Our Autumn Garden - 2023

Peter has been doing a lot of work in the garden with laying a new patio and ordering and replacing all the gravel around the house. The lawn has been levelled and re seeded and I've been helping out with tip runs and potting up plants, seeds and generally tidying up around him. There is still lots to do, but it'll be waiting now for the warmer weather.

Garden tools cleaned and put away in our new shed, we bought at the Three Counties Show in September.

New shed and side of house tidied.

Fig and Rhubarb covered for winter.

Bay tree covered for winter.

Gravel added around shed and weeded behind and now storing most of the bricks left over from the building work to build a raised bed with.

Herbs and new plants.

Autumn reef up. I'm off to a Christmas Reef making evening soon.

Peas, beans, cauliflower and sweet peas sown for spring.

Herbs brought inside for winter and basil planted.

Surprise strawberries.

Bobs memorial garden pot planted.

Table and chairs rearranged to make more room for the washing to dry.

Bougainvillea brought inside to protect for winter.

The two sheds on the left waiting to be dismantled.

The neighbours garden is higher than ours, level with the top of the concrete slab at the base of the fence. Drainage problems are an issue since we had building work done, but we can rectify with proper drainage and levelling off the ground to the right.

New gravel down and some tidying and soil shifting needs to be done.

Compost bin full.

Raspberry crop seems to be going on forever.

We're planning to remove the two sheds over winter when we get drier days. It's much easier to work in the garden now the patio and gravel is sorted and we have full access round both sides of the house.

I'm pleased with how my egg pod fits under the new canopy, I love being outside and can now enjoy winter mornings with a cuppa without getting wet.

My August English Garden 2021

There's been a lot of planning in the garden and the house. We're getting a new kitchen, extending the back of the house, building new sheds and creating an allotment. It's a small patch of land and with our dining room already full to the brim with furniture, we're trying to work out in which order to do the jobs, so we can still function in and outside the house. 

We want to replace the conservatory, that's 24 years old, with one that covers the back of the house.

I think new shed first, then we can use the old one for storage.

In the meantime I've planted more crops, carrots, onions, potatoes and turnips. I've also sown some peas, beans and sweet peas to 'over winter into a tangled mess' as advised by Monty Don. I did it last year and it worked well.

Winter crops of potatoes and onions already poking through the soil.

Made a cloche to try and keep the cabbage white butterflies out the way. Next year I'll be planting sacrificial marigolds and nasturtiums. I've also been gifted beans, cauliflower and beetroot from a friend and the neighbour gave me some sweet blackberries.

It's great planting lettuce and watching it grow, literally over night. It would be nice to have a few more tomato plants but I was late getting them with not getting back from Dubai until mid June. 

I've bought plants now for my pots and hanging baskets that were on sale in the garden centre and DIY store and the cold frame has been reassembled so I can put them in there over winter.

I've finally realised that I really do need to label everything, more so because I've ventured into other parts of the garden and I caught Peter digging over an area where I'd planted carrots.

I'm still enjoying sitting out in the garden and in the shed if it's raining (although the cat has taken over that spot for now). And it's nice sitting out in the evenings with the garden lit up. The rose bush is in it's second bloom and there are still scented sweet peas to be picked.

In an English Garden - July 2021

My friend introduced me to the PlantNet app. For a gardener like me who has no idea what they've planted, despite having good intentions to label the seed trays, it's been easy for me to identify the plants as they've grown and whilst I'm supposed to sow seeds in the place where I want them to grow, we don't have the right garden design at the moment to allow that. 

Turns out these are cabbages. I thought I'd bought cauliflower seeds, the app identified them for me.

I planted them out next to the rhubarb, the one beet and one carrot that have seeded, sadly something is eating them now.

I had several pumpkins, also identified by the app. I grew them from seed from a shop bought halloween pumpkin from last year. only this one has survived, I think it's because it's in a pot that the slugs and snails can't climb up.

We also had more tomatoes last year than we could shake a stick at and this year only 4 and a handful of flowers so far.

All the potatoes, rhubarb, onions and peas cropped at the same time and the freezer is now full of potato bakes and stewed rhubarb, along with wild blackberries which will be added to the apples to make many crumbles for winter, from our DIL's tree once they're ready in abundance.

The washing has been on the line most days, which isn't something we could do in Dubai as it was too hot to be standing outside pegging it up.

We've got the outdoor furniture and patio umbrella up now and I'm outside as much as I can be, even when it rains. If it's heavy rain then I sit in my shed and Peter has a large enough shed he can work in. He's currently making a birthday present for our almost 2 year old grandchild.

