WANDERER RETURNS

I’m afraid I lapsed over the last 18 months. Not sure why or how but it happened nevertheless. Drawn a line underneath that and now look forward to getting to know you again and meeting new bloggers.

I’m hoping there’s not been too many changes to the site but I’m eager to give it another go. 

 

I’ll start off with my garden, which certainly had its fair share of rain this last few months. Mind you, everything is looking so green and fresh. We’ve found that by keeping our eye on it during the winter months and doing the odd bits of pruning, lessens the huge backlog in the Spring. We love spending time in our garden and enjoy the silence and birdsong.

That’s all for now.  See you soon P

It's been a while I know.....

....... I could say it's my busy life; I could say I've lost my mojo; I could give any amount of reasons. It hasn't helped of course that I re-discovered Instagram and I'm well and truly hooked on Pinterest!  Added to which I'm toying with the idea of creating another blog - focusing on Essex villages, London and a bit of family history thrown in as well. More of that another time.

So - here is a small potted history of the last couple of months.

May saw us getting out and about with our family - boats, camper/caravans. 

So lovely to be out in the fresh air taking in all that mother nature has to offer

To celebrate the hubster's birthday we lunched at the top of London's Gherkin building. The views were stunning. Oh and lunch was good too!

June - our garden is really coming along now that all the pots have 

been filled with bedding plants and given a general tidy up

We've recently returned from a fabulous week in Sorrento 

which we enjoyed very much  

Just a a glimpse of what's been going on, with more to come.

I really will be back again soon. 

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends. 

P x

Never a dull moment

 

I'd had my morning stroll around the garden and was having a quiet cup of coffee whilst reading the Sunday papers when our friendly neighbourhood pair of squirrels decided to come out to play.  Not content with the nuts we put out for them on a table by the fence, as always they found it fun to play on the bird feeders and boxes etc. 

One squirrel we call Superman -  because he doesn't only jump from one feeder to the other - a good metre away, he literally leaps through the air to get what he wants before the birds get there. Of course he's a lot bigger than they are so he wins every time.

These squirrels give us such a lot of pleasure all year round - we spend many afternoons watching their antics when they're either foraging for nuts and then burying them in our lawn (!!!) or chasing along our fence to see who gets to the nuts first.

This one was actually posing for the photo I took through my French windows. He sat there for ages as though he was waiting for my camera to snap him.

Thank you for all your comments you left on my last post - they mean a lot and are much appreciated.

Have a good week.

Once upon a time.....

....there was an abundance of Conifer trees 50ft high overhanging my (not so deep) garden at the back, giving us no end of grief with their sticky brown and dead needles falling onto my garden, leaving a mess and killing my plants as well as giving me no light in my kitchen which meant having the light on ALL  day. You might remember my post here here last year.

This is what the trees looked like last summer - straining at the leash towards the sun

Well - one day the nice tree surgeons lopped about 15ft off the tops for the lady who owns them. 

You can see (through my French doors) just how much was coming off

and this is them today after we had them 'shaved' on our side. Quite a difference don't you think. We wanted them taken right back but apparently they would have ended up just brown trunks and branches with no greenery so we've got to think seriously about what to do next. Anyway, this is the view from my bedroom window - they're still tall but nowhere as near as tall as they were

Now then - there is a story behind the house you can see here, also from my bedroom window. I haven't seen this view for several years - so you can imagine just how tall those trees were. This is the 16th century Thundersley Manor House.

Courtesy of Thundersley: A pictorial history

The current owner sold off a very large plot of land about 30 years ago and a small development of fifteen houses were built on the land. One of which is mine backing directly onto her side boundary. This old picture was taken around 1920 and if you look to the right you will see an old barn - well that is EXACTLY where my house now stands.

Thundersley Manor, was reputedly used by Henry Vlll as a hunting lodge when he frequently visited Hadleigh Castle a couple of miles away high up on the Benfleet Downs. His second wife Anne Boleyn once lived in the medieval market town of Rochford some ten miles away where her father Sir Thomas Boleyn owned the 16th century Rochford Hall - and it is thought that Anne used to accompany Henry on his visits to the Manor.

Inside the house there is said to be a Priest's hole - a secret chamber built into many Catholic houses of England which were used as hiding places for Catholic priests during the Reformation. This Priest's hole has supposedly an underground passage that leads right up to the top of the hill to our local church. I have been inside the house once and its quite amazing. 

It's quite surreal to think that King Henry Vlll and Anne Boleyn could very well have strolled through the grounds on a sunny afternoon - which 500 years later was to become my own back garden !!

See you soon x

What the heck....

If any of my neighbours were looking out of their windows this morning they'd have wondered what the heck I was doing - watering my garden when we'd just had a heavy shower of rain!!

Well there is an explanation. My garden is overshadowed by about 15 - 20 very tall and very mature conifer trees planted by our neighbours over the back before we came here over thirty years ago. We've always had problems with the grass drying out in the summer where the roots suck up any moisture. Added to which, the trees drop their needles and a sticky sap all over the plants and paved area which in turn can kill some weaker plants.

A consequence of which, after many years of plants not growing or failing to survive, we dug up the back border and had a 2ft block paving strip put in so that we could plant our shrubs in pots and which we could change around as and when necessary.

It works quite well most of the time

However, because our back garden faces north - the sun is drawing the darn trees over the garden fence and creating a roof-like structure

and when we sit on the garden bench this is what we see

So - not only does the rain not go anywhere near my pots, but the roots from the trees dry out the lawn. I love my garden and to be fair the trees do provide a great deal of privacy but they are a pain. The people do have them lopped every two years but only about 4 or 5 foot which does give us a bit of light back but doesn't solve the problem.

 We've only got a small garden and like to use every bit of space so we've learnt to make the most of the other aspects of the garden which is taking on a very Autumnal feel about it now.

and I've just finished planting up my winter flowering Pansies, Cyclamen and some lovely heathers.

I do like a bit of colour outside to take me through the winter months.

 That's all for now and I'll see you again soon.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post - I really do appreciate them.

x

Garden, birthday and crafts to make

I don't think I appreciated all the rain we had back in May and June because since we had the heatwave a few weeks ago our poor garden really took the brunt of all that sun and dry weather. Although we have kept it watered (obviously not enough!) our lawn is awful, with large patches of yellow (dead looking) grass and although people say 'it will come back again' I really don't see how. Fortunately we do have a few large paved areas where we plant up shrubs and flowers in pots, so all is not completely lost.

I got the inspiration for this step-ladder display a few weeks ago when I saw it here where Elaine had visited an open garden and posted a photo.
 I loved the idea and was soon on a mission to re-create it in my own garden.

Many years ago I bought this old Singer Sewing machine treadle table. I bought some decking wood and after cutting it to size and varnishing it, attached it to the top to create a display for some of my pots, which takes on a different look from year to year.

 I love potting up old garden trugs, tin buckets and pails, old boxes and birdcages

These potted areas have always been a favourite and again changeable from year to year

My herb garden is also in a large pot just outside my kitchen door - so useful for popping out to snip what I want, when I want

I bought this old milk can in a little local vintage shop which has the letters UN on the front. Not sure what that could mean, so I'm digging (excuse the pun) and delving on the internet to find out its history.

It was my birthday yesterday and I had such a lovely day - a trip out to Sudbury in Suffolk, where my daughter E took me to lunch with grandson L

And in the evening, with the whole family we went out to dinner at a local Tapas bar - very nice it was too!

My two gorgeous boys 

I had lots of lovely pressies and must show you just a couple before I go

This lovely Handmade Glamping book

which features so many fabulous crafting ideas which I am definitely going to make a start on -soon!

and this handy little book which will come in useful on our forthcoming campervan trips

and last but by no means least this gorgeous set of vintage looking china ice cream dishes complete with spoons (from Lakeland) - love them

Bye for now

xx