What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 839

Hello Everyone,

Happy WOYWW to you all.

Not much has changed on my workdesk since I last posted two weeks ago. I'm still working on alterations - a pair of pyjama bottoms this time. I missed posting last week and for good reason. I woke in the early hours of last Wednesday to find a flood in the bathroom, The water was coming from the flat above. The next few days were spent mopping up and trying to get the leak stopped. Not easy when your neighbour is out and his flat can't be accessed. It was Saturday before the plumbers were able to get in and stop the leak.

Usually I show my workdesk, first photo, because it's where I make scrap pages but today I thought I'd also show you this lovely desk. The one where I store the laptop. And where I now plan to type up these blogposts. This was Alan's writing desk and until last week was just tucked away in a corner of the main bedroom. Recently, though, I decided that I wasn't making enough use of the living room. In fact, except when I had visitors, I rarely spent time in there. The cat spent more time snoozing on the sofa than I did sitting on it! 

This room is front facing and looks out on to a very small garden area, much neglected until recently. There's a privet hedge screening it from the road which, because it's a well-known shortcut to the beach, can often be very busy. It's also on the shady side of the building. Nice when it's been as hot as it has been this week, but not when the weather is, as it so often is here, not so fair. Indeed, today the temperature has dropped by 10 degrees, it's grey and overcast above and rain is forecast shortly. 

It's been a few years since I could do this, but at last I'm able to pick flowers from the garden and fill a vase. Just nasturtiums and cornflowers for now but I'm delighted!

I'm also delighted to see that Annie's Rose is in bloom, joining Alan's Rose and the Douglas Rose. Lovely!

Silver is never far from me, Here she is on the sofa hoping for some fall-out from my lunchtime snack. 

And finally, a few funnies.

Obviously AI generated but this 'Blowin 737' cracked me up.

Phone box of the day: Outer Hebrides. Pic by Joan Irvin

Silver has obviously attended the Kitten School!

To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

Friday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

I haven't joined in with Annie's Friday Smiles in forever! It's been a hard six months with not a lot to smile about since the last time, but finally things are looking better, and once again I can see I have much to be grateful for and plenty to make me smile. 

For example:

I think there is nothing better than being able to line dry the washing. I just love that fresh air scent on my bedding. It dried in no time at all today, which is just as well because it was so gusty I had to rush out and bring it in before it took off and ended up in the Clyde Estuary! 

If you have seen my last post, that's this week's WOYWW post, you will know that I am in the process of making over my very neglected back garden. It's too windy to work in the garden today but I did nip out to check all is well and was delighted to see the pansies are blooming beautifully.

 

Also the auricula, brought here from our previous garden when we moved in 2022, have not only survived but are beginning to flower again.

Admittedly, they do need to be split and re-potted, but that hasn't stopped them looking just lovely.

What else has made me smile? Oh, yes, this little visitor to the summerhouse.

Silver is fascinated by bees and had to be shooed away from this one that had got itself a bit confused. I was able to waft it back out to continue it's pollen gathering mission. 

Talking of Silver:

She's absolutely loving spending time outside with me. As long as I'm pottering around, she's there. It's her self-imposed task to guard against intruders, i.e. other cats! She's very territorial.

And finally, a few images that made me smile.

Substitute comments on blogs for texts and that's my problem in a nutshell!

 

I'll leave you with this last one. I hope it makes you laugh, like it did me. 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Take care, 

Elizabeth

No Flowers In A Vase Today - Gardening Catch-Up Instead

Hello Everyone,

Unfortunately, there's nothing to cut in the garden and I've not been out foraging either. I've too busy with the Scrap-a-Sketch Rainbow Challenge, not to mention catching up on more domestic stuff that I won't bore you with. I have, however, been giving the front garden much consideration. 

What a mess! That's the result of almost two years of neglect. Time, methinks, to do something. It needs a makeover so I'm looking for a landscape gardener but that's proving to be not as easy as I hoped. In the meantime, I've moved the smaller of the overgrown weed-filled pots to the area I've designated the potting area in the back garden. The plan is to clean them out and repot any plants found worth saving. Any pots that are emptied completely will be cleaned up, filled with lovely new compost and sown with quick growing annuals such as:

nasturtiums 

calendula 

eschscholzia 

malope

All photos and seeds from the Higgeldy Garden.

Hoping for a bit of late summer colour. 

And finally,

However much I despair of my overgrown patch it's clearly providing Silver with the perfect hunting ground!

Thanks for following my blog, reading this post, and for sticking with me this far. I'm trying to post more regularly but it's been a rocky road for so long and I still have days that are a struggle. Listen to me! I don't want you to think that it's all bad. I'm slowly, but surely, adjusting to this new way of life. 

On that note, I'll sign off for today. 

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth

In A Vase on Monday - Bluebells and Granny's Bonnets

Hello everyone,

It's lovely to be able to join Cathy over at Rambling in the Garden with my offering for her meme, In A Vase On Monday, once more. 

Unlikely as it seems, I was able to pick this little bunch of bluebells, hyacinthoides hispanica, and granny's bonnets, aquilegia vulgaris, from the garden. My much neglected garden. I don't remember where I found the blue and white jug but they look just perfect in it.  

The aquilegia is a reminder of the garden we left behind. It's a self-seeded bonus that sneaked here in a pot. 

