Our Garden

 Here are some pictures of our garden.

Early days, since this photo was taken the 2 shrubs either side of the spiky plant on the left have been cut down and I've cleared out some of the borders. 

This is the new border area, planted with perennials and some seeds to encourage wildlife, slugs are invited to their own parties in the beer traps.  The plant on the right is a wood aven which I mistook for a geum, I realised the error when they started growing rather prolifically and a lot of them have now come out.     

 

The alligator end, this border was overgrown and has been planted up in a joint effort.

This area is a bit sad but I am hoping for great things.  It is on a steep slope alongside our jetty which is on the right of the photo.  The peonies had a brief spell of glory and the slugs are gradually diminishing as they discover the delights of beer.  The area was overcast by the shrubs on the left which I cut back before planting it up.  I've sewn some californian poppies, english marigolds and nasturtiums in here.

Some of the baskets and tubs Rob and I planted up last week.  

 

The community herb garden, anyone can help themselves.

One of the lovely white nigellas

The Gingerbread Man

This is a little playmat to tell the story of the Gingerbread Man. He can run out of the baker's shop and down the path until he gets to the river. There the hungry fox is waiting in his cave. I like to think, in a moment of kindness, this time the fox will help the Gingerbread Man get over the river to safety.

The mat is felt appliqued onto whatever came to hand for backing and wadding (a piece of an old duvet cover, a bit of old shirt and some left over curtain material). The stable door and the gate can both be opened, and I pondered making the house doors open too, but I wanted to keep it simple for play purposes. However, I couldn't resist adding a bit of embroidery on the houses, a rabbit with a pompom tail, and a tiny horse in the stable. As you can see, there was absolutely no consideration given to keeping things to scale! 

The Gingerbread Man and the Fox are both made of felt and stuffed very slightly. The fox's tail and face had a bit of white wool needle felted in to add the detail, and the eyes and buttons are tiny beads, sewn on very securely. The finished mat measures 13 by 10 inches, and the Gingerbread Man is about 2 inches high.

Winter Photos

 Here are some frosty photos taken this morning. 

The triangle of land we walk round in the morning.  The bamboo stakes are positioned for tree planting.

Frost on brambles

Frost on seed heads

A robin watching us

And from a couple of days ago, possibly the same robin!