Beautiful Botanic Gardens

 

 

I think by now that you all know how much I LOVE my home, LSO and I refer to it  as the 'estate' and we love being at home, in our garden! We love the warmth, the smell and the absolute little haven that we have created for our selves..... In saying that , I must also admit to the fact that I have become a little bit of a recluse and am always able to find something to do at home on the weekends, resulting in us not visiting all the lovely attractions that we have here in our little fishing village!

 

One such attraction is our beautiful Botanical Gardens!  Little Madame was recently asked by one of our friends, if she would do a photo shoot for her, she is a budding photographer, with so much talent and such a good eye for detail! Now being that my Little madame thinks she is Heidi Klum, she said she would love to. Said Aspiring friend asked us to meet her at the Botanic Gardens, I rolled my eyes, because I thought it would be HEAVING with people, it was a Sunday afternoon after all...... Well did I have to eat humble pie, a BIG FAT PIECE of it!

 

While the model and the photographer, did their thing, I wondered off with my trusty little camera in hand to try and capture some of the beauty around me. The tree's were massive and old,  the lawns green(thank you Mother Nature for all the rain lately)Tiny flowers were blooming everywhere! Bamboo was thick, and the Banyan tree's amazing with their root system that begins in the actual tree itself.

 

 I was amazed at the peace and tranquillity the prevailed in these gorgeous green gardens..... People were picnicking on the lush green lawn, games of soccer and cricket had sprung up everywhere.  Lovers were quietly gazing into each other eyes oblivious to to screaming children being chased by their dad's. There were monkeys, geese and large noisy Hadedas adding to the general relaxed mayhem....... Mommy ducks, marching tiny baby duckling along the lake side, were so sweet.  It was wonderful, I really enjoyed it so much, so much so that I have promise Little Madame a picnic there this coming Sunday.....

 

I wished that I could capture the afternoon and keep it forever......  

   

  

Botanic Beauty

 

 

 

 A Banyan Tree- Where Does It Start Or End 

A Fluffy White Feather

  

Flowers and Sunlight

 

 The Tranquil Lake

Lovers



Children Playing

 

Endless Green Lawn

Seed Pods

Sunlight Dancing

Wonder If She Knew That Monkey Was Sooo Close?

 

 

 

Huge Old Tree's

Interesting Sculptures - See the Real Child In the Middle?

Thick Bamboo

It really was a wonderful afternoon, I cannot wait to go back with a picnic blanket, basket full of yummy things, book and a ball, and while away the afternoon just watching people be happy..... xxx


Ps:: My plans for a tranquil picnic were ruined when it rained again this entire weekend.... Oh Well maybe next weekend  - Dare I chant 'Rain Rain go away......' xxx

Wake up and smell the roses.... and other flowers

It would seem that Mother Nature has been listening to me...... and all my sorrowful lamenting about winter. This morning when I woke up the sun was out(after a few rainy,windy ,cold days) The birds were chirping, and everything looked beautiful and green, exactly like it does after a few gloomy days!

Beautiful Roses

My gorgeous garden is also filled with flowers, Roses, Hibiscus, little purple somethings,and more little colourful somethings( My darling Freida would be flower name dropping as she is so clued up - me -not so clever) Even my little Hyacinth is about to bloom. Now I find this absolutely inspiring, that in the middle of all this cold and miserable wintry weather, she gently touches plants and they spring into glorious bloom, its almost as if she were saying look at what is coming your way. So today's post is certainly not long and has no message, recipe, knitting, crochet(although I am working on a funky little project) It is just filled with flowers and happy thoughts that SUMMER WILL RETURN..... Thanks Mother Nature, we love you so much!

Part of Little Madame's Garden

Not Strictly Flowers but I love Rock Roses

These Happy Little Yellow Flowers Hang In
From our Neigbours Garden

The Back Garden

Beautiful Orchids

  

At the end of Summer, just after we had moved into our new house(about two years ago) SPINE  CHILLING SCREAMS erupted from our back garden...... Little Madame was hysterical....... Apparently there were lots of BIG spiders in a bush in the garden. Spiders and I - uh, not good friends! So armed with a can of Raid and my slipper I went to investigate, only to find LSO holding, comforting  and reassuring Little Madame.(with a rather bemused look on his face)  The spiders were in fact flowers, that belong to a very uninteresting looking plant in the back of our garden.  This rather plain and dreary plant had burst into glorious bloom! And the pictures in this post are the breath taking flowers that they produce!

Now I am sure that you can see that they do indeed look a bit like a rather large spider! I have no ideas what the 'proper' name for them is, so they are now simply called Spider Orchids.  Poor Little Madame took a wide berth around this plant every time we went outside but has since realised that they will not hurt you!

So for the last two years my home if filled with Spider Orchids, every room gets a vase full! They are also wonderfully fragrant, not a cloying sweet smell but subtle and heady. The bottle you can see in the picture above is an old bottle we found while digging a deep hole for a tree. We found two, this one(which my Father-in-law seems to thinks is an old chutney bottle) and a milk bottle with a date of 1945 on it, I am amazed that they stood the test of time, they are old weathered and just beautiful. They have become makeshift vases, and always get comments from visitors to out home.  I just love the surprises that keep popping up in my garden!

Now I would be lying if I told you I took these gorgeous pictures, the camera is mine, a new Cannon Ixus(highly recommended) My dear friend Kerry, was playing with said camera and produced these amazing shots! She is a wiz at mosaic, sewing and I  even saw a knitted scarf happening once, but am not sure if she ever finished it.(Let us know if you did)  What I am trying to say is that she is very creative, and  after seeing these picture I am sure you will agree with me that she should be doing more photography! Thank you Kerry, they are gorgeous pictures!

