A DISASTER STRIKES AND THEN . . .

There is something special on a sunny day after hard gardening and a shower, sitting outside the kitchen in a recliner eating cheese straws (that K brought last night) and drinking a rather good bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, well not the whole bottle (but it is early yet). We can see the ferries setting out for the Isle of Man from Heysham twenty miles away across the bay as house martins whirl over the pond.
  Anyway, to the disaster.

Our lovely Prunus Shirotae is in trouble with wilting brown leaves and dying twigs. It could be the drought but I suspect we have a fungal disease here. So sad.

  And the veg sowings are disappointing, carrots ok, some parsnips and spinach but the rest useless so have sown more beetroot, chard and topped up spinach and carrots. Here's hoping.
The variegated plant with the foxglove on the left is also a vegetable, horseradish. If you think peeling onions makes the eye water try grating the root of the horseradish!

Here is one of R's favourite plant combinations, catmint (nepeta) and Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla).

The oriental poppies just get better and better - the tall one is the splendid Goliath. The early day lilies, the smaller yellow ones are coming into flower and giving a splash of colour.
  The rosa rugosa hedge at the top of the garden has finally reached a decent height and though most of the flowers are pink there are some white ones too. Lower down, by the lawn, the beauty bush, kolkowitzia, is smothered.

And this is a time for the perennial geraniums, especially the blues on the dry banking below the house. When they are finished they will need shearing back to allow new growth to come.
  Another similar coloured plant is the knapweed, centaurea montana, in semi shade and very dry soil under the spreading branches of the big sycamore where it seems to thrive, which is good as not much else does.
   It is very early but the first red currants are ripening with all the sunshine - and the blackbirds are gathering for the feast. I must get some new netting to try and keep them out.
 
And then another disaster -
This brick is supposed to be a loaf of spelt flour bread!
Did all the usual and put it in the oven then forgot about it for two hours! Carbonisation courtesy of the Aga range.

I woke this morning, June, and found myself singing 'In The Bleak Midwinter' and wondered why. Then it dawned on me that my mother, who had sung professionally as a mezzo, had sung that song and that must be why I like it. Sadly there is no recording of her singing but inside my head (and I presume other heads).
  R has taken a dislike to the rose Grouse, a ground cover plant at the back of the house. She has decided to tidy it up, something I am definitely avoiding. It is one of the thorniest things I have come across. It will be scything the long grass for me.

And it is crambe time, the giant ball of flowers is back.

So to mowing, clogged mower with the longer grass, battling the clegs (Horse flies) - got one, they got me three times.

Tuesday and it is raining, no it isn't, a few spots and then it is gone.

Now, there are some moments in life that transcend others - like when your specialist says you do not need any more CT scans for your cancer - Phew!!
Time for a beer or few too.