miss marie's miscellany

Pleasing things

Leaves on the grass. Next door's cherry tree is shedding its red-brown leaves, and I will rake them up and bag them to make leaf mould, a treat for the garden soil next year.

 

Breakfast berries; my favourites, blackberries and blueberries.

The sun shining in through the window, and the shadows cast by the wisteria outside.

And a TV pleasure! Tonight I'll be watching the final of Masterchef: The Professionals. I'm a Masterchef addict, I love it  in all its guises, be it professional cook, ordinary bloke or celebrity; I really enjoy seeing the good (and bad) food made by the contestants, and I love the colourful, flavoursome and sometimes over-the-top comments from the judges. I don't have a favourite to be the winner, I'm just going to settle down and enjoy whatever happens!

Tulipmania

I went a bit mad with the bulb buying! The reasoning behind this is that I love tulips and during last spring I spent quite a few pounds buying cut flowers to have in the house. So, for next year, I thought I'd have my own cut flower bed filled with tulips so I can enjoy them inside and out! 

I just have the small task of planting them all now! But it'll be worth it for the blaze of colour, come April and May.

September Sun

A lovely day in the garden.

I love this hydrangea which looks at its very best at this time of year.

There are still touches of colour, flowers, leaves, berries topped off with a blue,blue sky

These sunny days are getting few and far between now, so I try to cherish them, so I can store up that sunshine feeling for when winter comes.

Enjoy your sunny moments this week!

Bulbs and gardens

Yesterday  was another sun-filled day, and I went with my sister to Greenbank Garden, for a bulb fair, and a good look round this beautiful garden. The bulb fair was good,with all the usual spring flowers, with lots of different varieties. We both indulged in a little purchasing!

The Greenbank Garden is a National Trust property, in a quiet leafy area of Glasgow. It's set in between woodland and fields, and is a walled garden with a lovely mixture of formal and less structured planting.I visited once before in spring 2008, before things had really started blooming, which was still enjoyable, but it was more lush and colourful this time. The first thing we saw was this buddleia festooned with butterflies and bees; there must have been at least 4 of these butterflies!

There is an elegant Georgian house at the front of the garden which isn't open to the public, a shame as the views of the garden from inside must be lovely. 

Shades of Jane Austen!

Once we'd crossed this immaculate lawn in front of the house, we saw this gate inviting us into the walled garden

It really is a garden of delights, so much to see. Paths lead you round the garden

This one was lined with bamboos, which swished in the gentle breeze

There's some interesting topiary - I love the snail and the dog!

Lots of flowers of course

Some beautiful tall thistles

and teasels

This lovely water nymph fountain was hidden away behind a hedge  - only the sound of the fountain guides you to it

We both loved this sheep having a nap in the shade

There are plentiful benches to sit and take in the view- I liked this arbour with rose design

  

Exotic flowers and plants in the glasshouse

There are some autumnal touches here and there adding to the rainbow of colours

Wonderful to sit and feel the sun on your face and look at the blue sky

I'm so glad to have visited this garden when it looked so lovely, and to enjoy it with my dear sister. It was a real shot in the arm for us both; sunshine, flowers, shopping and tea and scones, that's got to be a winning combination!

Sunny Friday

It was a  lovely day in Glasgow yesterday.  There's been a distinctly autumnal air here recently, but an Indian summer is with us just now. It's lovely to feel the sun again. I spent the afternoon in the garden doing some tidying up, planting salad leaves and digging over the veg plots. I found these potatoes (I always miss a couple)

I have some cracking tomatoes growing too. I have to confess that I stuck 2 plants in the greenhouse (ie plastic covered shelving) and apart from watering them have done absolutely nothing nurturing to them. I think that's because of the last 2 summers of lavish care and attention for pathetic tomato yield; my expectations were low. But this is the result of my chronic neglect

There are about 8 or 9 plum tomatoes! Hopefully these will turn red, especially now they may get some TLC. 

I also enjoyed lunch outside in the sunshine, - do you like my new IKEA tray?!

A thumb through this library book whilst eating

to give me some inspiration  to make something for my friend who has just had a baby boy. She's a brightly coloured kind of person, so I decided to crochet a granny square blanket

I like the bold colours, and the fact it will turn out a bit more funky than the average baby blanket. I think my friend will like it too!

Little and large

I hadn't checked my veg plants for a few days, today I found these; liitle yellow squash and large courgette! 

The squash is in my tummy now, and very delicious it was too.

I also pulled out my windowbox carrots(they are meant to be this shape rather than pointed!)

I know, they're petite, but very cute!

August collage

My favourite shots from August. I was thinking what a quiet month it has been, and also how awful the weather has been, as I look out at the pouring rain and grey clouds; but I'm cheered up looking at this collection of photos because of the variety of colour and all the good memories it's brought back. Especially the sunshine!

Over the hedge

The hedge in the front garden was disgraceful. I'd turned a blind eye to its rampant growth for too long, so yesterday when the sun shone, i decided it was the day for a bit of hard work. Shears out, gloves on and 3 hours later I had something more presentable, and can now get up the path without having to push back the Amazonian undergrowth. I couldn't bear to show a photo of how awful it was, suffice to say I had another 5 trugs full to add to these 2

That's better

Afterwards I enjoyed this wonderfully perfumed honeysuckle; I wish blogging allowed me to bring the scent to you, it's delectable!

Smiled at these fuchsia which remind me of old-fashioned boiled sweets

Noticed 2 lovely new rosebuds

Then I enjoyed a well-earned treat!

Lovely!

And watched the evening sky turn pink

Hexagons and flowers

I thought I'd show my ever-growing collection of  hexagons today. I'm still experimenting with the colours I like, but these seem to work together...... they're very 'me' colours!

I'm certainly using up a lot of my stash which is good, as I seem to have accumulated rather a lot of wool recently. Now the pattern is familiar it only takes 20 minutes to make 1, so they're good for a quick crochet fix when there's not much time.

I've been enjoying looking at other peoples hexagons at Flickr...... there are some beautiful images and a lot of inspiration to be found there.

The garden is looking lovely now;  it's rained a lot this week, but we had sunshine yesterday and today so everything's blooming. i particularly like these drumstick alliums

This blue hydrangea

And these cheery mesembryanthemums

Yorkshire days 2

A visit to RHS Harlow Carr near Harrogate. I think I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

Well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity!