Make Haste Whilst the Sun Shines!

It's a bit of a blockbuster diary this week - there's been a lot going on in the garden.

The two girls from next door have been helping by clearing overgrowth around the veg beds and the shed.  It's a major job keeping the Productive area clear of weeds and their efforts have been a real help.  There may soon come a time, in a few years, when they're interest in gardening is surpassed by more 'girlie' interests such as boys, shopping and parties so I try and encourage their enthusiasm as much as possible at the moment in the hope that it will come back to them when they're older as it did for me.

Whilst the two girls were getting on with that I  tackled the barren area between what I call the Alpine Bank and the lawn area.  Most of this area will eventually form the pathway through the formal area to the gate into the Productive area. However I'll eventually do something with the small area (shown on the right in the next photo), at the bottom of the Alpine Bank; install a small water feature there and probably plant amongst gravel......well that's the thinking so far.

I've added 5 more alpines to the bank hoping that they will eventually help stabilise the soil. I planted a couple of Sedums (album 'Coral Carpet' and Acre 'Aureum'), a Rock Rose (Helianthemum 'Jubilee'), a Poppy (Papaver neudicaule 'Pacino')and a Phlox (x Procumbens 'Variegata'). I understand that the Sedum Acre could become pretty invasive but for the time being I'm happy for it to grow and stabilise the bank; I'll worry about the invasive-ness of it later.

Sedum 'Coral Carpet'

Phlox x Probumbens Variegata

 On the opposite side of the path to the Alpine bank is another 'unused' banked area, next to the patio. It's been slowly taken over by Aquilegia plants and it was time to clear them and add a bit of variety to the garden. So off I went to the garden centre and purchased 3 ornamental grasses; a Carex 'Amazon Mist', an Uncinia 'Rubra' and a Molinea 'Caerulea Variegata' (aka 'purple moor grass - which is weird because it's not!).  I chose these three simply because I liked the combination of their colours and because they will grow to different heights (the Molinea grows to about 60cms in height, the Uncinia around 30cms and the Carex 20cms). I'm now on the lookout for a larger, scented plant to sit in the corner of this bank against the fence (see the picture below) so that you can smell it's aroma as you enter the garden.

patio bank cleared and new grasses installed

closest to the patio - the Molinea

half way down the bank I planted the Uncinea
followed by the Carex at the bottom

As for the veg beds, well the last cauliflower was dug up and eaten at the weekend.  The pumpkin plant is doing really well and developing fruit so I should mulch the ground around it soon; whilst the courgette plant is not doing well at all.  It's flower heads have all dropped off and despite various anti-slug tactics it seems something has been having a nibble at it. I'm keeping a close eye on it at the moment. The peas are coming along brilliantly and several pods should be ready to pick sometime this week and I have 3 cobs coming along nicely on the sweetcorn.

Not long now!

A lantern in the making perhaps?

two little white tufts indicate sweetcorn
in the making

But the most exciting addition to the garden this week is my new outside tap. My next door neighbour fitted it for me this weekend which means I can finally stop making numerous trips up and down between house and garden carrying a watering can and bucket full of water. Not only can I water my plants properly now but it's also going to be easier for me to fill up the water butt in the Productive area.  I was so excited at finally having an outside tap that I spent this evening watering various plants and veg, trying out the different watering options on the hose gun - from 'watering can' to full 'wide spray'.  I'm not sure the novelty of this is going to wear out all that quickly!

By the way, I've just discovered it's supposed to rain tonight.

Mistaken Identity (also known as Not-Quite-Sure-What-The-Hell-I'm-Doing!)

Saxifraga Peniculata 'Rosea'! THAT'S the name of the pink flowering plant I posted a picture of in last week's blog.  Lord knows where I got the other one from...........Note to self:  check several websites and books when trying to ID a plant which has lost it's label; don't just go for the first one you see!  So with it finally named correctly it can carry on helping to keep the weeds at bay in my border and rockery by slowly spreading itself across the ground.  Useful little plant and extremely pretty - I think I'll look out for some more varieties to plant on the rockery.

Now correctly identified, the Saxifraga adds a spash of colour to
borders and banks in my garden

Thankfully I had a quick reply from my brother and his partner Dancin' Fool (who also has an arboricultural blog - The Green Man) last week about the damage to one of my apple trees; frost damage apparently.  Although not good news, I have to admit to being slightly relieved that it wasn't caused by any animal...I get all sorts in the garden; rabbits, badgers and foxes.  Anyway, here's his suggestions for looking after the tree.  I've copied this straight from his email:

a) wrap the damaged area in hessian and leave it on as long as necessary

b) 30g of 'Tate & Lyle' per 1 litre of water per 1 square metre - this will artificially provide the tree with sugars (that it would normally obtain from photosynthesis) and encourage fibrous root development. Do this once a month for the next 4-5 months and repeat again same time next year. You could also try it on your other newly planted trees (or anything else that's struggling and requires photosynthesis) The more fibrous roots that a young tree (plant) can develop, the healthier it will be and the more able it will be to fight off any secondary 'host specific' pests & diseases that may want to take advantage of the exposed wound. 

c) If the tree isn't staked, you should stake it (windward side) and place the ties around the wound area to relieve any structural stresses. 

d) Don't prune it (except to remove damaged, diseased twigs & leaves 

e) pray

c) is already taken care of; d) is fine because I haven't pruned it so that just leaves a) and b) to carry out and then rely heavily on a lot of e).

Saturday afternoon was spent at The Lost Gardens of Heligan with a group from the dementia project - Creative Spaces. Small groups of residents and staff from the care home spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around the Northern Gardens with young people and their parents from the community.  One lad was provided with a recording microphone by a local radio station so that he could record some of his conversations with one resident.  It's going to go out on the station's gardening programme shortly.  These two chaps have formed a bond over the past 18 months and it was a delight to come across them sitting on a bench on Flora's Green, just enjoying their surroundings; not chattering but sitting quietly, arms and hands linked.

Unfortunately, due to a bout of illness over Sunday I didn't get any work done in the garden at the weekend.  However, a short walk up to the top revealed that the brambles this year have been replaced with intermittent 'rugs' of Forget-Me-Nots, gatherings of Bluebells, Red Campion and Buttercups. I even discovered one tiny Wild Violet that was struggling towards the light through a clump of nettles.  Ah yes, the nettles return each year........little do they know that the strimmer is coming in for a clean up this weekend in preparation for much use!

Does anyone else have an invasion of Hairy Bittercress? I pull it out of the borders around the lawn every year and this year it's gone mad in the rest of the garden; particularly in the area beyond the vegetable garden.  Reading up on it, in Richard Mabey's 'Food For Free', I've discovered that you can actually eat the whole plant; I thought you could just eat the leaves.  According to the book it goes well with cream cheese (sorry Jane!).  It has beautiful, delicate flowers which can be appreciated either by getting on your hands and knees with a magnifying lens or, like me, using the super macro on your camera.  The seed pods protrude from within the flower and look as though the stem has pushed through and beyond the petals.  Even the slightest brush allows them to scatter their seeds on the wind......how helpful to us gardeners!

A small army of Hairy Bittercress; strim or salad?

Take a closer look; there's beauty in weeds

Have a wonderful Easter everyone and I hope you all have a great time outdoors (illnesses and weather permitting!).

Friends + Fresh Air = Fun!

I had a really enjoyable Saturday morning up at the care home as part of the dementia project.  With the garden redevelopment well under way I thought we'd get the residents and young people growing plants to go in it once it's finished.  There was quite a group of us; staff, residents, young people from the local school and one of the relatives, whose a gardener, ran the session and had us sowing seeds, pricking out and potting on.  Obviously tea, juice and biscuits were involved, and with the sun shining and a slight breeze we spent a great few hours outside as a group of friends, laughing, chatting and helping each other. You can't help but come away from those moments feeling positive and proud.