Peter's shed

My shed

The dog and the cat are enjoying being outdoors also, but often fight over the bed, currently the cat is enjoying my chair pod that's in the conservatory, but as the garden is North facing it keeps quite cool, but we do have to heat it in the winter. 

Work wise there isn't much to do in the garden right now, other than some weeding and mowing the lawns. So I'm doing some garden design and scrapbooking gardening tips and 'things to do' with my Gardeners' World subscription.

Week 12 One Daily Positive - Eating in the garden, cut flowers and a tidy house

When I mention a dog walk, it's because it has lasted more than the usual 30 minutes, often up 2 hours. The starting point is always the front door and the dog dictates whether we turn left or right off the drive and I sort of follow his lead, literally. Sometimes we end up on the hills or down the retail park, in town, over the common, or just round the block which varies in size also. I have a little bag with treats, bags, hand sanitisers etc which contains £20 and I have my card linked to my coffee app on my phone. 

Apart from buying milk, it was 2 weeks on Wednesday since I did any shopping, apart from milk, fresh fruit/veg I'm able to roll over till next week. I buy frozen fruit and veg as well as fresh stuff. I do miss having salad items other than tomatoes, carrots and peppers which I use for cooking also, such as lettuce and dips (hummus etc). I did however then have to do an emergency food shop for child 5 and deliver it, so did my shopping at the same time.

I've had my UK invite for the covid vaccine. I phoned the GP surgery to ask if they could somehow get my Chinese vaccine logged on the system. I'd sent it all to them a few weeks ago.

79 Saturday Awake around 4am, some blogging, tea drinking and tv watching occurred. Dog walked, bedding washed, dried, ironed. Did some gardening, dusted downstairs and cleaned the bathroom. We have 3 but I'm only using 1 at the moment and the downstairs loo. Did a batch cook, making enough meals for the next 10 days, not sure I have enough frozen veg etc and I may run out of milk before the week is out, but I do have some UHT.

80 Sunday Finally got round to having the whole house clean at the same time, other than the floors. I've been keeping rooms tidy and clean but haven't had it all done at the same time and it was bugging me. The dog got walked twice as the weather was so nice, but too chilly to sit out in, I used the fire pit but it was too smokey. Cooked a roast and spent the evening reading the Sunday papers.

81 Monday Started the day watching Line of Duty, mowed the lawns, walked the dog, hoovered and mopped the top 2 floors and spent the rest of the day catching up with blogging and social media. 

I've decided I need to distance myself from certain people in order to maintain my mental health and wellbeing, I've feel as if I have imposter syndrome, that I don't deserve the life I have and that there is no or little value to it and I find myself having to justify what I say and why.  I feel sometimes that as soon as I open my mouth a translator is switched on and my words are twisted. But I'm ok with that now. I actually get nothing physically or mentally from the situation, it's all take, especially when it comes to expectations around finances, so no more. 

82 Tuesday Took the cat to the vets and did a food shop while I was out for child 5 who needs some support at the moment. He's on his own in a one bed flat, working everyday, no going out, no socialising. I haven't seen anyone for several weeks and won't be seeing anyone other than garden visits until the week after next. I finished hoovering the house downstairs and mopping the floors and stood on the doorstep for half an hour with a lit candle with the neighbour, no one else came out, but we could hear the church bells and people were up on the hills shining a bright light down on the town.

No contact chip shop order, on dog walk, ordered through door, contactless payment and chips handed over through door.

83 Wednesday A year since I arrived back in the UK to an empty T5 which was shut soon after I landed and Dubai closed the borders on me a few hours later. I did a food shop for child 5 and dropped it off with him in Cirencester. I've not been more than 12 miles in the car since I got back to the UK. We had a KFC for lunch. I returned home with his washing, which I'll drop back next week and will then be able to spend some time with him as restrictions will have been eased. Apart from the fact I left my local area, we were Covid compliant, which is what my son said to me as I was leaving 'Virtual hug to be covid compliant' Spent the evening in front of the TV in between doing the washing.

84 Thursday Blood test at 8.50am ahead of my consultation with the haematologist next week.  The rest of the day was spent blogging, commenting, scheduling posts and some crafts I've been meaning to do for a while. The house is full of child 5's washing, as it started raining earlier, I love it really. The cat and dog are outside every minute if the sun is shining.

85 Friday Not really sure what I did all day. I've nothing to do now until the week after next, clean the house and mow the lawn before I return to Dubai. When I get back in June, it'll will be with Peter as he will have retired and life with be different all over again.

I asked what I did to deserve these and my friends told me it's just for being me.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - A new building in Dubai

PoCoLo A weekly linky I co host - Planning a return to Dubai

National Day of Reflection - My Covid year

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