The blooming season for them is over now and as always,  I am sad when the last beautiful bloom fades, alas I know winter is on the way and I will have to wait another whole year for my favourite flower to bloom...... But...... Worth the wait, wouldn't you say! xxx

Last Weeks Fun!

Wow! Where on earth did  the last week go......

I think that I lost a few days as I was poorly after coming back from camping, spending 2 days sick as a dog, and flat on my back in bed. A luxury made possible by LSO who took charge of little Madam. I was given lots of TLC and am much better, but my word, I have a lot of blog catching up to do, as I have made some lovely yummy things ...... and got so much to show you.....

I recently bought a gorgeous book (Yes, I know I was supposed to cut down on book buying) It's called 'Gifts from the Kitchen' by Annie Rigg. It is all sorts of preserves, jams and delectable things from the kitchen. And my mouth watered just looking at the beautiful delicious things to eat..... not good for my very voluptuous rear end! I have had a little love affair with making preserves for the last few years, and the Piccalilli and Vanilla and Strawberry Conserve (A posh name for jam?), just caught my attention. I love the way Piccalilli, can cheer up a plain ole cheese sandwich, it is tart and make you get that funny sensation in your mouth. And, well Strawberry's are just delicious, yummy, and soooooo red, and teamed with Vanilla, oh my hat! Need I say any more! 

Slicing and Dicing

3 Weeks to Tasting

Oooo Yummy!

2 Little Bottles of Goodness

My pantry cupboard is full of yummy things.... pickled lemons, chilli sauce, corn relish, apple and cranberry chutney, peach conserve, citrus marmalade and my two new additions! How cute are my crocheted lid covers?

Next.......

 

I am trying to teach Little madam to sew, as she always shows keen interest when I am stitching anything. I found this gorgeous little felt dolly in a shop in Lincoln and bought it. We have started it and it is very simple for her as all the holes are already punched and so all that is needed is alot of guidance-did I mention ALOT of guidance! We will persevere and I will keep you updated... watch this space.....



www.rexinter.com



Next....... 

It was Little Madam's turn to be 'Baker Baker' at school last week and she decided after much perusing of my recipe books that Cake Pops were the order of the day, these are cute little  all-in-one  bite size cake balls, that only an American could have come up with! And true to American style they are soooooo easy. I cheat terribly when making these and as i was poorly -sorry no 'making them' pictures but seriously, they are dead easy  -                                                        Make up a store bought cake-easy! let it cool and crumble it so that it looks like earth-easy! Add a store bought ready made frosting(icing) about 3/4 of the tub-easy! (mix with the BACK of a spoon) roll into bite size balls and put in to your fridge to set-easy! now comes the most tricky part.... melt some chocolate, add a lolly stick to your ball and dip into the chocolate(use a deep bowl and lots of chocolate -try and dip the pop all in one go,this can be tricky) add some decorations and VOILA! Cake Pops = Happy Children! there is a gorgeous book on Amazon called quite simply Cake Pops by Bakerella  

Pink for Girls and Blue for Boys

And just some random things.......

Remember the  Brinjals/Aubergines I was growing, they were delicious, sliced, grilled, lemon juice and lots of course salt with LSO's steak(the best steak ever!) and a glass of..... yes, you guessed, Red wine - A perfect meal!




And to end off the week, gorgeous little baby yellow buttercups, bought for me by Little Madam, who is always so happy to buy anyone flowers! Have I mentioned that she is an AnGeL ......... Our Gift from God!



 xxxxxx




  

Garden Heaven

  
                                                                                                            ' The kiss of the sun for pardon

The songs of the bird for mirth

You are nearer God’s heart

In the garden than

anywhere else on earth’

When we moved in to our house almost three years ago, one of my main concerns was the garden, having lived in an apartment for most of my life, green fingers, I had learned were not a talent I possessed! The day we walked into the oasis that was to become our home, I remember thinking “thank you “the people that were living there possessed an abundance of these green digits that had seemed to elude me for most of my life (I couldn’t even keep a love palm alive) All I had to do was give it water and hopefully this beautiful established garden would be just fine...... And so began my love affair with my garden. For the first few months I did exactly that water and it was doing well but slowly, very slowly I began to want to plant thing, I love Hibiscus flowers so those were the first few plants to go in and yes they flourished!

Very soon we were planning a vegetable garden, very ambitious for a non green fingered person , but a patch was dug up by LSO and a trip to the Garden centre planned, we bought Brinjals, carrots green peppers and the dreaded tomato(will explain why dreaded further on ) Books very purchased and we began to plant!

Very soon we could see the “fruits” of our labour begin to grow. I will say this a veg garden is not for the faint hearted, we have tried very hard to be organic but it would seem that insects love garlic spray almost as much as they love teeny little baby plants. Tomato’s are by far the hardest thing to grow, they need constant care and love, and between running a house, looking after a toddler and trying to craft........ Tomato’s come in a very sad last,( we have had tomato’s but they are very unhappy little things) And this makes me sad... so we are trying with them again! (For the 10^th time)

Rosemary and mint

To cook with things that you have grown is very rewarding, and somehow the vegetables just taste better! Herbs followed soon and we have a gorgeous rosemary plant, every time I water it, and the heady aroma hits me, I can almost taste the roast lamb and potatoes. Next to that is mint and parsley so everything one needs for gorgeous scrumptious food! (I am making myself hungry-the last thing my voluptuous rear end needs!)

And Yes! You guessed it 3 fruit trees followed. Lemons, mangos and paw paw trees, we sadly lost the paw paw tree but the other 2 are doing superbly. So enough of me waxing lyrically about vegetables and fruit, here are a few pictures of my little piece of green heaven