Tag Archives: gardens

My wild week

Back to a full week at work but some small wild highlights to warm the soul along the way.

Enjoying the walks home.

Bucolic beauty on the doorstep. I am lucky. But there is one unwelcome visitor on the verge …. Grrrrr….

How did I get planted across the ‘path’? Answer: some people are thoughtless!

Never fear I skirted the obstacle – bit too close to the road for my liking – and carried along my (slightly less) merry way.

Yesterday saw me back in the wonderful city of Leeds. The bus and train journeys to and fro are a delight in themselves and I spotted what looked like lapwings and a fallow deer doe with her fawn as we chugged along the Bentham Line across the Yorkshire Dales. It is a super train ride.

My Leeds visit started with a family lunch with No 1 son and daughter-in-law and Munchkin. We re-visited Bundobust a veggie/vegan restaurant that specialises in Yorkshire-Asian food and also creates it’s own speciality beers. We were not disappointed in our recollections of how great the food was, it was delicious. Munchkin – who is almost two and a half – joined us in sampling everything and loved it all. We were hungry when we arrived and tucked in so quickly that I didn’t even stop to take a photo, here’s a pic of our earlier visit to give you a flavour.

Oh my those okra fries!

After such a wonderful lunch we needed to walk it off. We trotted over to nearby Leeds City Museum to look for wild things. Thanks to the Victorian collectors there was of course a rather sad reminder of how our recent ancestors killed off many wonderful animals to feed their collections. Leeds has taken these poor ‘phantom’ creatures to illustrate how we are now damaging habitats and seeing the loss and decimation of countless more.

It reminded me of the poignant, heart wrenching poem Pastor Martin Niemoller wrote a generation ago in response to the Holocaust of World War II:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

If we watch the destruction of the natural world and do not act how long will it be until nature and the wild world no longer cares for us? Gone a bit heavy there. Think it’s my concern not for my world (I am long in the tooth) but that of our children and their children. Ok, ok here’s what we saw.

With a reminder of the times we are living in.
Long finned pilot whale
Moon bear – sob! Sorry Animals Asia.
Um? But wouldn’t want to bump into one! Unlikely as think it is long extinct.

So much to contemplate on the journey home. Lucky I had a super book to escape with.

Set in a world almost parallel to Cumbria our anxious heroine Ivy must leave the sanctuary of her home to find her brother Callum in the strange world of Underfell. A real page turner – aimed at I am guessing 8 to 13 year olds – that finds this 64 year old avidly reading on to find out if Ivy succeeds.

Back to my staging post, Carnforth, there was one last Platinum Jubilee mini-celebration I wanted to share. I love the lengths the indie shopkeepers of Carnforth go to to jolly up their high street. There is one shop I always find particularly pleasing, Moore’n’Wife. They certainly excelled themselves for the Queen’s Jubilee. I couldn’t help but smile at their window display, I hope you can’t either.

Moke x

Green Santa

Having bemoaned the amount of rain guess what? The sun came out. Enough for me to don my welly bobs (told you that they would not be neglected) and start tidying the garden.

“Good to be back!”

Every year at this time one of the biggest jobs outside is sweeping up the leaves. I always feel guilty that I am not gathering these leaves to make leaf mould mulch or compost. Because I am not much of one for hammering in posts and circling them with chicken wire to stop the leaves blowing away I merely add the leaf harvest to my green waste bin. Oh but not this year. This year I have a secret weapon.

Say hello to my little friend. The compostable leaf mould bag!

All these handy bags require is that you fill them with fallen leaves – no shortage around here – then pop them out of the way and one year later you will have super wonderful leaf mould for mulching your garden. Leave them two years and wow! compost.

I thoroughly enjoyed sweeping up the first fall of leaves and filling my bag. I felt rather like a green reverse-Santa, filling the sack with soil enriching goodness rather than emptying it with less sustainable goodies (the sort much loved by the Tribe of Doris granddaughters … don’t worry girls Omi is talking to the real Santa and he assures me you will not be forgotten).

Bag one done. I have a feeling this will be the first of many, the sycamore has plenty more leaves to share.

“I have not even started ….”

Our North American cousins have it right when they call it Fall!

