PHOTO HUNTERS THEME - SWEET

A heart shaped strawberry....you can't get much SWEETer than that!

BLOGROLL

DAISIES FOR DAISY

THE DAISY FOLLOWS SOFT THE SUN
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

The daisy follows soft the sun,
And when his golden walk is done,
Sits shyly at his feet.
He, waking, finds the flower near.
"Wherefore, marauder, art thou here?"
"Because, sir, love is sweet!"

We are the flower, Thou the sun!
Forgive us, if as days decline,
We nearer steal to Thee,--
Enamoured of the parting west,
The peace, the flight, the amethyst,
Night's possibility!

UNEASY LIES THE CROWN

NOW WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!!!!!!!......LOOK...CAN YOU SEE FLOWER BUDS AND A FLOWER!

This is the Oxalis I gave to Leanne 2 weeks ago; the ones I kept for myself haven't even got a sign of a bud! I thought I was the one will the dark green thumbs....I'd better look to my laurels if Leanne carries on like this. Look at the way her annuals have filled out...they were tiny a few weeks ago.

Even Scarlet has turned her back on me..........as my gardening crown slowly slips....

Still at least Leanne placated me by letting me use this.......

not having a lawn myself it made a nice change to do some mowing...................

At least I'm still Blogger Queen of the family......though from the looks of the picture below Leanne seems to be getting things sussed.......

I wonder if there comes a time when you regret teaching your children all that you know!!!

EARLY BIRTHDAY WISHES

Wilma popped over to see me today and whispered in my ear that a certain somebody has a birthday (Friday) but as the birthday girl will be away for much of the day I'm posting this Birthday Wish a day early.
First of all she must have some cake...a special surprise in this one!

Then there's the presents to open


So who's birthday is it tomorrow????????????????????????

All together now.............HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE

AFTER THE RAIN

After another heavy downpour this evening this happened.....................

I do love a good sunset.

COME INTO MY PARLOUR

FIVE THINGS

Shaz on her Us Danes Meme Page has tagged me for this meme;


INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:


1. Daddy Forever
2. The Ice Box
3. The Buzz Queen
4. Us Danes & Our Family
5. Me, My, Life, My Garden

Next select five people to tag:
1. Leanne...(good practice for learning to link...I'll show you how on Thursday)
2. Audrey
3. Julie(CG)
4. Denise (a busy week I know but maybe you could do it next week?)
5. Gledwood

Then answer the following questions: (Read on for my answers)

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Working as Company Secretary and Book-keeper for a Packaging company. Blissfully happy with my wonderful hubby and becoming a fanatical gardener.


What were you doing 1 year ago?

Caring for my darling hubby and dreading what tomorrow may bring.


Five snacks you enjoy:

Pickled onion Monster Munch

Sardines on toast

Pretzels

Frazzles

Pickled anchovies


Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:

Hello..Lionel Richie

I am the walrus..The Beatles

Bird on the wire..Leonard Cohen

The sisters of mercy..Leonard Cohen

Jerusalem..William Blake




Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

Make sure the Team Smarties reach their £5000 target

Help the kids and a few blogpals realise their dreams

Buy a country cottage

Start up my own garden centre (profits to charity)

Learn to drive


Five bad habits:

Smoking before meals

Smoking after meals

Smoking between meals

Snacking (see above)

Falling asleep while watching a film


Five things you like doing:

Gardening

Playing cards

Cooking

Doing cryptic crossword

Blogging


Five things you would never wear again:

Bikini

Hotpants

Shell suit

Mini skirt

Thong


Five favourite toys:

Computer

Digital Camera

Mandolin slicer

Electric whisk

Cigarette rolling machine

*************************************************************

Before I end this post....there has been serious flooding to many parts of England particulary parts of Yorkshire.....my thoughts go out to those who have suffered loss.

LIZARD ROCKIN'

Despite the predictions yesterday was not as wet as expected; (though some parts of the country have been badly flooded; condolences to families who have lost loved ones).

Here there was even a glimmer of sun between the showers (and downpours)...it gave me a chance to get outside and do some deadheading....even in our small garden there was lots to do. The Strawberry Spinach has started fruiting now.....the fruits are quite pippy but very colourful...and I've had some great salad leaves off the plants.

Now I must show you this.................... for the last couple of years over at the school Manda works at a family of lizards have been basking during the Summer on one of the windowsills.....Manda has so much wanted to get a photo but camera and lizards were never in the same place at the same time. Yesterday she had taken my camera to work with her so she could copy some of the photos I took on the school outing last week.....at one point when the sun was shining she went and checked the windowsill .....and the lizards were there!!!!!!It was so lovely at dusk time....as it was dry I was able to have a twilight sit in the garden.......I really like the solar lamps..........they throw out a soft glow...I don't want the garden lit as though it's in floodlights.....

as I love the magical feel of the garden as darkness comes.....................

I've also received another Rockin' Girl Blogger Award ....thanks Anna (if you've never seen her fabulous photos you've missed a treat).......I have on on my Million Stories Blog and am so happy to have one here too. Anna was so kind when she said: Ruth has a wonderful blog full of wise words and a great photo every day to accompany them. She is also a VERY gifted gardener, and her garden blog is a joy to see!..............
now time for me to do some nominating......if you already have one I hope you'll accept another or if you prefer just pass it on to another deserving blog ......

Analia....I know you've been offline for a while but I know you'll be back soon....through all the trials that life has thrown at you you've always found time for your blogfriends. Your writing is poetry and I'll always be grateful for the special words you wrote for Mick.

Suzi-K.....your photos and tours are so full of fascinating information....and help me to learn about a part of the world (South Africa) I know so little about. Your art work is beautiful and has a quality of its own....wishing you luck in you new venture.

Elsie...(another South African friend) for all your inspiring ezi-blogs......so many gift ideas and wonderful recipes...and your ezi-kids-stuff-galore should be bedside reading for every Parent and School teacher.

Crafty Gardener...a beautiful garden, wonderful information and such inventive ideas that would grace any garden. The tower of tea-pots is beautiful and the tipsy pots!...inspirational.

LilyMarlene....who works so hard on her wonderfully productive allotment and still found time to post all her fabulous photos from Chelsea....plus (just in case I ever get to the Isle Of Wight) she is filling a Rumtopf!!!!!

THAT'S NEW TO ME 4

First a Happy Birthday wish to Amazing Gracie.....I won't give away a ladies age but the fireman is standing by in case the candles get out of hand.

As I blogaround and visit new sites I come across the most amazing things or interesting facts that I never knew before. Some gardening related ones I've posted before under this label "That's New To Me". Often I pass fellow bloggers in comment boxes and get to recognise their names although I may never have actually visited their blog. Every now and again a coincidence will happen; I stumble across a blog and find all those blog passer-bys are regulars. Ages ago via Claires blog I popped in and visited Morgen..I only did it the once..to visit his online shop (lovely stuff there)...then as often happens life/time/chores/blogging etc got in the way and I never got back there. Then came the "Blogging for Peace" via Mimi (see sidebar). Via that I started visiting Gracie's blog ..........and so it goes on. Lately I've been noticing a few blogs with this on.....

and wondered what it was all about. Well after a bit of bloghopping I found out that there is Blog Talk Radio ....to quote from their own page

"BlogTalkRadio is a platform that extends the blog, allowing any individual to host a live blogshow online. Our service is free to all users, whether you host a blogshow or listen in. Plus hosts earn half of all revenue generated by their blogshow and Host Channel page."

Well it seems that Morgen is the "Mo" in the logo above and will be hosting his show today (Tuesday). So if you're around at 6:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time) click on the Mo Show logo above and have a listen.

JUST FOR FUN!

Even our frogs don't want to get their feet wet!

PINK THUMB MONDAY?

Having looked out at GREY skies for two whole days I'm starting to feel quite BLUE so I thought, to cheer myself up, I'd make a little slideshow of any garden photos I've taken this month that contain anything PINK........