I came home and got stuck into transplanting my own small plants, from seed trays to small pots and then moving them out into the mini greenhouse.  Was I inspired by the morning session? I guess so!  I spend a lot of time in my garden by myself.  Not that I mind, I find it's a place where I can think whilst I'm busy with my hands and gardening is very good for the soul of course. But I think the time that we spend with friends outside are some of the best times we have.  Whether it's in each others gardens or a day out together these times are often creative, inspirational and fun. I look forward to having many more of these days during this project.

So, how are my plants doing?  Well, the second lot of cauliflowers are looking better than the first; only 3 survived from the first batch. I'm not sure what killed off the first ones, so as a precaution against slugs and snails I've battened down the sides of the little greenhouse with planks of wood underneath which I've buried the 'skirt' of the greenhouse and then packed the wood in tight with soil and straw. If anything crawls over the wood it's only going to come across the plastic barrier. In addition to that, I've also sprinkled some anti-slug granules around the edge of the greenhouse - see if that works.  That's the theory at least!

An almost full 'greenhouse' housing sweetcorn, broccoli, leeks,
cauliflower,tomatoes, a couple of sad-looking brussel sprout plants
and a tray of, what I believe are Asters

I took a wander up beyond the vegetable area to look at the apple trees this weekend.  The two Sunsets are in full bloom and look amazing. At least double the flowers on them this year than last, despite the fact that I left half a dozen on last year just to taste my first home-grown apples! Not so the Plympton Pippins.  One has a few flowers on it and the other has nothing at all.  Oh dear! what's going on there?  To add to my disappointment I've found some bark damage on the one that has a few flowers on it. Not sure what that is but I've put in a plea to my friend Dancin' Fool who also runs a blog called The Green Man and her partner Mr. Dancin' (my brother!) to identify what the problem is and what may have caused it.

A Sunset apple tree in full bloom; planted last year

Not such good news for one of my Plympton Pippins
 - what's been having a go at this?

No more has been done to the fence around the raised beds.  Sadly that's going to have to wait until next pay day before I can get any more wire mesh.  Fingers crossed it won't be too long before it's finished and I can get some seeds sown into the ground, as well as getting my greenhouse plants actually into the ground. I don't want to miss the growing season another year.

I'm going to end this post with some lovely pics of flowering plants that are growing well in the garden at the moment.  Always end of a good note!

The first bluebells appear

Dainty Bleeding Hearts

Lost the label for this one but I think it's an Eridium

Forget-me-nots are in abundance this year due to full-on strimming
of The Field last year!

Spring borders

Oh dear - disaster has struck my little cauliflower plants.  I transplanted them into small pots last week and all but 4 have withered!  They haven't been chewed; the tiny leaves have just wilted.  Did I transplant them too soon I wonder?  Where they still too young to be outside, even if they were under cover? I've no idea but it's something I'll have to notch up as a failure and hopefully learn from it. Thankfully I've got some more growing in a seed tray upstairs and I'll make sure I don't pot those up so quickly.  It's a real learning curve this veg growing business!

Aargh! the Cauliflower Catastrophe Conundrum

at least the second year rhubarb is doing well......

...and I've somehow managed to grow a cat too! (Felinus Relaxiflorum!)

Earlier this week I planted some of the marigold, broccoli (both the Early Purple and the Autumn), tomato, brussel sprout and sweetcorn seeds; along with more leek and cauliflower (thank goodness).  They're also up in the windowsill in the spare room and already starting to pop their tiny heads up in the trays. I'm growing these ones in seed compost; I used a normal multi-compost for the first leeks and cauliflowers......could that be another reason why the caulis didn't establish well in the pots?