Mx

Eat Copenhagen – Walk Copenhagen

Hello All

Friday 20 April 2018

Letting No 1 Daughter have a lie in I caught up with my journal and checked out the map for our planned trip to Norrebro. Lucky for us it was sunny and mind-blowingly I even discarded my coat…and May not even out yet! Shocking.

Copenhagen is a city of water, wide uncongested roads and greenery and now for us tasty eateries. To find them we ventured further afield and felt we were given an opportunity to explore the city.

We had a beautiful walk, ambling through parks, crossing over ‘lakes’ in the brilliant sunshine.

I couldn’t help but smile at the statute of the Nile on the south side of Dronning Louises Bro the bridge which crosses between the lakes Sortedams So and Peblinge So. Why all the little ‘Cupids’ are wearing red woolly hats I don’t know. But it was adorable.

It may be a ‘tradition’ as I have seen a photograph of them wearing teeny Santa hats too. If it is a custom long may it continue.

We timed our arrival in the Norrebro area to the north of the city perfectly for lunch. We had identified two vegan friendly cafes, Blue Taco and Cafe N, in the same street Blagardsgade. But which to choose?

Blue Taco won out with it’s scrumptious menu of Mexican street food and plentiful outdoor seating. Using blue corn the tacos which were indeed blue and filled with three different yummy fillings,

The deliciousness was washed down by a cool ‘Jamaica’ drink which had a refreshing ginger kick and a sprinkling of hibiscus.

Enjoying the combined warmth of the food and the sunshine we walked on to Assistens Kirkegard Copenhagen’s famous cemetery. It’s a lovely space for introspection and calm. It is also the final resting place for several well know Copenhagen-ites.

Touchingly ‘pilgrims’ have left pens and pencils at the foot of Hans Christian Anderson’s gravestone.

The lovingly kept graves of unborn children and young children were poignant yet appropriately captured the mourned for children. The cemetery is still in use and I understand that an area for the poor and homeless has recently been set-aside.

Rather wonderfully the living sat happily amongst the graves enjoying the Spring and the peace.

Sigh.

Unbelievably it was actually getting rather too hot. A good time for an ice-cream…oh dear perhaps not for us vegans..maybe a sloppy sorbet is the best we can do…but no! Nice Cream on Elmegade came to the rescue.

My vegan strawberry and lemon double scoop ice-cream was soooooo good and gave me the lift I needed for more walking before a grateful sit-down in the grass overlooking the Rosenberg Slot a beautiful 17th century castle complete with moat and gardens.

It is years since I just lay down in a park, soaked up the sun and read a book. Perhaps this is due to the fact that some unsavoury character normally breaks your reverie with all sorts of weirdness/criminality/lewdness and often all three. Admittedly I was with No 1 Daughter but I don’t think I have ever felt as safe sitting in a British city park. Here groups of students played drinking games – the rules of which we couldn’t fathom – enjoying themselves without f-ing and blinding, screeching and getting blind drunk. It was very convivial.

This little respite set us up perfectly for an evening in another kind of park. Copenhagen’s world-famous Tivoli Gardens.

We had held off visiting until Friday night so we could enjoy the added atmosphere of a free concert – turned out to be hip-hop! – and a busy vibe. Large numbers of teens thronged in front of the stage it all felt huge fun and despite gaudy lights, cafes, souvenir shops and old style fairground shies not at all tacky. I can see why Copenhagen is proud of Tivoli one of the world’s oldest amusement parks. In multi-generational Denmark this is a must for all the family.

We loved it and wended happily around the now still (no roller coaster for me …. what a shame!) but illuminated rides before toddling back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before our last day in Copenhagen. Sob.

Until next we meet

Moke xxx

A penny for them

Hello All

I often wonder at stream of consciousness. When I was studying for my A Levels … or was it O Levels?…. well some sort of exam that stole the best of the summer with revision .. I remember reading A Portrait of The Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce. Joyce we were told wrote using stream of consciousness technique ( yawn, give me back the sunshine). Nowadays I realise Stephen Daedalus is not alone with his wayward thinking.

Random thoughts seem to pop into my head especially when I AM TRYING REALLY HARD TO CONCENTRATE. A bit like Homer Simpson I am listening or reading as best I can then whoops! I have a ‘Squirrel in a Tree’ moment. Distracted once more by cerebral flotsam. And what was it today? What colour are your rhododendrons?

