Strawberries and caterpillars and peduncles, oh my! 🍓🐛🌸

Hello again and welcome to a very garden-filled update 🌼 it's only been 2 weeks since I last posted but somehow I've amassed lots more photos to share! 

My sister took this polaroid of us when we were in Falmouth, I then tucked it into my purse for safekeeping and forgot about it! Then we have this wildflower patch in a garden near our house which I admire as I drive past most days, I like the flag featuring in the background as a little reminder of all the Jubilee celebrations that seem so long ago now already.

A recent sourdough loaf with some experimental scoring (Ed said it looked like a football ⚽):

 

These following photos were all taken on a drizzly day in the garden, it seemed funny looking at them when I started writing this post a week later as it was nearly 30 degrees outside and the plants would've really appreciated some rain! 

Alpine strawberries and my old boots sprouting nasturtiums:

Hypericum and a glistening cobweb (I recently discovered the spider that made it is very big):

Juniper and the donkey, plus some baby blueberries:

Raindrops and more strawberries (hanging from the scaffolding!):

Juniper surveying the border:

After the slugs wreaked havoc last year we decided we'd go all out to destroy them this year, but then we got worried about cats eating slug pellets so we didn't bother and now we've just settled on the laid back approach of doing nothing 😆 The hostas aren't too happy about that but most other things seem to be surviving, at least we've got some flowers (aquilegia sown by my mum last year, plus one of the hydrangeas we rehomed from my grandparents):

On a sunny day off last week (after a hearty pancake breakfast 😋) Ed and I decided to visit Plant World for the first time...

Lots of unusual plants to see and some lovely views...

Spot the monkey in the monkey puzzle tree 🐒

The next day Ed messaged me whilst we were at work to suggest a spontaneous BBQ which I thought was a very good idea!

Juniper even joined in and tried a little bit of sausage, usually she doesn't show any interest in our food so they must have been particularly good 😋 (yes you can see correctly, the scaffolding is still here!)

Our rambling dog rose has really taken off since we planted it in 2020, with soft pink flowers along the garden fence:

The nasturtium patch is loving life as well:

Some nice purples too from borage and lavender:

We spent a very hot morning in the garden on Tuesday, doing some much needed weeding and planting out courgettes, a cucumber and the rest of our tomatoes 🍅

We've just got chillies left to plant out now when they're a bit bigger and stronger!

Logging on for zoom housegroup, and a nice airy sourdough loaf: 

Exciting news! The 10 (maybe 11?) peduncles on my hoya are growing away...

...and the first few have now started to open! They're so pretty, each one a slightly different shade, from almost white to dark pink 😍 Last year was the first time it flowered and there were 3 blooms in total, I can't believe there are so many this year!

An attractive 35 week bump photo by Ed, and a peek at my latest socks! After I finished all those baby items my hands were feeling a bit restless to start something new, so another pair of socks for myself was in order 😄 I bought this green wool ages ago as it's my favourite colour but didn't get round to using it until now. I'm not in any rush to finish this project so I imagine it will last me up until the baby comes, sock knitting might be a good focus to get me through early labour haha. The countdown is on now!

Last week I made a pie! With chicken, ham, and cabbage, it was very tasty and I had fun decorating it:

Tiny alpine strawberries, and a sweet little poppy which appeared from nowhere by our garden fence:

The nasturtium patch is now inhabited by many hungry caterpillars but we are just embracing it as it means they aren't on our veg 😆 plus some more strawberries from the garden on my breakfast (I've become a bran flakes fan):

Juniper hiding in the laundry, and some local pigeons in town:

And finally, a glorious sunset last night after the heavy rain ⛈ 

 

That's all for now! Hope your gardens are all enjoying the sunshine and rain and everything in between 😊🌿🌽🐛🌼🌾🌱🌞 

The one with the scaffolding 🏠

Greetings friends! 👋 

I can't believe it's June already 😲 almost halfway through the year, and that means that the baby is coming just next month! Madness.

