Outdoor Living

Hoping for a good summer this year - with a new gas barbecue, and a bistro set (to join the bench we bought last year), we're ready for some outside dining.

Fingers crossed for the sunshine to go with it!
                                                      

Still Down South

Martin is still stationed down South, and likes to keep me informed of his surroundings - today it was some stunning Bristol graffiti, but I've also had pics of pints from coastal beer gardens:




Then there are the images of other local landmarks, including this shot of the Clifton Suspension Bridge:

Sometime it almost looks like he's having fun!

Sunny Weekend

A bank holiday weekend of glorious sunshine (well, alright, it did rain on the Saturday) . . .

Made an early start on the hedges, as well as cutting the grass and other more general garden maintenance tasks - all of which generated a number of bags of garden waste.

Also found some time to enjoy the sunshine and relax though - met up with old friends for lunch, and walked the prom in the sunshine (taking in the views of the annual charity Raft Race).

On the bank holiday itself we were even moved to get the barbecue out - (as it appears was everyone else - had to make do with sausages, as we couldn't find a burger in the shops for love nor money!).


Just have to hope now that that wasn't it, and that the summer still has more sunshine to offer . . .

Planting Up

Time to get the greenhouses and vegetable garden planted up - at this stage the plants always look so small - beefsteak tomatoes in the big greenhouse - cherry tomatoes in the small (with the vine):

And courgettes in the large veg patch (the small veg patch already having been planted up with potatoes and onions):

At the moment the courgettes have all been surrounded with a slug pellet barrier, as the young courgette leaves have definite slug-appeal - hopefully, with time, they'll become less tasty.

Barring disaster there'll probably be marrow postings in due course!

Big Bug

Leaving for work this morning encountered a rather large (nearly 3cm long) beetle on the path outside the house:

Hadn't seen anything like it before so took a photo to identify it later.

Looks like a common cockchafer - also known as a May bug or Doodlebug - in large numbers they can apparently be a bit of a pest, but this is the only one we saw, and as the larvae take 3 - 4 years to mature, the garden is probably safe enough!

Lord of All He Surveys . . .

Martin is still working away a fair bit - but he does get to see some sights - even in work:

This fine fellow had positioned himself on top of one of the post vans - nobody was sure where he'd come from - there isn't a nearby body of water - maybe this looked like a good vantage point from which to find one . . .

Peacocks in Powis

Few days off - mostly doing gardening stuff, but did manage a day out to Welshpool, including a visit to Powis Castle.





Quick tour of the gardens, but as the weather wasn't at its best didn't linger and moved on to the Castle.  Still managed to get a couple of good shots of the local peacock population mind you - posed beautifully!