The promised post about the garden.

I love my garden.  Unfortunately a lot of slugs and snails love it too.  I planted many plants which often disappeared overnight.  I tried putting out beer traps.  They do work, although they draw the snails and slugs, which is really encouraging them.  I quickly learned that the traps must be emptied quickly or the smell is dreadful.  My solution was to start using containers and pots for my precious plants. Along with this, an early morning round where I remove any slugs and snails that find their way into the pots.  I leave them out on the path, away from the plants where the birds do the rest.  I now have a collection of interesting pots and containers and plenty of plants that have survived the winter. I also have the advantage of being able to move plants around as I choose.

Autumn appreciation

 The change of light

sunsets

that special chill in the air in the morning.

trees changing colour

Christmas will soon be here!

Spring appreciation

 

Early morning sunshine

The taste of a fresh orange at breakfast

Leaf buds opening on the trees

The colours of spring flowers

The smell of the garden after the rain

On the move again

A lot of last year was taken up by moving house. I was very sad to move, but the stairs were getting more and more difficult. We bought a house in a different department, in a different region although not too far from where we were living.

Our eldest son helped with decorating. He’s very good with colours and solving problems and decor generally. A lot of hard work (and hard shopping!) was involved, but now we love and are very proud of our home.

We moved on my birthday.  It was very stressful as the removal men were not happy as they had a very large truck and our new and old streets are very narrow. I managed to stay out of their way as much as possible as they loaded up. Unfortunately, I had to be around when they unloaded to tell them where everything was to go. We were pleased when they left us – I think they were pleased to leave too.

Besides settling in, we had to clean the old house up for the inventory. We had been careful, but as we had been there for 7 years, the walls and corners where furniture had been undisturbed all that time needed a good clean. It was really nice on the last day as the owner came at the same time as the agent so we had the opportunity to thank him and say goodbye. The house had belonged to his mother and she had lived there nearly all of her life (I think she was born there too). We always felt that she was watching over us – we certainly felt that the house welcomed us.

Remember the loft?

 All gone! 

One of the nicest parts about the new house is the garden. We have a very sheltered area where we can eat outside in good weather and then steps up to the lawn and trees. I have a cherry tree and a fig tree!! These are the very trees that I’ve always wanted in my garden. I’ll write more about the garden in another post.

I'll never forget

On Sunday we visited a local town and went to look at a church which was built in the 11th and 15th centuries. The church has a crypt which was open to the public. I don’t usually enjoy visiting crypts as they are almost always damp and dark and cold and smell musty. This one had double doors open to the street so I was persuaded by my husband to take a look.

 As we walked in someone started to sing Ave Maria. The singer was a young woman whose voice was absolutely beautiful. Her singing echoed around the arched ceilings which made the sound even more incredible. Unfortunately when she realised she wasn’t alone she stopped and hurried away. I was sorry that we’d disturbed her, but I’ll never forget that moment.

Inside the main church

This part was built in the 11th century

Good start to the day!

My office is upstairs. This morning when I opened the shutters before starting work; a tree passed by! An Olive tree was being transported on the back of a truck. The kind of start to the day I love. I wonder what will happen next.

Appreciation in July

As the year changes there is a shift in what I appreciate. We’ve recently had very hot weather so obviously I appreciated the cool of early morning. Now the temperature is more comfortable and we’ve had rain.

The coolness of early morning
Birdsong
The abundance of fruit ripening on the trees
Long light evenings
Strawberries
The smell of rain on the dried out earth
Hearing children playing outside