret garden and very magical..

 Joe Swift's garden was also a favourite - he had these amazing redwood arches that made it look like looking through frames, his colours were amazing.

 The Furzey garden created by Chris Beardshaw and the team of young people with learning difficulties was gorgeous, and made me wish we could grow rhododendrons here, but no such luck! I met the family of one of the gardeners there who were telling of how the project had changed their sons life. I'm not ashamed to say I left the Furzey Garden a bit teary eyed and truly inspired by the power of gardening...

and I loved Andy Sturgeons garden. Ive already passed this picture on to BH as inspiration for the steps to our garden - here's hoping!

I thinks The caravan garden was one of my favourites though - I've been planning a garden office for a few years now and I think this could be an answer...

The designer Kaffe Fassett had decorated his own summerhouse for the show, I wish i could have got a better picture. the colours were so much better than they came out here!

 But Chelsea isn't just about show gardens...it's also about shopping and for us champagne. The day ended with our traditional stop at the champagne bar at St Pancras before I jumped on the train back to Yorkshire...you can just see my Bill Wallace Geranium in the back ground, its already found its home in my long border...

And that was it for another year...now how many sleeps until the next one...

Countdown to Chelsea 2012

5 sleeps to go! I've got my ticket at the ready....


heres a Brunnera I bought in the sell off last year doing very well... I wonder what I,ll get when the bell rings this year, maybe Diarmuid's pyramid house...

Of course if you don't follow Chelsea flower you'll wonder what I'm going on about... Let me just say its the greatest flower show on earth and I've got me a ticket!!!

5 sleeps to go...

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Malton food festival ...

So I came home on Friday night sneezing and by the time the kids were in bed I was coughing and wheezing up a storm. Whoever invented the phrase 'manflu' hasn't met me - by bedtime I was convinced I was dying!

I fully intended to wallow under the duvet for the weekend until we realised that Saturday was Malton Food Festival. There was nothing else for it - a double dose of medicine and a woolly jumper and we hit the road...



As did everyone else - it was packed! Not surprisingly though as the produce on offer was amazing...

We bought some delicious Provolone...



Cakes and brownies...






And caught up on some of the demonstrations by visiting food writers...



We caught a bit of Tom parker Bowles and Matthew Fort cooking mackerel and eating Pork scratchings...



It was standing room only, but to be honest it was a great atmosphere with no one pushing or shoving so nobody minded.

After all that hard shopping some refreshments were called for - and there were plenty to choose from...


I had strawberry cider which i could barely taste because of the cold, but i figured as it was the colour of medicine it must be doing me some good!


The minis loved it - especially the chocolate fountain...


We brought back our haul..


The pork scratchings are Pony girls - she loves 'em. The passionfruit curd is most definitely mine!all that was left to was to come home and start sneezing again - anyone got a tissue?


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Weeds I can live with...

In between the rain I've been trying to keep on top of the weeds, only some are too pretty to part with...


I don't know it's name but this beautiful purple flower has self seeded all along my borders. It looks so kapow! against the Euphorbia that right now it's my favourite colour combination in the garden...



I'm hoping this year it will self seed more and more and more..


And it's a good excuse not to go wild with the weeding!

Do you have any weeds you can't live without? Or is it just me!!!


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Huevos heaven - Yorkshire style...

Okay so its not a typical Yorkshire Breakfast, but it is my favourite, and the only one guaranteed to get me on my feet after a late night....

Huevos Rancheros - Yorkshire style...

The onions (from our garden) are sauteed in Yorkshire Rape Seed oil from our local producer Gold from the Wold

 then they get a good sprinkling of smoked paprika - my concession to non yorkshire produce! I get mine from gardengirls shop in Finchley, London - 'Tony's continental'. They're on facebook, check them out if you're ever near, they do the best stuff, often hand packaged by gardengirl herself and at the best prices...

 but enough of the advertising...back to the Huevos...once the onions are soft and smoky I tip in a good portion of chopped tomatoes - if Im being very good they're frozen ones from last years greenhouse haul...if i'm being honest they're usually from a tin1 But I do add some chopped chillis which are usually from the freerange windowsill and then season good and proper ...

 Then in go the eggs...fresh from the hen...

 these go in the oven and bake until they're ready...just perfect!

and then there's only one thing left to do...scoff the lot...delicious!!!

So they might not be true Huevos Rancheros - but they work for us....

All sold out...

So sale day came, and we sold...and sold....and sold. I fully intended to take lots of pictures as more and more plants arrived and we filled the hall - but there were people coming in an hour before we officially opened and that was it - we never stopped until there was very little left, like these sad lonely onions!

 I had great helpers thank goodness, citygirl, Kgirl my oldest bud (not literally old that is!), BH, Freerangenan and the marvellous ladies from All Saints church amongst others made sure everything went to plan. Even ponygirl got in on the act...
                                                

We took over £300 in 2 and half hours. Not bad going when you consider most plants were under £1. There were flowers, veg, herbs and cake - what was not to love??? We had some amazing donations, compost bins, pots, even a mini green house! It was great fun selling and talking about plants and if i'm honest i'm already planning next years event...

by the end of it we were pretty tired...I caught these usual suspects napping on the lawn!

There was a glass of two of fizz to be had after all was tidied up...and a very very good nights sleep...

It's sale day!!!

Despite my worries that we wouldn't have enough stuff...it's started to arrive...


Geraniums,salvias,mints, montbretia, sprouts, bleeding hearts, pots and compost bins and the rest...now all we need are customers! Fingers crossed...



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