Now come a bit closer...I'm going to whisper this as I don't want to tempt fate......this morning, against all forecast odds, there is some blue sky and sun peeping through.

HANG ON!

I GOOGLED THE WEATHER!

LOCAL 10 DAY WEATHER FORECAST

Jun 24 Rain......Jun 25 Rain......Jun 26 Showers / Wind......Jun 27 Light Rain

Jun 28 Mostly Cloudy......Jun 29 Mostly Cloudy......Jun 30 Showers

Jul 1 Showers......Jul 2 Showers......Jul 3 Showers

This is getting ridiculous...look what I found in my pond!!!!!

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY

Yesterday was a truly miserable day here weatherwise...an overhead storm seemed to be circling around....and every time the rain stopped and I saw a glimpse of blue sky...when I blinked it was gone. I had intended that my Green Thumb Photo for today would be of a sunset....no sunset photo for yesterday unless you want to see a dark grey sky.....so for a bit of fun I've load a photo from January into a scratchcard...don't worry it won't take to long and I've supplied a coin; just click on it, hold and scratch away.......have fun!!!!!

PHOTO HUNTER'S THEME - SHINY

This is my first photohunter's post...the object is to post one of your own photos on a particular theme. This weeks theme is SHINY....well with the gloomy weather here today nothing looks particularly shiny! and I was struggling a bit. Then I remembered that since I've had my digital camera and have been able to try some macro shots that I'd noticed how shiny some insects and their wings are. My photo files saved the day and so here is a photo of a shiny wasp wing.

BLOGROLL

ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW

With it being such a rainy day yesterday I spent a little time sorting through the garden photos I'd taken during the week...this time of year there's hardly a day goes by when there's not a plant that has newly come into flower or is reaching its optimum best so I'm always clicking away with my camera.

Madagascan Honeysuckle....grown from seed...now in its 4th year

Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon' .....flowering well, great leaf colour, leaves smell of oranges when rubbed

the front garden is filling up...............the wind really whistles around the corner and I was glad to see that after the recent storms and high winds everything was still in one piece; though the basket and the manager on the wall took a bit of a battering.




First hardy fuchsia in flower

I like the way this area of the garden is taking off; the hardy fuchsias add some colour to an area that gets no sun.
I use a lot of annual lobelia of all different colours in the garden; it's great for filling gaps and adding softness to hard landscaping
it's the first year I've tried this variety...I like the blue and white stripe effect
the Alstromeria have started flowering...this is a seedling of an original plant we had many years ago
this pink one is a dwarf variety and much more manageable in a small garden

This bedding begonia has come up trumps again this year (the white and deep red ones are still in bud)...I save the corms from year to year


the same as I do with the trailing begoniasI had a feeling the Lacecap Hydrangea was going to be white this year but after a few acid feeds it's starting to turn blue
my Japanese ferns are starting to look better now; far more colour differentiation in the leaves this year
the Lantana are doing well though not getting very big...I particularly like this one...the flowers come out yellow and gradually turn pink
this hardy geranium is so sweet; I love the leaf colour and the small pink striped blooms

both colours of Callas are out now..................




and last, but by no means least, a very important plant close to my heart has started to flower. This Star Jasmine 'Trachelospermum jasminoides' was the last plant that Mick and I bought in 2005 when he was still able to drive and to comprehend and remember what we were doing. It was a plant we had always wanted and just before he fell ill we went to Colne Nurseries to look for one as a present for ourselves. There were none on show and so we asked one of the chaps who worked there if they were getting any more in stock. The chap went to the Nursery greenhouse and found that they had just the one......some things are meant to be......

P.S. Shaz joked in the comment box of my Longest Day post that it would soon be Christmas....well the weather for next week is "turning decidedly Autumnal" (quote from our local TV news)..with daytime temperatures 13C at the most dropping to 7C at night.....only a couple of degrees lower than that and the "F" (frost) word will be bandied about......I really hope they're wrong......IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SUMMER!!!!!!