No work on the productive garden this weekend.  A friend's 30th birthday party on Friday night put paid to doing too much on Saturday.  I did make it down to my first Seed Swap event, held in Lostwithiel (after a good breakfast and a couple of paracetamol!).  I took some seeds down to swap and came back with salad onion (Red Baron), Penstemon (Miniature Bells) and Chard (Mangold Witerbi) seeds.  Plus an edging tool for the lawn, a brilliant little hand scythe and some great 'cloches' made out of old street lamp covers...you know, the clear plastic covers that go over the light itself.  What a brilliant idea; and all for £5!  Great fun; I hope there's more of these events locally in the future.

AND, with all my concentration being on the productive areas of the garden,I've seriously neglected the borders around the lawn.  So today I spent the afternoon weeding them and redefining the edges - with my new edging tool of course. I got 3 out of the 4 done and I'll finish the rest over the week. Fingers crossed the good weather stays with us for a while longer.  Having said that, I had to top up the water butt today because we haven't had any rain in over a week and I've been watering the seeds, rhubarb and apple trees during this dry, warm weather we've been having.  It was only half full to begin with because it's not long been in the garden but I think I'm going to have to get another one because my garden isn't directly outside my house and it's, quite frankly, a pain in the butt (pardon the pun!) having to carry buckets of water up and down in the evenings.

Back to the borders. They're an eclectic mix of shrubs, bulbs and perennials.  I suppose all I've done over the past 4 years is fill them with anything I've seen around the garden centres that I like the look of, or plants that people have given me.  There's been no planting scheme in my thoughts at all. When I first created them I just wanted to plant for the sake of having something in them.  Aquilegias and Forget-Me-Nots began to grow soon after I'd dug the ground over and cleared most of the weeds. The first plants I put in were the cowslips (Primula Veris), a couple of Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra) and Siddalcea 'Elsie Heugh's then came the bulbs; Muscari (Grape Hyacinth), Alliums (Ornamental Onion), Chionodoxa (Glory-of-the-snow) dwarf crocuses and the odd bluebell bulb that I uncovered during my early days of frantic digging.

Grape Hyacinth & Cowslips sitting pretty side-by-side

Delicate blue flowers of the Chionodoxa

Next came the shrubs along the back of the borders; a Honeysuckle, Hairy Canary Clover (Lotus Hirutus), False Spirea (Sorbaria Sorbifolia), Pieris 'Forest Flame', Red Robin (Photinia), Choisya, a Flowering Current (Ribes Sanguineum), Exochorda x macrantha 'The Bride' and most recently a Hydrangea Petiolaris and an Escallonia Peach Blossom.

Exochorda planted last year

Aquilegia growing by the False Spirea - photo taken 2010

I hope to be able to add some Penstemons if I'm successful in growing them from seed.

In the meantime, I should think about planting between the bulbs to add some interest during the autumn/winter period, especially whilst I can see where the bulbs are growing! Perhaps some hostas or something taller like Echinaceas. Looks like I'm in for trawling the 'net' to find something suitable.

Finally, just a quick note about the plum wine.  Hmmm, semi-successful I think. There was so much sediment that after racking it 3 times I'm down to half a gallon!! Just enough for about 2-3 bottles I reckon. Ah well, let's look at it as being half full rather than half empty and start thinking about getting some carrot wine on the go. 

Deeds and seeds

Blimey, I'm exhausted! 4 hours out in the garden yesterday and another 4 today - what glorious spring weather we had over the weekend!  Doesn't it just make you feel like doing something outside? Whether it's working in the garden, like me, or going for a walk, or just sitting outside enjoying the warm sunshine - the sun makes us feel good; plus I certainly feel like I've had some exercise this weekend!

Sometimes I never know what I'm going to do in the garden until I actually stand in it. Yesterday I had the urge to finally erect the seed cloche/mini greenhouse.  It's been sitting in its box since I bought it last summer, waiting for me to decide where it should go.  With the everlasting rabbit problem, the best place for it is next to the raised beds inside the wire fencing. It was a good job I hadn't actually put the fence up yet; the area I'd marked out wasn't bit enough for the cloche to fit in.  As with every other structure in my garden, I had to dig a level area for it to go on. Oh the joy of having a garden on a slope!

