A mixed bag

I am calling this a mixed bag because it covers a bit of everything that I have been up to in the last few days and what a busy time it has been.  I had lunch out every day last week, even if it was only a sandwich!!

Friday saw me Nordic walking round the villages where I was brought up so a great deal of reminiscing.  When I lived there the village was slightly tatty round the edges, but now is very gentrified but looked wonderful in spring sunshine.  We walked under the windmills  ...

Across the fields

Solar panels in rows

and I was amazed that all the land under the windmills was covered in solar panels.  The windmills were very quiet and all we could hear were skylarks singing.

We finished with a pub lunch here

Saturday saw me on 50+ Adventure Club outing to Tamworth where I had organised a session on Landpaddling, but I was NOT taking part.  It did look fun though.

The boards and poles on the right

Tuition - how to do it

Going well!

On Saturday I finished off these two little cuties:-

 

I got the idea from crochet group as teacher, J, had made one.  She got the pattern from here and though there was an English translation it was difficult to understand.  However kind teacher that she is, she typed it up for me.  Now who shall I give them to - hhem??

Now that the snails are finished I have been able to get on with my Attic24 cosy stripe blanket.

Finally my back garden needed tidying up and I had bought some plants here that needed planting.  Whilst planting I took some photos of plants that are special to me.

Note the small wood lump in the middle

The photo above was a disaster from last year when I came home one morning to find that my next door neighbours had employed some 'cowboys' to put up a fence and they had trampled my lace cap hydrangea to death.  It had always struggled a bit so imagine my surprise the other day when I saw this -

- sprouting all over the place

Chusan palm flowering

Many years ago this palm was given to me by my son, who had it growing on his roof terrace in a pot.  It was pot bound and needed a new home, so he thought of me  and it has never stopped growing in my garden with no TLC at all!!!  It has survived very hard winters and is now enormous.

I often talk to my plants (no I am not a crazy woman, they do seem to understand) and warn them that if they don't grow I will dig them up, but this bush has a different meaning to me.

Viburnum opulus

Planted in memory of my late husband I bought it because it is supposed to flower in June which was his birthday.  It always flowers in May - so contrary!!