Excuse my impertinence. Mine are pink.

I understood that soil type dictated the colour of rhododendrons but when I am out and about locally I have noticed that they appear in a variety of colours even within a small area. That was today’s little unnecessary conundrum. Why am I so distracted?

What I AM TRYING REALLY HARD TO CONCENTRATE on is doing more crafting and deciding what small items I can make by needle felting, crochet, or tablet weaving – suggestions on a postcard please – to sell through a small local cooperative. But I think I have crafters’ block. I seem to have come to a making halt and even simple projects elude me.

Hopefully rescue may be at hand. Two friends are coming over tomorrow for a kitchen table crafts session. I am sure they will inspire me and help me finish at least one little project.

I mean those ends?! Not sewn in….

Until next we meet, Moke xxx

…..how does your garden grow?

Hello All

Just a quick epistle this week. I have spent ALL weekend* painting No1 Son’s room. As it is his domain I will not invade his privacy by showing snaps of it just take it from me it has undergone something of a transformation from boy-man cave to neutral calm.

While me old limbs are stiffening from the rigorous application of magnolia – the colour of choice for those of us colouristically challenged – something marvelous has been happening in the garden. Last week I was wondering where are my chives? DSCI0282

Drum roll…building to fanfare…HERE THEY ARE: DSCI0292

Last week I also wondered where are my pumpkins? DSCI0277

Contain yourselves…..here they are: DSCI0288

and there’s more…. DSCI0289

As for the promise of greater things,DSCI0280

that came through too: DSCI0291

I am very content with these wee buds. And with weather glorious hope they go from strength to strength. How does your garden..tub…park…grow?

Until next we meet. Moke

 

* You know I said ALL weekend? There was one teeny-weeny break…thanks to JG for meeting up with me for coffee and cake. All those calories gave me strength to carry on. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Moke

 

 

The Inconstant Gardener

Hello All

This time last year I was a library lady and with Children’s Librarian FT gearing up ready for the Summer Reading Challenge, Creepy House. Do you remember all the batty bats?

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Although now in a different job I am still very excited that libraries all over the country will be preparing themselves for the 2014 Summer Reading Challenge, Mythical Maze.

 

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It starts next Saturday….good luck all.

Remembering my time with the Young People’s Library Service there is one aspect that I really miss, story times. Reading to children is a special thing. Always rewarding especially when your young audience becomes completely absorbed in the tales you are sharing with them. There are many wonderful books written and illustrated by a wealth of fabulous children’s authors so there is no shortage of brilliant material.

One story is particularly relevant to my present endeavours in the garden. I am not the most consistent nor patient gardener and always chuckled when I read the account of Jasper the cat and his horticultural mis-adventures.

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In Jasper’s Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen our friend Jasper soon loses patience when the bean he sows does not immediately respond to his intensive nurturing. I know how he feels….where are my pumpkins?

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Where are my chives?

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I planted them DAYS ago and we’ve had sunshine and rain since then….. Guess I will have to show a bit more forbearance. You never know like Jasper something incredible may grow. I have some hope…

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In any event thank goodness for re-potting plants that gardeners with more tolerance have started off.

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In the midst of all these earthworks (ermmm) you’ll be pleased to know that I have finished the Minimalism Game. Yippee!!! To the untrained eye it would be hard to tell. However one of the things I dispensed with has made a difference. The telly is no more (wow) and after a furniture move around I find I have a big patch of bare floorboards. Not for long. My t-arn rug is finished and covers the spot perfectly.

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The shades may be at odds with the room’s colour scheme – like that has ever troubled me! – but I think my little rug has nonetheless lent the space some homespun cosiness. I’m hoping the slightly wobbly edges will settle down after being trampled over… Thanks again B for all that t-shirt cutting.

The weather here is glorious and I hope it is the same wherever you are.

Until next we meet. Moke.

Nature’s fridge…

Saturdays have become sociable ‘let’s get busy with the loppers’ day. After their hard work on the front garden the Commando Gardeners DSCN1261

returned and tackled the back garden. While JG – who’d come over with her car – and I did a couple of trip tips (how does sooooo much stuff find its graveyard in the garage?!) KC and MR scraped, dug, lopped (tired just listing this…), hoed, raked and dug over the back garden. A further transformation and another BIG THANK YOU to the Commando Gardeners and to JG who helped me take several more steps to a de-cluttered garage. And all for a bowl of butterbean soup…and good friendship.