Getting the ground ready for the cloch/mini greenhouse

I can't make my mind up about digging. I find it very therapeutic and in an odd way it relaxes me but - ouch! - it can be a back-breaking exercise sometimes.  Even with the 'bending knees and keeping the back straight' rule, after you've spent 4 hours digging increasing amounts of soil (my garden is on a slope) and trudging up and down the garden a few times with a wheelbarrow full of top soil, you start to make those noises which are a constant reminder that your'e not 20-something any more.  If they're not a big enough hint then the twinges at the base of your back certainly are!

Still, I got the job done in the end and the cloche dutifully erected. It's not quite finished; I need to go to the garden centre next pay day and get some gravel to go in as a 'floor' and to help with the drainage.  But I couldn't wait to start using it and promptly fetched my seed tray containing the cauliflower and leek plants and installed them inside.  Today, I re-potted the cauliflowers into small pots; they're big enough now to handle, but the leeks are still a bit too small and will stay in the seeds trays just a little longer. At the moment they're all sitting on straw which is not ideal I know, but it will help retain some of the heat inside at night for the time being.

Cloche installed and ready for use

Excited and revitalised by my new addition to the productive garden I went out this morning and bought more seeds:

• Beetroot 'Rhonda' F1 (a sweet tasting beet)
• Broccoli Early Purple Sprouting (easy to grow and hardy)
• Broccoli Green Calabrese (easy to grow, yields in autumn of same year
• Brussel sprout 'Nelson' F1 (produces high yield and has good resistance to being blown over)
• Carrot 'Flyaway' F1 (easy to grow and resistant to carrot fly)
• Chives (easy-grow seed mats, good for growing in pots on a windowsill or can be grown with carrots to keep the carrot fly away)
• Dwarf bean 'Ferrari' (produces high yield, freezes well and is resistant to Anthracnose Halo Blight and Mosaic virus)
• Lettuce 'Salad Bowl Red' & Green Mixed (good for beginners - like me!, loose-leaf, looks good in a border as well as a vegetable patch)
• Marigold 'Boy-O-Boy Mixed' (French, easy to grow, dwarf plant, a good companion plant to tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli and squash but not beans)
• Parsnip 'Countess' F1 (heavy cropper, resistant to canker)
• Pea 'Hurst Green Shaft' (produces high yield, highly disease resistant, also good for freezing)
• Perpetual Spinach (not Spinach but a leaf beet; a 'cut and come again' plant that tastes like Spinach but doesn't bolt; winter hardy)
• Sweetcorn 'Incredible' F1 (produces very sweet large cobs, resistant to rust, freezes well)
• Tomato 'Sweet Million' F1 (cherry tomato, grows well in a greenhouse or on a sunny patio, disease resistant)

By the way, in case you're wondering.......I got all the information about each plant either from the back of the seed packet or the internet.  Remember, I'm just a beginner at all this which is why I've selected many that are easy-to-grow and are disease resistant. I'm not brave enough yet to try the more difficult varieties.

So next week I'll be busy in the evenings sowing Chives, Dwarf Beans, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Sweetcorn, Tomato and Marigold seeds and filling up my back bedroom with the seed trays.  The rest I'll sow outside as soon as the fence is finished around the raised beds.

Talking of which, that was a job I started today.  I got the first 6 metres of the wire mesh fence up along the back of the beds. As usual, I was joined by the rest of the Tywardreath Highway Gardening Team; no sooner do I pick up a tool I hear that familiar sound "Can we help?".  It's not child-labour, honestly, they love helping! So they held the wire whilst I hammered in the staples. It looks very rough at the moment, I need to add another couple of stakes along the back and screw the posts to the garden fence and the raised beds to make them slightly more solid, but it's a start. When it's all up then I'll clip the top off and use it as a skirt around the bottom, buried under the soil. I know what you're thinking "Why didn't you bury the wire whilst you went along?"  Well, to be honest, I just wanted to get the fence started and when the girls asked if they could help it was easier to get them involved this way; the digging would have been too hard and I can do that myself later.  It least once it's done it should act as a deterrent against those damn 'wabbits'!

