Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

When the weather is so glorious, the days last forever and summer is everywhere, it's a crime to be inside. I have all those gloomy winter's days to be crafting. When the sun is out, I want to be out. The last 24 hours have seen some of my favourite flowers burst into bloom.   Red cactus dahlia saved from last year   Leek flower   My first sweet pea of the season   Three roses together   And the speckled inside of a foxglove What's not to love?   Posted with Blogsy

This week is one for looking forward. There are so many flowers almost ready to appear and others that are small and subtle because they are about to give way to fruit and veg.   Courgette flowers are anything but understated. This one is almost as big as the young plant and practically screams, "Yo bees, over here!"   As a contrast, my "blink and you'll miss them" raspberry blossom, drop their petals at the slightest breeze but it's the fruit that we are waiting for. When parsnips go to seed, they produce these fabulous structural umbrellas of yellow flowers. I'm not sure my allotment neighbours are so keen on them, casting their seeds to the winds, but I do like to let a few go to seed.     And finally Sherlock is doing a sterling job of supervising the watering of my sunflowers and foxgloves, all of which are yet to flower, but I am anticipating a fabulous show in a couple of months ready for some very special guests.         P...

I love my garden and have spent the last two days pottering around with my flowers, veg, seedlings and trusty although sometimes troublesome doglet.         Have a lovely weekend   Posted with Blogsy

There's something about a list that just helps you get things done,especially if you put it out there for all and sundry to read. That added pressure of knowing that people might actually wonder whether I manage to stick to my plans was a real incentive to tick tasks off one by one (especially once I knew my friend Michelle was watching). Sherlock and I even made it to the allotment, twice.   Yes I was distracted by the roses that needed dead heading (ignored), the possibilities for reusing the metal frame from my old greenhouse (impossible to ignore hence the second trip to the allotment to build a frame to protect my cauliflowers from the pigeons) and the housework (easily ignored).   I do like moving the lawn, it's like an instant garden tidier. Foxgloves remind me of our annual trips to the Welsh mountains as a child. I wouldn't be June without Foxgloves, I do love them so. The first rose on the bush that I bought for my husband for Valentine's day was a bit to...

Thursday is my day of opportunity, my working week is over and anything could happen. As I return from the school run, the day stretches out in front of me, hour upon hour to be filled with endless activities. I always think that I shall get so much done, everything that comes into my head seems possible, because if I don't get it done on Thursday, there is still Friday, Saturday and Sunday. However, as most mothers will know, the school day is actually incredibly short. There is barely time to have a coffee, hang the laundry out and have a bit of a tidy before the house is filled with hungry children who immediately reverse any sense of order. So often I fritter my time away, doing a little bit of this and that. I'm easily distracted by what I perceive to be more important / interesting tasks, have inspirational ideas that I start and then realise they will be impossible to finish by the 1445 deadline or feel overwhelmed by all the things I've got to do that I end up doin...