books review

can you have too many gardening books? not till the shelves are full!! and I think there's just about enough space here to squeeze in these two books I've been asked to look at. they are from a new Royal Horticultural Society series Small Steps to Sucess, published by Dorling Kindersley. they contain a surprising amount of useful information and some inspirational photography. I really like them, a good read for a wet afternoon, we seem to be back to the cold wet yuck here.
the Easy-care Garden, Jenny Hendy. this book starts off with some beautiful pictures of garden types, such as 'wildlife', courtyard', 'formal' and others to inspire you. the chapters that follow give 'shopping lists' of which plants to buy to get the particular look you like; information on how and where to plant them and what to do to care for them. there's also useful information sections on soil types, pests and diseases and a further gallery of beautiful plants to think about planting.
these pages look at 'Right Plant, Right Place', full of 'I want that plant' photographs! following pages describe how to create raised beds, mixed borders and container gardening with all the information you'll need to care for them. an idea I particularly liked was for an 'Aromatic Herb Border', a great ides for a vegetable grower looking for inspiration.
Shrubs and Small Trees, Simon Akeroyd. more clear and bright photography to get those ideas going! this one also provides planting inspirations to get the look you're after. there is soil, pruning, feeding, clearing. planting, staking instruction throughout. there is also a good section on pruning and caring for fruting trees and bushes.
how about a 'Fruit Border', shopping list provided with planting, soil and care information to get the best results. another one to interest home vegetable growers! there are other planting ideas for which shrubs and trees to plant to carry the gardening interest through the seasons. very useful.

open water. .

photo stitch of four photographs taken at Crinan

click on photo for larger image

Crinan

a walk along the Crinan Canal on Monday with my friend Sally, thankyou very much for a lovely day!
mirror reflections on the water
the view from the last gate at Crinan
and Ruaridh to throw sticks for, he's a good dog!

daffodils

these little daffodils are always first out,
and these are my new boots, Salomon Adventure Trekkers. I've had them on several times, mud water, washed off with the hose, been riding in them and dug the garden.

they haven't leaked and were purchased from the internet. I have been refunded for the ones I bought from a well known outdoor retailer, and thanks to Trevor at their head office for sorting this out.

hiding. . .

I was moving stuff in the garden and a big spider jumped out. . .
and I ran away . . .
Tansy looks very well fed, wonder where the spider went?

spring! flowers!

Iris Harmony, some more to be seen growing at Wildside
the snowdrops have come up round the purple helbore which is pleasing
and the underside of the helbore
anther hellebore, so pretty, please excus my grubby fingers. .
and I've made a start in the greenhouse with some of the seeds that arrived last week. two types of onions, Walla Walla and Red Baron. and some bunching onions to use in salads as they grow.

Equine Market Watch

EMW do a lot of good work with some very needy horses. Its one of my charities to give to.

destroyed in the name of Progress??

"Mound of the Hostages"

Lismullin site handed over- to road contractors;;By - Unknown.

The Lismullin archaeological site in Co. Meath has been handed over to the contractor building the M3 motorway, the National Roads Authority (NRA) has confirmed. The move means the controversial roadworks may begin on site immediately.NRA archaeologists have already studied the site, which includes a number of stake holes forming an enclosure. Carbon dating suggested they were likely to be at least 2,000 years old.A souterrain from about the 10th. century was also discovered on the site. Archaeologists said it was possibly used for defence during the Viking invasion.The archaeology had also been the subject of a study by an expert group set up by Minister for the Environment John Gormley to determine how best to proceed, once the prehistoric nature of the site had been determined.The expert group which included Conor Newman, the State's foremost archaeological expert on Tara, and Dr. Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum, advised that the archaeological remains were in a "very vulnerable condition". This meant they could not withstand preservation in situ and, therefore, "excavation is desirable and in the best interests of the archaeological remains".Efforts to contact Mr. Newman and Dr. Wallace were not successful yesterday, but the department's website noted the 2,000- year-old remains were "too fragile to remain in situ and must be recorded and removed".It added that "preservation in situ of Lismullin is not an option".