One baby in utero, one snoozing on top.

The past couple of weeks have been taken up with the new addition to our house, this lovely scaffolding! As you can see we've made use of it to support hanging baskets and also a washing line so it's not all bad news, in fact I quite like having it 😆 The roofers have now been and gone (so hopefully no more leaks!) and we're just waiting to hear when the scaffolding will be removed.

Here's Juniper exploring the mini greenhouse, a peek inside reveals a cistus cutting from Ed's grandma and an aeonium cutting from mine...three cheers for green-fingered grandparents! We've also got lots of sunflower seedlings in there which I am very excited about after our first attempt failed due to some slug munching. This second batch is doing well and hopefully we'll have lots of sunflowers this year! 🌻

 

I captured this corner of the back garden in some lovely evening light 🌞 It's cool to think that when we came there was nothing here but scrubby grass, definitely an improvement even if it's looking a little bit wild and weedy!

Juni enjoying her garden:

Our oxalis (bought from a carboot sale!) is looking very happy and has lots of little flowers, plus another loaf of sourdough of course:

Juni soaking up the sun through my quality street stained glass window attempt, and the amazing alstroemeria bouquet from Ed's mum which lasted for about 3 weeks:

We went for a walk around the houses nearby and met this very friendly cat called Koala who followed us for a little while and was very happy to receive our attention:

After I finished my baby cardigan I still had a ball of wool left over in the same colour, so I decided to make a matching hat! Special thanks to my creepy doll for modelling for me:

I discovered that a baby hat doesn't use very much wool at all so with lots still left I began another project: booties! Quite a sweet little ensemble if I do say so myself 😄

Another walk with Ed, this time we drove somewhere we'd not been before and discovered a lovely riverside path to enjoy a stroll. Strangely enough we saw a small white kitten emerge from the undergrowth and run past us which was a bit random and surreal!

Isn't that glassy reflection amazing!?

Ed in a tree 😆 and my post-walk baby bump, I think I was 32 weeks at this point:

I don't know how to describe this photo, except I love it haha. Ed captured the colourful chaos that is our house and then the peaceful Juni who can't resist my cosy dressing gown...a scene of domestic bliss. It also looks hilariously like I'm demonstrating one of the breastfeeding holds that we learned about in our zoom class recently 😂 just getting some practise in before next month!

Madonna and Child

I made a lemon drizzle cake last week using this 10/10 recipe from Mary Berry and decided to jazz it up with a little bit of lavender from the garden:

Last week Ed and I took a trip to Falmouth, leaving bright and early to spend the day with my sister and also see friends that we haven't seen since we were at uni. We weren't expecting such warm and sunny weather, it seems we get lucky every time we visit! We walked into town and finally managed to spend a credit note which we've been holding onto for 3 years, then it was Fal Falafel for lunch (it's got to be done 😍) followed by a successful visit to my fave charity shop which I definitely miss living 5 minutes away from! 

Of course we also had to walk to the beach in the afternoon:

We had a lovelyyy evening visiting friends for dinner at their house and then drove home again as the sun set. It was a long and tiring day for pregnant me but definitely worth it...it's funny to think that next time we visit Falmouth we'll have a baby with us 💛

Some amazing petunias at work, and a snapshot of our family BBQ on the bank holiday weekend:

Some final Juni content (sleeping curled up like a fox, and enjoying a shoulder ride)...

...and a little bit more from the garden before I go! We've been harvesting the garlic and onions that we planted way back in the autumn, and we've got summer flowers popping up all around. This year it seems like we only have white nigellas but I'm sure there were some blue last year 👇

The dog rose we planted has grown like mad and is now covered in buds, here is the first flower to open, and also our first nasturtium flower of 2022 😍🌼 hooray! We've had so much rain and also so much sun in the past few weeks so everything is nice and lush and greeeeen.

Hope you enjoyed that jumbled assortment of photos 🌿🌻🍰🐾😋💚⛅🌂🚙🌱 there'll be plenty more where they came from xoxo