I still haven't done anything worth blogging about, but Ms Scarlet has managed two posts within a week (one of which was a blatant infringement of Sideboard rights) so I thought I'd better make some effort lest I get accused of lazy baggagery.
So, inspired by Jon's recent posts featuring his fragrant back passage, may I present my allotment (from two weeks ago), and my little shady garden (from this morning):
Fruit tree blossom starting to come out up at the allotment
(those are appletrees on the left, and the big one with open blossom is a plum)
That's a Bramley apple in the middle, and a loganberry going up the side of the shed
(between the shed and the bay tree is a horrid pear tree)
A dog's-tooth violet (Erithronium) in my shady garden
Snakes head fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris)
Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
Wild violets and an unfurling fern
Some sort of daffodils by the compost bins
This Cup-and-saucer vine (Cobaea scandens) made it through the winter with ease
(as did its brothers & sisters - In fact, I've already hacked them down once this year but they don't know when to give up!)
. . .
After all that gardening, I need a gin. This is the Ice House at Felbrigg - just pop down and fetch me a couple of chunks please, there's a dear. It's only 28 feet deep.
Oh, and mind the bats...
(I had a walk around the woods with a couple of friends earlier and we ended up here,
but sans gin - or any type of alcohol, for that matter)
I love these pictures! I have a particular fondness for Wood Anemones and I would love to explore that building. I don't mind a bit of spelunking now and then and bats to me are just tiny, dark skypuppies to me. Do you have a problem with rabies? Sadly, rabies are a real problem with our bats the last couple of years. Last year didn't seem so bad, but a couple of years ago, rabid pats were found suffering in public parks, backyards and even on elementary school grounds. Fortunately, the boys who found this particular bat were smart enough to not touch it and informed an adult that knew the best thing to do was to call the wildlife service.
ReplyDeleteI'm truly happy to se this post from you, dear! Thanks as always for sharing the pictures.
Ooh, I don't know if there is a bats-with-rabies problem here? I'm guessing not as I haven't seen any signs or notices or anything.
DeleteI'm glad my little foray into the garden made someone other than me happy :)
How faboo! Everything's bursting into growth before our eyes at the mo.
ReplyDeleteLove Snake's Head fritillaries - ours are still alive (just) but we haven't had a flower for years. I blame our lack of watering, tbh. Adore the Dog's Teeth as well; we should try them one year! Lord know our garden's shady enough to grow woodland plants (unfortunately)...
And the Cobaea survived! I'm impressed. One of ours is also sprouting into life, but we've taken the others out as the stems were too bare to give much of a show (other than about ten feet up the wall!).
Ah, Spring... Jx
I knew the Snake's Heads liked moisture, but it was only the other day that I found out that they're native to European flood plains!
DeleteYou should definitely try an Erithronium or two. They're ever so easy - I just popped that one in and promptly forgot about it, but it comes up year after year without any molly-coddling.
I'm keeping my eye on the Cobaea - I have a feeling that it is planning to smother the garage...
Not sure Erythroniums would take kindly to being grown in the patch of rubble and clay that passes for our only bit of ground (or as the Madam would put it, "the top field") - although our former pot-dwelling daffs and hyacinths, as well as bluebells and snowdrops do grow there. It's a difficult space, and rather crowded. I think I may need to investigate whether they thrive in pots (which snowdrops and bluebells do not) if we're going to buy any... Jx
DeleteMine is in a pot! Well, a very small trough, to be precise. Here it is last year sharing with a speckled violet (I did push another Erythronium 'bulb' in at the other end but it never came up).
DeleteYou've convinced me! It's on the list... Jx
DeleteSpring has sprung! Allotment? We rarely get to see the allotment, so a bit of a treat.
ReplyDeleteThe building in the woods is intriguing - are there steps immediately inside the door?
I think I would like an ice house like this in my garden.
Sx
The allotment is one of the things that's kept me away from blogging - I've been really into it this year. However, once everything's in (only sweetcorn and sunflowers to go) and it gets a bit warmer, I'll only pop up there now and again for a bit of weeding and harvesting as it gets too hot for me.
DeleteThere are indeed steps inside the Ice House door - only 7 or 8 then a sheer drop (blocked by a wrought iron gate, thankfully). With an ice house like this, you could get rid of your Smeg!
Love that last pic. That is the ice house? I've never seen such a thing. And your gardens are so far and further than anything we have here. A bit of ground cover has come up and the lilies started their greens, but stopped when it got cold again. It is bitterly cold here, still. It is making me sad. Kizzes.
ReplyDeleteYep, that's the ice house - and it was built to look like a ruin (rather than having become a ruin over time). It's bit of a trek from the main house though - I pity whoever was sent to fetch ice for the Lady of House's drinks.
DeleteI hope your weather warms up soon. Our Spring was like that last year - cold, cold cold right into Summer (which was also a let-down, mostly).
Speaking of lazy baggagery, you're doing well compared to me.
ReplyDeleteFab photos. All we have so far are the crocuses.
p.s. It's snowing here.
Ha! Well, you had a little flurry of activity a month or two back, didn't you? If Beast was here I'd send him down into the ice house to get some ice to furnish your drink while you continue to recover from it all!
DeleteBut, it sounds like you probably don't want to be any colder...
Surely the whole point of blogging is to get stuff public that is utterly ephemeral and no publisher would ever touch?
ReplyDeleteI will admit to loving a nice ice house, although I misread your walk in the woods with friends as something else. 🥺🐶
They were lady friends, so there was none of that business.
DeleteNot that I'd do such business with my gentleman friends, either.
That foxy lifeguard at the pool isn't a friend, though...
Spring has sprung and the sap is rising.
ReplyDeleteI had a leisurely walk around an old derelict farmhouse in Tenerife recently, so I'm interested to know, did you encounter any old men dribbling and masturbating at the ice house?
If you find any old men dribbling and masturbating at the ice house, could you please send photos? Now that Tumblr and other social media have strict policies on what you can post, my nekkid old men photo sources have dried up.
DeleteI'm sure Peenee could find you some... Jx
DeleteThere were no naked old men dribbling and masturbating at the ice house, but there are practically naked old men dribbling and doing gods know what else in the slow lane of the pool I frequent...
DeleteWe have rain. And more rain.And, since the Noah-type flood, we're very light sleepers!
ReplyDeleteYou have a Bramley! Please can I come and live with you? I would bake you Bramley pies, wi' a slice o' cheese under t'lid. Cos (I'm sure you know) apple pie wi'out t'cheese is like a kiss wi'out t'squeeze.
Good work on that allotment.
Apple pie with cheese?! No ta - I prefer good old-fashioned Bird's Custard! Jx
DeleteOK, Jon.You can be a phillistine! I still like you.
DeleteIs that a Letitia Cropley recipe? With or without Branson pickle topping? Saying that my mother enjoys Wensleydale and strawberry jam sandwiches, it must be a post-war thing.
DeleteOh way before the marvellous Cropley! She'd probably have added a smear of Marmite. And a pineapple.
DeleteThe Bramley was new last year, to replace the one that got blown over, propped up and blown over again (and then died), and has some wonderfully scented flowers at the mo, so I'm hoping for apple pie in the autumn. Cheese or no!
DeleteNo Marmite, though (only on white buttered toast).
Delete