As is the blue bugleweed, ajuga geneversis, found hiding in another pot tucked away in a quiet corner. I had trouble remembering this plant's name, the label has long gone, so consulted PlantNet which soon identified it as one of the many ajugas that can be found growing in gardens around the UK. 

Beside the jug is my collection of small books about walking, flowers and birds. I've been a hill walker most of my life, but now I'm in my seventies I stick to shorter walks on flatter ground. And, for fun, I take the time to photograph the many wild plants and wildflowers spotted along the way. PlantNet comes in very useful for naming those I don't know so well. 

To see the many lovely arrangements of gardeners more dedicated than I have been this last year,  just click on the link to Cathy's blog, Rambling in the Garden.

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth 

Poppies

Hello  Everyone,

Just because they are so beautiful, I thought I'd share these orange poppies today.

Luckily, I popped out to photograph them this morning because the heavens have just opened and I dread to think what damage the downpour has done. Nature can be so cruel and flowers so fleeting.

My Garden Now - Aquilegia

Happy Sunday Everyone,

I thought, because it's such a beautiful day, I would share some of the many aquilegia that have self-seeded around my garden. 

Aquilegias are notoriously promiscuous and happily cross-pollinate whenever possible then self-seed wherever the wind takes them. I now have a stunning white flowering one down in the woodland area that I'm not responsible for. It is, nevertheless, very welcome. 

Looking at these two photos, it's just possible I'm well on my way to being the keeper of the country's largest collection of aquilegia! 

Seriously, I think the time has come to get out there and sort out some of the wildness before the weeds takeover completely. Maybe later! 

Have a fabulous day wherever you are. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth

Saturday In My Garden

Hello Everyone,

I can't deny it. I've been neglecting this poor blog. Truth is, I've been a bit down and not feeling particularly communicative. Alan's continuing ill health is a worry. The virus has left us both run down and struggling. We've had to come to terms with how life has changed for us in so many ways. 

The first daffodil of the year.

For example, Alan can no longer drive so he has, with a heavy heart, decided to sell the car. Neither of us are capable of the things we took for granted, like housework, gardening, going for walks, etc. 

Purple crocus in a window box.

Of course, our problems in no way compare with those the poor people in Ukraine are facing daily. My heart goes out to them and I hope this terrible war ends soon. We are grateful to be where we are, and for what we still have, that's for sure. And now that spring is here that includes the garden. There are signs all around of better days to come and we're looking forward to it being warm enough for us to sit out, and relax in the sunshine. 

Butter wouldn't melt! This is Silver's way of waking me up - usually between 4 and 5am - so she can go out for her morning constitutional! 

It's now 7am and we have, Silver and I, been up since 4.30am and, of course, she's snoozing in Alan's chair, her favourite spot. I feel the need for a snooze too. 

Blossom on Alan's plum tree

I'm not making any promises to post here more often, or join in with Julia's WOYWW or Annie's Friday Smiles. Not for now. But I will try to keep up with the occasional post like this one until things improve. 

In the meantime, I hope you are all well and safe. 

Keep crafting, 

Elizabeth

In A Vase On Monday - Roses, Asters & Herbs

 Hello Everyone

The weather here has been wet, very wet, for weeks. I exaggerate, of course, but it has certainly been more than a little damp here on the west coast of Scotland. And it's kept me out of the garden. My overgrown, weedy and messy garden. But it's not so bad today so I had a wee ramble round taking in just how much needs to be done, and to pick from the few flowers left of the summer blooms for Cathy's In A Vase On Monday. That's mainly the roses, herbs and a little clump of purple asters - the pink ones are yet to flower.

I chose these creamy yellow hybrid teas, Elina, because they are the perfect cut flowers

I've checked and double-checked my records but cannot find the name for the purple asters.  

All I can say is that it's a dwarf form of aster novae-angliae which performs well every year with not much help from me.

The herbs included are rosemary, chocolate mint and fennel. It wasn't until I cropped this shot that I spotted that there was a wee family of greenfly on the fennel. Where are the ladybirds when you need them! 

So that's what's in my vase today. Beautiful, apart from the greenfly, of course. Thanks for looking in and do pop over to Cathy's blog, Rambling In The Garden, to see the many lovely arrangements submitted for her meme, In A Vase On Monday

Friday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

Happy Friday to you all. It's been another week where I haven't been much further than the supermarket so there's not a lot to share with Annie's Friday Smiles - just a few photos from the garden again.

My lovely 'Elena' rose - it's beautifully scented and if you look closely you can see a wee insect having a sniff.

Clematis 'Niobe' - I fell for this clematis many years ago on a visit to Haddon Hall in the Peak District. It's a lovely old mansion house from the middle ages with an equally lovely old walled garden that is full of beautiful clematis and roses - my idea of heaven!

Cranesbills, so called because the shape of the way the seedheads - they are beak-like that, when ripe, suddenly spring open and disperse the seed a fair old distance . This hardy geranium not only makes very good ground cover, keeps the weeds down, but is very attractive to bees.

That's it for me this week.Plenty to smile about. Hope you have had a very happy week too with much to make you smile. And if you have, do join in with Annie's Friday Smile meme over on A Stitch In Time.

Take care everyone and have a wonderful weekend.