Starting to look like a proper growing area

Not exactly the Great Wall of China but it'll do the job

Fencing friends

Not the duelling type who charge at you wielding an epee in their hands; but the sort that  lower your garden fence so that finally, after 4 years, you can see right to the top of your garden. It's always bothered me that it's separated the garden so I asked my next door neighbour if he could cut it half way down.

Saturday provided good weather and after my neighbour set to with the jigsaw it wasn't long before I had a stack of sawn planks and a view up the field I haven't seen since before I moved in.  Once the fence posts have been cut down I can make a gate for the fence around the vegetable garden and use the cross bars as top rails for the fence. I'm also considering making an outdoor table from some of the leftover wood, and the rest will come in handy for something I'm sure.

Now you don't see it.......

.....now you do see it!

The veg plot feels enclosed and separated

Now it feels open and has views down as well as up the garden

I wanted to keep a small fence so that I can grow a few climbing plants along that border and still retain some sense of 'formal' and 'productive'.  They'll have to be plants that like partial shade as this border faces north-west and doesn't get any sun until late afternoon; even less in the winter time.  Perhaps an evergreen clematis and a jasmine? Hmmmm, further investigation is required I think.

So it doesn't feel right to call it The Field anymore. the garden not only looks but feels different, you can see the true expanse of it now.  Of course, it also means that I can see everything that needs doing every time I walk up there but that's not a bad thing.  It's been too easy sometimes to sit on the patio and not open the door to the 'Productive Area Formally Known As The Field', to ignore thoughts of strimming brambles, clearing piles of cut branches, moving heaps of soil and checking to see if the rabbits have tried to dig into the old warren. Now there's no avoiding it!

In the meantime, I've laid more straw around the veg patch as the weeds are starting to grow through last year's layer, and cleared the area underneath the Box that the 'THGT' (that's Tywardreath Highway Gardening Team for any new readers) cut back last year; making room for a bench this year. No doubt I'll be trawling the garden centres, DIY shops and online to find a lovely seat for this space...........then again, maybe I could make one.

On a plant-related note, my rhubarb is coming back lovely this year. As soon as I saw it popping through the mulch I placed a plant pot over it and over the last week or so it's really begun to shoot up.  The problem is we're in for some frosty nights this week so the plant pot has promptly gone back on for the time being!  This will be it's second year so I should be able to make some lovely rhubarb crumble later in the year and perhaps some rhubarb wine.......the possibilities are endless.

Out and about

It was a lovely week last week - despite the weather!  Firstly a bit of work news.  I've mentioned in previous blogs a little bit about the dementia project I'm involved with.  Well one or two activities at least.  The great news is that we now have a date to start work on redeveloping the garden at the care home; it's an essential element to the project.  The project's aim is to reconnect people with dementia, living in a care home, with their local community.  We're using outdoor environments to do this; in particular enhancing the garden at the home so that it not only provides for the needs of the residents, care staff and relatives but also so that it can provide a great space for community events and activities.   It all starts on the 25th of this month and I can't wait!!!  I'll keep making notes of it's progress on my blog so if anyone's interested keep an eye out for future updates.

Okay, moving away from work, I'm still not getting much done in the garden at the moment. It's still too dark for me to do anything during the week and this weekend's weather hasn't been helpful either. So on Saturday I visited Heligan Gardens; The Lost Gardens of Heligan, to give it it's proper name.  I have a real soft spot for Heligan.  I was initially based there when I came to Cornwall 17 years ago to work as a volunteer for the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV).  After two years of learning practical skills and running conservation holidays I was at a point where I needed to get paid employment and Heligan came to the rescue.  They offered me a job there and I began in the office before taking over organising and facilitating educational visits for schools and other educational establishments.

