Johnny

this is Johnny, he's a retired racehorse who lives in the same field as Smokey, he's very handsome, he knows it too!!

todays flowers

geranium phaeum
rhododendron
a bee trying to get inside the monarda flower which hasn't even opened yet!
another geranium pheaum, and not sure of spelling!
my sycamore tree is bursting into bright leaf,

and the little horse chesnut,
I have decide this is Primula Cashmeriana, due to its twisting and bloom as mentioned in the big book of descriptions , apparently you'd have to get it dna tested to be sure. . .
dodecatheon
and again in white
azelea, or small rhodo? its called mcgordon or cunningham something, will have to look it up too!

growing

comparing Red Baron onions: at the back, seeded in the greenhouse on 6th january and planted out under fleece on 13th April, the front ones were seeded in the greenhouse on 10th March and planted out yesterday, honestly its not just bits of grass!! I like to use them when they are small and sweet, chopping up the whole onion and green stalk into a salad.
and these mixed lettuce were seeded in the greenhouse on 20th March and planted out under a mini-poly tunnel on 24th April, there is a small bunch of welsh onions in the middle. I have also plante out some asparagus kale under a tunnel.

funnies, recieved in e-mails

Subject: UCLA study
A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle.
For example: If she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features. However, if she is menstruating, or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with duct tape over his mouth and a spear lodged in his chest while he is on fire.
No further studies are expected.


1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why."
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7. My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE ..
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY .
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My mother taught me HUMOR .
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE .
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you


Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 600 employees and has the following employee statistics?

29 have been accused of spouse abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad cheques
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year

It's the 635 members of the House of Commons, the same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

rhythm beads

I made Smokey some rhythm beads to wear when he's working. I had bought some for Teddy, see here, and I use them on Robbie too. they make a pleasing noise , with their little bells and I think they look nice but people do seem to look at you funny. . .
there is an interesting article about them on NagTrader

Smokeys colours are
Blue: relaxing and calming, intellect and wisdon, peace and trust. Represents adventure and exploration.
Black:emotional protection and power.
Clear/White:purity, goodness and trustworthy, combines with gold or silver to give influence and control, calms the heart, mind, nerves, emotions, brings peace and comfort.
Pink:love and relationships, emotionally soothing and calming it lessens feelings of irritation and aggresion, surounding wearer with sense of love and protection.
Gold:good consience, strenghtens the body, spirit and mind.

Teddys has Black, Clear, Pink,
Purple:for physial and mental healing.
Turquoise:to prevent falling and injury, to bring surefootedness and endurance.
Silver:trustworthy and romantic.

and another horse to note is Marv, and his rider who are doing a John O'Groats to Lands End journey, calling themselves the Long Trot

in the garden

early potatoes, growing! yipee!
Erythronium white beauty, complete with wee insects
Erythronium yellow pagoda
I have put 'slug off' round the emerging hosta's, I tried it last year and its very effective, its just very grittty little stones, so completly organic
saveing the hostas from slugs and snails!

this is Podophyllum hexandron, it is meant to have white flowers in the autumn, it was new in last year so didn't flower then.

new leaves of Photinia 'Red Robin'
this is the flower of the 'woad' plant, I think it will open out to be yellow.
a new poppy bud
and a very unusual flower, its a turnip!
and weeny wee saxifrage, grown from seed.

of horses, and a hinny

a fine pair of turned out toes
Teddy's untrimmed feathers speak of draft horse heritage
and this little hinny (donkey mare/pony stallion) comes to see us when we graze grass at the roadside, its a nice wee thing.
Robbie was trotting in circles, I let him just drift to a halt and he almost instantly dozes off. . .
and wakes up when offered a polo-mint. . .
and these two, playing in the field, one ends up with his rug pulled over his head, they have a quick look at it on the ground. .
and then quickly absolve themselves of any blame and wander away. .

its dry!

I love this, its a 'bloodroot', double sanguinaria. look how dry the soil looks behind it, for April! I have just planted out onions which were seeded in the greenhouse at the begining of January. they have been hardened off by moving them into the coldframe and then leaving the lid off that.
these are funny wee tulips that used to be very tall and very pink, as the years go by they come up in roughly the same place abut are getting smaller and paler, probably reverting to some wild form. they dont last long but they are very pretty and very welcome.

and an update on Smokey can be found here

primula

this is a drumstick primula
this is my unlabled primula, looking very much like a drumstick but its leaves and stalk and petal shape are all different . I suspect it may be some sort of cross between things and therefore may remain unlables forever.

daffodils

fritillary

flowers

hyathinth and snowflakes
hazel and pulmonaria
daffodils growing throughthe hazel
snakeshead fritilary, just about to open.