To Market

One of the pleasures of summer is a trip to the farmers' market on Saturday mornings.  For some reason, we were very late in paying a visit this year, but better late than never.  Although the main reason for going is to buy fresh produce, I do occasionally buy a pretty bunch of flowers.

Who could resist this recycled sweater turned into a sweet owl pillow?  He looked in need of a good home and now he has one!

Late Developers

Summer has finally arrived, but not before time.  The first hot days started at the beginning of August!  My hanging baskets have been a bit of a disappointment because they were intended to be overflowing with blooms, but the cold spring stunted their growth.  The colours are pretty, but I had thought that the baskets would be completely covered by now.

This photo was taken some weeks ago, but it gives a perspective of where the baskets are located on our front verandah.  Maybe the arrival of the heat and humidity will see some late development.

On The Flight Path

 

We had a lot of rain in the two weeks when I was off work and I spent a fair amount of time watching the birds bathing in a pond which formed in our flooded garden.  They were certainly entertaining to watch and didn't seem to mind that the water was not pristine.

When the weather improved and the pond dried up, we thought that it would be nice to have a bird bath in the garden and were fortunate enough to find one in a sale last Saturday.  We had it assembled and in place within minutes of arriving home, so you can imagine our disappointment that no birds are using it.  We even found a little rock for the smaller birds to stand on if the water is a bit too deep for them.  As it is placed adjacent to where the pond formed, we thought that the birds would be keen to take advantage of this new water feature.

I was out in the garden a few minutes ago and stuck my finger in the water. which is a beautiful temperature.  If it were a little bigger, I'd be tempted to have a paddle myself!

In The Kitchen

There's been a bit of baking lately.  I made breadsticks ~ two varieties ~ one black pepper and the other sea salt, both of which disappeared very quickly!

Honey and Oatmeal biscuits are also popular, especially when made with delicious clover honey (my favourite).  A visitor stopped by and almost demolished a plate full!

 

I was given a lot of rhubarb and decided to make Rhubarb and Strawberry jam, as local strawberries have just appeared in the shops.  I made this last year and it was delicious.

I tried baking raspberry scones once before and they were not successful.  I decided to have another attempt and baked these yesterday and they turned out great.  They were best eaten warm straight out of the oven with a little butter and a cup of tea ~ perfection!

I found a recipe which I adapted by adding an egg (I like a richer scone) and mixed the raspberries into the dough mixture before I added the liquid.  The first recipe that I tried had the raspberries added afterwards in a layer, but I prefer my method.  It is a pity that I've finished the raspberries, as I'd like to bake another batch of these ~ maybe tomorrow.

Keep The Home Fires Burning

Is it really be almost July?  The past few days have been so cold that we have had the fire on and not just in the evenings.  There is that damp feeling in the air (hardly surprising as it has barely stopped raining during the past week) and a need to be snuggled up warm indoors.  I'm even wearing winter clothes - I don't know what happened to summer, but it seems to be passing us by this year.

Hanging Baskets

We have had a very late spring this year and even though it is now officially summer, the weather remains changeable.  We have had a lot of rain and that has had an impact on any garden plans.

We were into June before it even seemed worthwhile buying annual plants for my hanging baskets.  I like to do my own, rather than purchasing those which have already been planted.

It is so cold and damp that I haven't had to do much watering.  I had hoped to have baskets overflowing with flowers by now, but growth is slow.  At least they are still flowering.

Rest

I had surgery last Thursday, so I find myself in the unusual position of having to rest.  This is not something that comes easily, as I am naturally a busy person.  I have a full-time job and even if I wasn't working, I could easily fill my week with crafts and home-making activities.

It has been an opportunity to catch up on reading (I have enough books put aside to keep me reading for the next year or two) in addition to trying some new hobbies.

I bought this flower press over a year ago with the intention of creating handmade cards.  I never even got as far as taking it out of the packaging.  It remained in its box unused, but not forgotten.  

I had some pansies which I bought last month at Mayfest.  They were in pots indoors and I had them in the kitchen window.  They looked sunny and welcoming, but they dried out far too fast and I could not keep up with the watering due to my irregular working hours.  

I decided to plant them in the garden and in doing so, they were a bit floppy, so I rescued some of the flowers and finally put the flower press to use.    I would like to add to the collection of pressed flowers, so that I have enough to make some cards.  

Another thing that I've been working on is a plan for our new garden.  This requires little physical effort, as it is all on paper (and not to scale, as Mr Candytuft pointed out!)  It looks great on paper, but I think it may take a long time to come to fruition.  Anyway, I like the idea of a shed and potting shed like Le Jardin du Moulin, so that's on the list.