Ravendale House

‘Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home your house is on fire  – – – -‘  is the opening line of the old children’s nursery rhyme. One of my earliest recollections as a child was appearing, as a ladybird, in a Sunday School concert. I must have been about 7 or 8 years old.

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Yesterday it rained from the moment I got up, to the moment I went to bed. What a miserable rotten day, and August too. However, they say every cloud etc. etc. and so it was yesterday.

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I don’t really think you can say you’ve had a tomato until you’ve eaten one, warmed by the sun, straight from the plant.

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In my experience August is normally a quiet month in the gardening calendar. The weather is usually settled, dry and warm. Plants and seedlings have been planted out, vegetables and fruits have been gathered in, stored or preserved. Most of the garden birds have packed their red and white spotted hankies and gone to visit friends. (Where do birds go in August?) All is well with the world. So why not sit back and simply appreciate all your hard work.

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Well, to be more accurate, it’s really the tale of about a dozen sunflowers, but 2 different varieties.

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First of all I should warn you that this post has nothing, whatsoever to do with gardening. Intrigued? Then read on.

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Today I had another ‘proper’ gardening day, that’s the second in 2 days. If I keep on like this I’m in danger of becoming a proper gardener!

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After a tiring day yesterday we went for a short walk before tea (which thankfully Peter was making.) We hadn’t gone far when we spotted something neither of us have ever seen before. Sadly it was dead.

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Now that the hedges are cut there are lots of other things that need attention, so today I had a proper gardening day. What with my knee, my shoulder and the weather, these ‘proper’ days have been a bit thin on the ground this year. It’s a wonder things look as good as they do.

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In the end we decided to finish the hedge cutting ourselves, hard work doesn’t begin to describe it, but we triumphed in the end as you can see.

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