Weather
It’s
hard to believe that a week ago (on Sunday) our modest little abode was
completely surrounded by water (only the second time in 40+ years!)! Not very
deep I grant you but deep enough to wet my feet when I attempted an expedition
of a few yards (or metres in new money) to feed the waiting flock of bedraggled
birds!
Rain! It didn't stop to rain!
As my dear old dad would have imparted in his broad Shropshire accent, ‘It was
running down the road just like water’! It poured, and how, all day! Late in
the afternoon I sprinted (I use the word loosely!) down to the brook, a few
yards (metres) down the road and was amazed to see, and hear, the water rushing
along level with its banks! I then had to sprint back before the next deluge!
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| A Raging Torrent |
Miraculously, by the next morning the roads were dry and the standing water
from around the bungalow had evaporated into thin air, leaving us with a very soggy
lawn!
Little Furry Animals
Time
is getting short for planting seeds! As they say, time and the growing season
wait for no gardener! As I only have an unheated greenhouse the temperature
whithin is entirely reliant on the whims and fancies of the weather beyond the
glass! And, of late that has not been advantageous to the germination of tiny
seeds. I usually plant runner beans in boxes ready to plant out in the garden
at the beginning of June, when hopefully the danger of Old Jack Frost lurking
about in the dead of night has passed. So, with that in mind I planted the said
beans and left them in the greenhouse to sprout!
My
favourite variety is Scarlet Emperor. I also planted, for the first time, White
Emperor, a variety which has appealing white flowers, and when I opened the
seed packet, white beans! The variety is obviously appealing to little furry
animals too, as on my inspection a couple of days later, something had uprooted
and nibbled the experimental beans! Even the sprinkling of clove oil over the
compost didn’t prevent further displacement. (We have solved the uprooting of
our pea crop problem by soaking the peas for an hour or two in water containing a spot of
clove oil before planting! It probably reminds the mice of a trip to the
dentist!)
May Day
The
1st of May! Time to get yourself out of bed and wash your face in
the morning dew and forever be beautiful! Or if getting up early doesn’t appeal
to you go out and collect hawthorn blossom, which apparently has the same effect!
Hawthorn is also called May, and is probably the May in the old proverb, ‘never
cast a clout till May is out’. Or as my mum would have said, ‘you’re not
leaving that vest off yet, you’ll catch your death of cold’!!
Weekend in Nottingham!
Being
a country girl (bumpkin!) city life is pretty alien (and often quite scary) to
me, but it is nice to experience ‘how the other half live’ from time to time. I
have family who live in the Robin Hood County and this weekend I embarked on an
annual visit!
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| Kedleston Hall |
On
Saturday we visited Kedleston Hall (which is in the neighbouring county of
Derbyshire). Kedleston Hall was the location for the film The Duchess. The building certainly had the ‘wow’ factor! Imagine
waking up to those magnificent views and luxurious surroundings! I can always
imagine myself in such a place! Scrubbing the blackened pots in the scullery
with me little apron on!!
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| View from the Hall |
Thanks
for your time!
The
Bumpkin Rambler xx
