busy bee

a very busy bee, I couldn't get him in focus!

the beautiful squares of the fritilary,

just fascinating, it took years for them to grow in the garden, there are about a dozen now. unfortunately when they are just growing they look like blades of grass so I think the first couple of years I weeded them out....so there are advantages to not getting around to weeding!

this pulmonaria was a cutting from a friend

and the pretty littly dodecatheon, with some more flowers to come

single species erradication

too many weeds, too little time! so in order to feel I had accomplished something yesterday I chose to get rid of all the dandylions. I had tome to do it and did not let myself get distracted by all the other weeds......their time will come....

and here's my favourite primrose, Guinevere.

do not adjust your colour...

sorry not the best picture, its a bit dull. I was gifted some lovely fresh eggs this week. the two light coloured eggs are pale blue, they look vey unusual when you are used to white and brown! laid by Crested Cream Legbars. and I can't re-take the photo as they have now been scrambled...

Mastercard and Eden Project Big Lunch Timelapse

http://www.thebiglunch.com/

first....

the first picture taken with a new camera of the first vegetable bed I have planted up this year. its all peas and beans....can't wait!

I badly scratched the lens of my fabulous Canon S2 IS, so its now been replaced with the newer version, a Canon S5 IS.

zoom works well too

and its got a 'movie mode', so Daisy was my first try with this new camera, and the new software allows you to extract a still from the movie, so this is the first one of those too!!

Abbey settles in

heres a picture clearly showing the 'punky' line of hair that never lies over, funny wee pony!
this is a link to a short video on the Quantum Savvy video page, its Abbey meeting her new friends, getting chased a lot and then on day six how chilled they are.
http://www.qsvideo.com/index.php?m=video&v=1531

I have been getting busy in the greenhouse too, a bit late for starting some things, tomatoes etc, usually they would have been started in March but I've been busy playing with Abbey and neglecting my garden! most things should catch up, its been really cold to so there was a reluctance on my part to get out and get things going in an unheated greenhouse...there are signs I've been in there though, a pile of used coffee mugs that I keep forgetting to bring back in to wash....maybe when I run out them in here...

have you ever wondered. . .

If the 24/7 shops are open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, why do they have locks on the doors?
Why is there braille on the drive-through ATM?
Why are "Clothes Horses" called as such?
If the Black Box is indestructible why isn't the whole plane made from the same material?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?
Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?
What is the speed of darkness?
Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every two hours?
If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?
How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?
Did you ever stop and wonder......Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these pink dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?
Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there... I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's bum.
Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?
Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is?
Why does your Obstetrician, Gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs !
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune? Stop singing and read on.......
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

surprise find

I've been trying to get some gardening done in-between showers, digging and weeding the veggy plots mostly. I found this little purple broccolli, its about a foot high and the broccoli was about an inch across, I say 'was' because I eat it immediately after photo shoot!

this morning

the onions are growing happily in the greenhouse, hopefully get them outside into a cold frame to start hardening off. the weather here is warming up and cooling down with startling unpredictability so I'm taking my time with the garden, and waiting longer than I might to get things started...or thats an excuse...I am more often to be out playing with Abbey...

the rhubarb starts to unfurl itself, I love to see things growing....

and these are the leaves of the blue poppy, I was worried it might not come back but here it is, unattended and quietly appearingthe hellebores are giving a good show, nodding their heads down to hide

such a dark colour this one, I have to split this plant this year as I have a friend who really loves this, they don't like being disturbed so it may not flower next year after I have done this. it'll recover!

soooooo pretty!

and this smaller one has doen really well this year, it might outgrow its space by next year.

and the daffodills! I love daffodils!!

this afternoon I am off to move Abbey to a new stables. it wasn't my intention to move and move again but an opportunity has come up to go to a really nice place. I used to work there 20 years ago, for different people who had it then, but it feels to me like 'going home'. poor Abbey, to her it will probably feel like 'where am I? why am I here?' . . . she'll settle.

life in the garden

I forget things are there sometimes...these little cyclamen showing their lovely dapples leaves and pretty little flowers.

the snowdrops have been out for while and will probably be over soon...unlike the snow....

these little daffodils are always the first ones out, I forget the variety.

and Snap! with Wildside, here's the little iris in my garden!

the path

“Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use.” ~ Carlos Casteaneda

Photo tag...

"go into your photo archive, pick the 4th folder in the archive, select the 4th picture in the folder, and write about it. A person then needs to tag 4 other people to do the same".

