Home and Away

A fortnight ago I set off for my hols to a small Greek island. Before I could leave I needed to give GR a lesson on watering requirements for my seedlings and some of my thirstier garden plants. His attention span is akin to that of a goldfish, but I felt safe in the knowledge that Victoria would also be watching over my garden, and taking over watering duties while GR was away working. Being an avid gardener herself she knows what to do without being told.

My holiday was simply wonderful. I spent time catching up with my friends, while we ate delicious food at a leisurely pace and drank copious quantities of local wine and ouzo. We swam in the turquoise sea, which being only May was a tad bracing, but so relaxing once you’d gone numb. The water was so clear you could see fish of various sizes without the need for a snorkel and mask.

There were swallows everywhere, darting in and out of tavernas and balancing on overhead cables. It was a joy to see so many – they were too quick to capture with my phone camera, so the best I could do was a nest.

We had good walks most days – admittedly this involved a visit to a taverna for refreshments at some point along the way. We strolled past beautiful gardens brimming with colourful flowers such as bougainvillea, hibiscus, amaryllis, roses and oleander. There was a heady mix of fragrances in the air from the likes of jasmine, honeysuckle and a new one on me, the chinaberry tree – commonly known as cape lilac. There was one growing just below my apartment and every morning when I stepped out onto the terrace, I was hit by its wonderful scent.

Everywhere I looked there were wildflowers – from the rough roadside verges to what could only be described as entire meadows. May is the perfect time to see this spectacle, as it will all be burnt to a frazzle in a month or so, once the weather hots up.

Sadly holidays have to come to an end. I did consider doing a Shirley Valentine and getting a job in a taverna so I could stay on, until I was reminded that due to Brexit I couldn’t do so (not legally anyway). I also knew I would miss Rosie, Daisy, Little Bud and Lily too much, oh and GR of course. You may remember Shirley had a rock she talked to – I had a rock too, but I sunbathed on mine – luckily there’s no photographic evidence of that!

After a long day travelling by ferry, car, plane and train, I have to say I was bowled over by the sight of my garden after ten days away. Everything had taken off. Most of the wooden posts I told you about in my last blog are now hidden by foliage and there’s more growth yet to come. There have been one or two casualties in the seedling department but that’s not down to GR and Victoria, slugs and snails being the culprits. Most are looking promising and I need to start planting them out into their final growing spots.

Mr and Mrs BT are now busily feeding their needy and very vocal brood. We are also being woken in the early hours by a family of cackling magpies – not my favourite garden visitors, but the antics of the young ones are amusing to watch. I see there are a number of names given to a group of magpies, the most common seeming to be a mischief. I sincerely hope it is only mischief they get up to and that they don’t have their beady eyes on my blue tit family.

I’ll leave you with a photo of my bottom border – if you want to see the before version click here – sorry to go on about it, but I’m really chuffed with the outcome of my two netting experiments …

… the netted wisteria looks pretty good too!