The Woodland Walk; a gentle giant awakes!

It isn't just the story behind the house and gardens that captures my heart with Heligan; it somehow has the ability to ease away my worries and make dark times seem easier to deal with. Maybe it's because there are so many different areas and each has an ability to provide for my needs on each visit.  The walled gardens (Vegetable, Melon Yard, Flower and Sundial) offer inspiration for my own garden.  The Jungle and Lost Valley provide areas for contemplation and places where you can just go to clear your head.  The Italian Garden, Woodland Walk, Northern Garden and Flora's Green are all places that are just a joy to be in. It's good for the soul, as they say.

Perhaps some of this is to do with the fact that I have a Witch Hazel, which is of great personal significance to me, planted in the Jungle Garden .  Every year I go and see how it's doing and to take photos of it, followed by an enjoyable, relaxing stroll around the various garden areas.  When one of my friends saw these photos she said it looked like it was singing it's heart out - what a wonderful expression!

the glorious flowers of my Witch Hazel

my Witch Hazel in full bloom

This visit I headed for the Jungle first, then up to the wildlife centre where you can watch the birds feeding, use cameras to see view further afield or watch the latest video footage of nesting birds or rare 'visitors'.  A stroll through the Italian Garden before heading up through the Melon Yard and Vegetable Garden and my therapy session was complete.

And finally yesterday I went for a walk with Sue, my next door neighbour and her two children; the other members of the Tywardreath Highway Gardening Team (see October 2010 blog 'Sunday Sunshine' and December 2010 blog 'Holly and Ivy').  We decided to re-visit the walk in the Luxulyan Valley, near the viaduct.  At which point the rain decided to arrive earlier than expected and accompany us on our walk. Typical!

The waterfall, December 2010

Last time on the walk, it was cold and icy but the sun was out; the leats were full and were feeding the man-made waterfall where it tumbled over the edge, spraying our faces as it hit the bottom.  This time, the sluice gate at the viaduct was open and the water trickled along the leats in a lazy fashion; the waterfall reduced to a small flow.

The waterfall January 2011

Our wellies made sucking sounds in the mud (thankfully no-one ended up face down in the mud; nearly - but not quite!) and the wind constantly whipped our hoods off our heads but nothing could detract from an enjoyable morning spent walking in the woods.

mud, mud, glorious mud!

You have to watch your step!

water runs through the sluice to join the river below

Like I said, it's been a lovely week. But my fingers are crossed for some better weather soon and a chance for the earth to dry out a little - I miss digging in my garden!

Holly and Ivy

Blimey, no blog for over 3 weeks!  Where has the time gone? I mean, I know what I've been doing but are we really only a week away from Christmas?

I've spent the last couple of weekends walking in woods collecting anything on the ground that I could use for a Christmas-themed activity for people with dementia.  So I've been going out and coming back with bags of ivy, holly, berries, cones, conifer leaves.  I had to buy mistletoe from the garden centre (well everyone's entitled to a little peck at Christmas!) and ribbon, cranberries and other bits and pieces from the shop but everything else was outdoors.  The idea being that we were going to make outdoor Christmas decorations together of stars, wreaths and garlands and food garlands for the birds. .  I say "were" because I've just spent the last week off work with the flu and had to cancel the activity - great timing!