I was tagged to do this by Bonnie, over at her blog "Frogma".

so on this very wild and wintery day I'm pleasantly surprised with the photograph, its holding folder was titled 'Robbie goes Driving' so there was a fair bet you were getting a photo of a horse, but there was a run of flower photographs before him. there were three of a blue poppy, then this beautiful peony, then six pictures of an orange poppy, two of Cotton the cat and then six little mini movies of Robbie pulling his carriage.
this peony is still a small plant, it was a cutting handed fom my gardening friend Terri who lives across the road, it took a while to establish and flower, a coule of years I think. it has a short flowering season, dictated by the weather, as soon as it 'wind and rains' the petals deteriorate very quickly, but it is beautiful and worth having.

so my people to tag are
Peppylady
VegPlot
Alison Dyer
Snappys Garden Blog

an hour of weeding

my first snowdrop appears under the hedge

and my new gardening gloves get their first outing, they were a present at christmas

these leaves have been growing since last year, I haven't the faintest idea what it is. I did plant it but can't remember if it had a name or was a gifted 'bit'
closer to the centre, you can see the furry leaves

closer in still.....
thats the gloves officially part of the garden

thankyou to Laughing Orca Ranch

thankyou to Lisa of Laughing Orca Ranch for this 'award', it comes with this story
"This award is for those Bloggers who manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervade amongst different cultures and beliefs. The Blog contents inspire; strive to encourage and offer solutions. There is a clear purpose at the Blog; one that fosters a better understanding on Social, Political, Economic, the Arts, Cultures and Sciences and Beliefs. The Blog is refreshing and creative. The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking."

HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION - Radical Change Taking Root

here's some inspiration!!

Abbey, the beginning of a journey

well its been a good week, getting to know the wee horsey. I've been playing natural horsemanship games, here I'm standing high up and she walked and trotted circles round me.

and squeezing through a tight space, when she gets used to this I'll put some wood in the middle for her to walk on.

and this is the first time I've been on board, we did some flexing and a wee walk with bend to a halt. she did really well with the rope being thrown over her head(to change direction)
and after some nice dinner, she's back out in the field in a cosy rug.

on the subject of rugs, when I bought her she had a ripped one on, so I got her a nice blue one(like the one I bought Katie)....you know the poor wee horse deserves a nice rug.......that lasted a week and she totally ripped it..........in the same place her old one was so she obviously does not do well with rugs!!! those two rugs are now off to a good repair(restoration jobs!!) and very kindly this one was given by my friend Liz- it was meant to be the spare but there it is! and thanks to Liz too for coming along and taking the photographs of me and Abbey.

if you must buy yourself presents...

make it a big one!!

this is 'Kevic Abbeydale', Abbey is her daily name, she is a Welsh Cob, Section D, about 14hh and about 9years old. we became an official partnership yesterday and I'm still a bit emotional about it all! we'll be following the Natural Horsemanship path of Quantum Savvy and I'm looking foward to the journey.

no snow here....

recieved these in an email from a friend, so theres always snow at Christmas somewhere!!

hope everybody has a good holiday season!!

the birds too!!

wishing for summer

I've just put this on my laptop as the background, as an antidote to winter gloom!! its the solstice and shortest day tomorrow so its all light from here on.....
the greenhouse showing between -5 C and 15 C. chilly...

laughing out loud

more animals at the LOLcats site

by the light of the Fiesta..

last night, going up to bring Smokey in to his stable after work, it was pitch black and some of the stable lights are not working. I couldn't see to read the code to open the padlock to get Smokeys breakfast ready for the following morning, he does not 'need' this feed or the treat of apples and carrots he gets for his tea, but.....how could you dissapoint the poor horse? so I reversed my Fiesta round the barn, avoiding building materials etc. and used it as a torch...don't know what the farmer would have thought of this and I'm not sure you are allowed to take your car round there. just to point out this car is 10 years old and sooooo reliable its amazing. just realized i don't have a picture of it, will try to take and post one today sometime.

and here is my wee garden robin, unfortuately I have had resisdent robins before, one was dispatched by the cat downstairs and another by the cat next door. my cats have yet to be accused of murdering robins, Tansy has had a couple of sparrows and a bluetit. Daisy has never caught anything as far as I know and I have seen birds hopping round her as if they know she is not a threat.

brrr......

late afternoon and the ice has not melted from the leaves of the purple sprouts(em, no sprouts actually just leaves!) the greenhouse temperature gauge showed a minimum of -5 C and a maximum of 18 C. it was a really sunny day so I did think it might have been a bit warmer in there. not sure of the outside temperatures, it would be interesting to have an outside one to compare.
this is the icy surface of..
this perfectly clear circle...
of ice formed in a bucket!
Katie eating hay, they eat out the centre and put their heads right in it. notice the rug is no longer clean, it still luminous enough to pick her out from a distance.