http://www.petitiononline.com/hilltara/petition.html

seeds galore

these are the new seeds I've ordered for this year. there's so many left from last year I hope to get them used up, and lots of seeds can be stored for a long time so they should be just fine. I buy seeds from lots of suppliers, this order is from Gardening Organic, and I have some interesting seeds left from last year from the Heirloom Vegetable Seeds. and if anything appears not to work I can easily go to my local garden centre to replace them there, I always get my seed potatoes and compost from them.
and thanks to Freecycle, a worldwide recycling group, I have a new-to -me wheelbarrow. I don't have a big garden but it really does save your back using it to carry stuff about.

nearly. . . .

the snowdrops in the garden are nearly opening, still a bit chilly
the helleborus, teasing with its spotted inside
a lone crocus in a pot, hope it gets some friends soon!

its still wet, cold and miserable here. I did manage to get one veg bed dug over but its had no manure this winter, hopefully the past few years worth of improvements will hold out and I'll use a seaweed fertiliser. I'm not sure I've ever grown anything before without at least six inches of manure for it to snuggle into- hence the always forking carrots and parsnips. they might not look fabulous but they always taste amazing!

hoomans!!

this is a great site for cat lovers, engage sense of humour!!

LOL CATS

Tiso Glasgow, good customer relations? I think not.

You know I just thought I would suport a local store rather than shop online for the best deal. So on Monday I went to this Tiso store, where I have shopped in the past. I purchased a pair of gore-tex lined boots. I wore them for an hour on Wendesday and they leaked. I went straight to the store, they refused to touch the boots because they were muddy and I was told to wash them and come back. I returned today with the cleaned boots only to be told they could not replace them until they have 'ascertained' that they actually leak, and they would not issue me with a replacement or a credit or a refund. Apparently this has to be decided by somebody else and shouldn't take much longer than 'two weeks'.
According to Trading Standards they have the right to do this.
But it would have been better customer relations to have refunded or replaced, I now have no money and no boots. I have now lost total faith in a brand and in a store I have used for years.
Surely if they sell you waterproof boots they should be waterproof or you should get your money back?

the colour of Katie

there is lots of rain, which makes lots of mud. Katie likes to roll in this, and then roll in her clean shavings bed when she comes in.

I ran into the garden in-between rain showers

hiding in the corner a little helbore gets ready to flower
lifted up for a peek inside
here is a pot of 'orange surprise' and 'happy birthday', which I think are tulips.
and the pot marked simply 'bulbs' has turned into a nice pot of snowdrops. fab!

warmth from the sun

wow, what a fabulous day today, there is actually a feeling of warmth from the sun and the horizontal rain has taken a pause, here is the autumn flowering kaffir lily still being confused
crocus are starting to come up in pots
a little heather cutting starting to flower
and the snowdrops start to come up in the garden.

Saturdays

its my job on a Saturday to take this big poopy mess and turn it into . . .
this, you can eat your dinner off the floor. . . . then I repeat this another six times. . .
this is Ollie, those photos were his stable.
this is Snowy, who is the childrens pony and field companion to the bigger horses. he is white when washed.
this is Vera, very beautiful, a bit moody, and her stable was even worse than her friends'!
and this heap is Smokey and Phoenix, out of focus as they are on top of the hay-stack and my camera hasn't really picked them up in the available light. kittens are the biggest distraction when you are trying to work.

mushroom harvest

here's the mushroom crop from the box. acording to the instructions if I cover the surface lightly with fresh compost, make sure its damp, bring it into the warm for a few days again then that may bring on some more.

sand art

I have just found this site "here" with the most amazing art created from sand

blessings!

many christmas blessings to everybody, and hope that next year is a good one.

(last years tree, fogot to go to get one this year and its too late now!!)

awwww.......

Daisy, with a new box and a new friend