Still the walks were lovely; I wandered first through Kingswood near Pentewan where you can usually guarantee finding broken conifer branches lying on the ground close to the entrance.  It's a steep-sided wood with plenty of tracks that you can choose to go exploring off the main hard path.  You have to be observant when picking things up though; it's a popular dog-walking area and there's always a few dog owners who give everyone a bad name by not picking up the dog mess!  Then the following week I drove up to the viaduct in the Luxulyan Valley, taking the other two members of the Tywardreath Gardening Team with me, where we wandered along through the wood finding lots of fallen berries, moss-covered wood and whole 'ropes' of ivy hanging from the trees.  Luxulyan Valley is a World Heritage Site due to the industrial remains of a copper mine owned by Joseph Treffy in the 1800s.  You can follow the old leats and find hidden man-made waterfalls and mysterious machinery parts throughout the woods.  Enough of the history, here are some photos I took along both walks.

main route through Kingswood

off the beaten track - Kingswood

Aaah, good sign of a cold winter!

Luxulyan Valley - top level walk from the viaduct

No toe-dipping this time of year!

end of the man made watercourse

 

Python? in Cornwall?? Just an odd-shaped fallen branch caught up in the trees.........................or is it?!

Work has been busy this month but we've managed to fit in the annual Christmas sing-song in the office,  and a day for our Sensory Trust team to have our own Christmas 'party'.  This year we all got together at a colleague's house and made lots (and I means LOTS) of gingerbread shapes to give out to people we've enjoyed working with this year.  Various offspring came and joined in too and together we rolled out the dough, made shapes (including several crocodiles, a goat, a sheep and a Phoenix bird!), baked and went completely mad with icing pens, silver balls and chocolate and candy decorations.  Great fun!  You can see some images on our work's Facebook page if you're interested.

Thankfully the bout of flu finally dissipated this weekend and I spent a lovely afternoon in the garden yesterday.  We've only a smattering of snow here so I was able to get up into the field and cut some logs in the sunshine before collapsing back on the sofa with the realisation that perhaps I'm not quite back to full health just yet and that I really ought to get a good bow saw as soon as possible!

This isn't snow that's leftover; this is as much as we've had so far

Evidential footprints; rabbits have been eyeing up my apples trees!

at least there's food for the birds

one single, tiny Cinquefoil growing on the path caught my eye

Today I went for a walk in the nearby woods that are at the opposite end of Luxulyan Valley to the viaduct, following a route that follows an old railway track (there's that industrial heritage again!) through the woods and out along by the river and local railway line.  There's a lot to see in the Luxulyan Valley; if you've never visited you should next time you're in Cornwall.

by foot, by boat, by train 

old railway line now provides a route for walkers

                                         

                                                    old railway route passes underneath Par - Newquay branch line

coming out of the woods to the riverside walk

Anyway, the walk must've done me a lot of good because I've had more energy today.  I don't think I could've coped with the 'bird' incident otherwise. Oh yes, Jasper the Giant Killer went out to hone his ninja stalking skills and came back dragging a live bird through both cat flaps and into the kitchen.  The poor thing, a female blackbird, was dragged in shrieking and flapping.  She managed to get away from him and fly from the kitchen through the living room to rest on top of the curtain poles, having left a series of, well lets just say 'messages' across the floor, on my sofa and all down the curtains!  Nice!

Jasper was promptly removed (whilst he was still trying to get various feathers from around his mouth) and my next door neighbour, whose over 6 ft and very handy at getting things that I can't reach, was equally promptly fetched to catch the bird.  Thankfully, it wasn't hurt and was swiftly released over the fence outside whilst Jasper looked on confused and wondering why the early Christmas present had been rejected!

Having washed the curtains, I've spent the afternoon baking.  Home made presents for the neighbours as well as biscuits and chocolates for Christmas, although I may have to make more because the white chocolate, cranberry and roasted hazelnut cookies are mighty fine if I say so myself.  Thankfully the chocolate isn't yet set enough for me to make the Cointreau truffles, otherwise it's highly likely that they won't last until next weekend either!   It's all Quality Control, honest!

I'm spending Christmas at home in Cornwall this year, with various friends and then hope to see the family before, or after, New Year; depending on the weather.   Wherever you're spending your Christmas and New Year I hope it's with good people, good food and the odd tipple of something warming and I hope you spend this festive time sharing laughter and memories and making many more new ones!

Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year xx