HOME AGAIN

So - home again from Wales and it is cold - 12C today - and raining ++. Everything is overgrown. Weedy paths and weedy beds and weedy paving - all to do.
I have cleared the ash and brambles and nettles from the gate down the lane - and then it rained so panic dash to get the washing in.

Though the feeders are empty, within half and hour of restocking there are birds everywhere. (And a squirrel). (And three rabbits on the lawn).

All the remaining gooseberries have gone and the bushes are plagued again by sawfly caterpillars. There are no redcurrants left and the blackcurrants have taken a beating.

On the way to Wales we stopped at Aberglasney Gardens near Llandeilo - we have been several times since the restoration first started and was on Welsh Television. That was before digital tv and we lost the ability to get signals from the Denbigh transmitter.

In the sunken garden is a fountain shaped in a ball - spot the photographer.

There is an ancient yew tunnel near the front door and a lot of work has gone on in the woodland.  The large leaves on the right are gunnera. The house is just visible through the trees.

 

In the garden there is a collection of different rue and one or two interesting planting contrasts like here with the calendula and the cerinthe.

At home we have finally got in the garden and I got in the pond - unintentionally! I was cutting back the mimulus when I slipped on the liner and splash - up to the knee on the left. R has been dead heading and weeding. I did some of the same, wove the willows in around the posts of the compost heaps.
Whilst we were in Wales R bought me a seat to hang in a tree. Now I need to find the right branch to fix up a rope or chain and hook - and some decent weather.

Thursday and finally mowed - after the rain some areas really boggy despite draining. Have cleared the top banking now and it looks better. It will green up quickly.
R weeded the veg beds.
I dug up a few miserable red potatoes for supper, picked about 30 raspberries (the ones the blackbirds have rejected) and then salvaged a bowl of blackcurrants to give me a job picking them over in front of the tv tonight.
I have also put weedkiller on the paths AAAAgh!! shout the organic gardeners but as I have a total staff of myself and R and a lot of paths . . . . . well?

In the wood found a large branch fallen off an ash tree. This will need cutting up for the wood burner.

To the alchemilla question - this lot have been sheared by R but there are other clumps not yet done. There are seedlings everywhere, in beds, on paths etc etc.
Lovely as it is it is becoming a bit of a weed - and difficult to get out.

To the weather question - there is a danger of frost tonight in some places - expected to be about 4C here - in July/August!!
My son and daughter-in-law are basking in 24 hour light up on the Arctic Circle. If I were them I would stay there where it is warm.

Friday and the last day of July - I am listening to England winning the cricket against Australia. (For those in the USA this is like baseball but with only two bases - you run back and forth instead of round and round and a match can last from an afternoon to five days. Statistics are, however, a big part of both games.)

Finally to the mystery of the blog - I have just had 219 hits from Italy! I have not  mentioned Berli-whatsit who is ?off to join Gerard Depardieu in Moscow? The mind boggles.

Ah! Sweet mystery of blog. (Naughty Marietta.)