Busy bees zzzzzzzzzz

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I meet up with a friend and we went to visit Salutation in Sandwich a.k.a. the Secret Garden.  I love this garden and am a frequent visitor throughout the whole year. The garden was full of flowers especially dahlias. They were sooo beautiful and I especially love the Pom Pom varieties . I noted down a few names of dahlias to get for my garden.

The garden was full of butterflies and bees and walking down this path was wonderful. Such a feast for the eyes.

The rest of my day was spent shopping and I coundn't resist buying these 'glads'.

 

In the evening I knitted  myself some slippers using the fabulous colours I had seen .

 

I had been as busy as a Dumbledore. Not of Harry Potter fame but the bee in our garden. Dumbledore is another name for a bee and was used in Kent.

The Bees

Bless air’s gift of sweetness, honey
from the bees, inspired by clover,
 marigold, eucalyptus, thyme,
the hundred perfumes of the wind.
Bless the beekeeper , who chooses for her hives a site near water, violet beds, no yew,
no echo. Let the light lilt, leak, green
or gold, pigment for queens,
and joy be inexplicable but there
in harmony of willow herb and stream,
of summer heat and breeze, each bee’s body
at its brilliant flower, lover-stunned,
strumming on fragrance, smitten. For this,
let gardens grow, where beelines end,
sighing in roses, saffron blooms, buddleia;
where bees pray on their knees, sing, praise
in pear trees, plum trees; bees
are the batteries of orchards, gardens, guard them.

Carol Ann Duffy

Sea Mew

Sea Mew is another name for the Seagull found around the British coastline and yesterday sitting by the sea there were plenty of Sea Mews around.  Kentish names for the Sea Gull are Sea Cob or Sea Kitty. Having been born at the seaside I grew up with these sea birds in the garden  and surrounding fields. The ' tiny patter' of their webbed feet on our roof was heard almost every day. Actually, they are noisy and heavy footed especially when squabbling with each other . Windows, washing on the line, and almost everything they flew over could often splattered  with 'gifts' from them. However, nothing evokes the seaside, for me, as seeing and hearing them wheeling about on a blustery day. Our weather forecasts were made according to how far inland they were.

Sea gull, sea gull, sit on the sand, It's never good weather while you're on the land.

 
When sea-gulls fly to land, a storm is at hand.

 

Yesterday,this Gull with others on the adjacent posts had flown in just as the visitors were making their way home to search the beach,prom and cliffs for tasty morsels.In Winter the further inland they are is not only driven by the weather conditions but by hunger pangs.The farmer ploughing his fields will be followed by hundreds of gulls just as in my garden a constant companion of mine is a Robin Red-breast waiting for easy pickings.

 

Colours in the Garden

Just trying to cool off in the garden during this hot weather and I noticed all the colours around the borders, tubs,rockery and pond. If you had asked me when the most colourful time was I would have said April/May and I would have overlooked July. I had always thought in my mind that July and August in my garden were more restricted in terms of colour.How wrong am I.

Let's not forget the lovely green apples....

 Each month and season brings colour into the garden and a few months ago I finished some bunting I designed and embroidered to celebrate the seasons .I chose one of my favourite flowers for each season and some words from  a John Keats poem.

The Firebird

Yesterday Mr. and I went to London as we had tickets to see the ballet The Firebird. This was quite an appropriately named  ballet as it was so hot in town! It has been said that it was the hottest day of the year so far. Well the train journey and return was so stifling. All the  windows were open but it still was like being in an oven. Thank goodness the theatre had working air con. Luckily I had prepared for the baking conditions and had taken water and a fan in my bag. Both were used on the train. 
Have been busy knitting and have finished another cushion for my daughter and two little Bunnies. For the Bunnies I used a pattern I had bought from  Little Cotton Rabbits

 

Peas in the pod

 I love the fresh English peas in their pod in July. They do  taste so good especially with a little melted butter. For me the whole process in their preparation including the shelling is a trip down memory lane.   For a start I have to take the pods outside in a large bowl and sit on a chair. This is what we did when I was a child. Shelling peas was often my job but I remember my Grandmother and Mother sitting on chairs in the sun with the peas. Infact, alot of veggie preparation was done outside and this is something I still like to do especially great in this fabulous warm weather we are having at the moment.

For Lunch

Even though the weather is glorious today and soooooo warm I decided to have a baking session.I started  first thing in the morning because I wanted to leave the afternoon free to watch the Ladies Final at Wimbledon.

I made some cakes  and decorated them with fresh strawberries picked from our garden. This year the strawberry plants have been very productive. We moved them from the ground and put them into window boxes and they have loved all the sunshine of the last few days.

For lunch I made some Spinach and Cheese Muffins to eat in the garden before I watched the match.

 

They are easy to make.Preheat oven gas 5/ 190 C. Wilt 150g of spinach and add to 350g plain flour. Add 100g of diced cheese.[I prefer to use Gruyere for this)and 1tsp salt.add pepper and 1/2 tsp of English mustard and 2tsp baking powder.Add 2-3 beaten eggs ,150g melted butter and  150g of milk . Put into cases in a 12 holed muffin tin and bake for 25 mins.                                            

Now for the tennis. (plus cycling for the Tour de France)                                                                       

                                            

Cherries, roses ,and peonies.

At this time of year my garden seems to turn pink with peonies and roses. I went into the garden early this morning to cut some flowers for indoors.

 

Mr went to the market yesterday and came back with a box of cherries. They are so           delicious  just by themselves but there were so many that I decided to make several cherry cakes.I made a sponge and then sandwiched it together with Greek yogurt and halved       cherries. Mmmmm. It is so nice to have a cake packed with cherries. Tonight I'm making a    favourite of mine Cherry Clafoutis