I’ve loved the last couple of weeks sharing a hearty soup, crusty bread, cheese and of course copious amounts of tea with friends after all that hard work.

Time for relaxing with a crochet project… or two. Even tho’ it has certainly not been the coldest winter on record it has been cold enough to use nature’s fridge i.e. pop milk outside office window* to keep cool in between cuppas. My colleague and I had tried carrier bags but in wet and windy Britain they just got waterlogged  and let’s face it they were not very pretty! Crochet (what else?!) provided the answer. Cast your mind back to the bottle carrier pattern

and then think of the colourful twine JG gave me,

adapt the pattern and voila a milk bottle carrier perfect for Nature’s fridge:

get the kettle on!

Still on the go the Long Way Home shawl. I was beginning to see why it was so named. Not a Weekend Shawl this new wrap has taken me a couple of weeks. From its small beginnings,

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it started to grow, DSCN1250

and now Linda’s glorious, snuggly, soft Alpaca blend wool

has blossomed into a wonderful, stylish shawl

which I can’t wait to wear to Carlisle in the morning.

And while I’m still devouring the hilarious Peter Grant series of books of Ben Aaronovitch,

looking forward to one more (awaiting it’s arrival as a request at Kendal library), DownloadedFile-1

and with days becoming lighter the prospect of Monday morning doesn’t seem too daunting. Bring it on.

*n.b. our office window is above a rear roof and nobody can pass underneath – don’t try this where there is any possibility of someone or something walking underneath…that’s the end of the health and safety warning folks!

Commando Gardeners

Today I was visited by the Commando Gardeners alias my good friends KC and her husband MR who must be REALLY good friends ‘cos they came to help me get to grips with the garden…no mean feat. They got stuck in right away, DSCN1252

and soon the moss on the drive was a thing of the past, DSCN1254

and the shrubs were snipped into shape.

They really (literally) put their backs into it and maintained standards of colourful glamour while doing it to boot! DSCN1255

The results of all their hard work were stunning. A clean drive, DSCN1265

beautifully clipped shrubs and dug over beds,

and a cleared and cleaned side path. DSCN1268

Thank you Commando Gardeners,

you are my super heroes!

Just as we were admiring the spruced up garden (I keep going out to have a look at it) AW called in on her way back from providing Sedbergh with one of the cheeriest libraries in Cumbria. With her she brought a little daffodilly sunshine and tales from her recent trip to Rome (together with chocolate from the Eternal City…heavenly).

A happy little gathering. Me happiest of all…just nipping out to check on the garden….

Back in the room…

Converted to the use of a shawl – remember the weekend shawl? – and having been given some of Linda’s beautiful wool too good for small projects,

I’ve started on a new winter warmer.

From a pattern by Mercy Schwisow, the Long Way Home Shawl can be found on Ravelry. The wrap is easily worked in treble crochet (I think it’s a US pattern so I’ve converted DCs to TRs) with a spine of chain spaces. The alpaca wool is extremely soft and definitely snuggly but it is soooooo fine that it won’t be crocheted in a weekend….so I had better get back to it…..

Eden’s only just up the road

What a fabulous evening I had on Saturday in sunny Cumbria. I can’t get enough of saying ‘sunny Cumbria’. Our beautiful green county is normally the wettest place in Britain this is a rare treat. Infact so heavy and frequent is the rain  it’s rumoured that Cumbrians have webbed feet…just checking mine…

First I trotted off to see my cousin and his wife for a relaxing bask and catch-up overlooking their amazing garden. I just had to take some photos to share it with you.

In a generation of only children fr-elatives are very important so it was hard to tear myself away from A and P but my lovely evening like a Dickens’ novel had another installment. Thankfully something far more convivial than pickpockets and escaped criminals was to come…

A quick hop (webbed feet have their uses) over the River Kent – thanks for the lift A – and I was with a bunch/chapter/paragraph/stamp/collection??? of library friends. Sitting under a shady gazebo- did I mention it is HOT in Cumbria?

We discussed everything  from the difficulties of growing asparagus (I never knew) to Mi5! A perfect evening.