July Garden and a Few Other Things.

Some July memories I wanted to record before it became rather late to do so...

Philadelphus.

Early turning rowan.

The cat enjoyed having the deck chairs out during the fine weather.

Borage, a new addition to the garden this year.

Another new plant, a climbing rose. Acquired after seeing all the lovely gardens full of roses in Overstrand on our holidays last year.

 Hebe, loved by the bees.

Hypericum.

Hydrangea, just starting to bloom.

Foxglove.

A little view past the patio during the lovely warm spell. The parasol hasn't been needed for a couple of weeks now.

Caterpillars on the broccoli. A few days after taking this photo I noticed them all heading off away from the broccoli in different directions at top speed. We caught three of them and put them in our butterfly net/container and watched them develop into chrysalises then large white butterflies before releasing them just a couple of days ago.

A small tortoishell butterfly. Starting to see more of these now it's August.

Wall plus the rhubarb patch. I stewed most of this lot and we had it with a big scone (see sidebar for recipe). It's now sprouting again, time to make something else...

The patio doors were open for days on end during the heatwave. It was lovely. It's been a good summer.

Looking down the garden.

Lantern and leaves.

Goats beard and bumble bee.

Wild strawberries.

Paddling pool fun.

 Livingstone daisies.

Campanula.

Strawberry harvest.

The other rose.

A clematis I'd forgotten we had.

Bee and geranium.

Cat and shadows.

Crazy rain during one of the July thunderstorms. Our gutters couldn't cope and the water was gushing off the roof.

Beautiful clouds.

Veering away from the garden now to a few end of July random pleasures...

Eggs from Henny, Penny and Jenny.

Bugs made by one of N's friends and some carefully hoarded bottle tops.

A new-to-me poetry book, just one of many books and other teaching materials gifted by a kind friend. She's retired now and much of her collection dates from the seventies, which I like!

Scones, a favourite holiday breakfast.

My collection of house style books. I took this photo to put on flickr after commenting on someone else's book pile. Here's a link. I have to say that I like the new version of flickr and I'm using it more than I used to, I'm also starting to make some interesting contacts and I feel I'm finally beginning to see how it all works. Please let me know your flickr ID's if anyone reading this is also a regular user. Thanks!

It Had To Be Done Sometime...

...my very own pile of crocheted blankets:-

Carrying them outside in a bundle made me realise just how much yarn I've knotted together over the last few years since learning to crochet.

Most satisfying.

Galloway Again.

Last week I took the children to visit the grandparents for a few days. They stay in the south west of Scotland and there are lots of very nice places to visit in the area roundabout.

Rabbit watching on the way to the play park.

 Boing!

Clematis in my Mum's garden.

Another clematis (she has loads in her small garden).

N caught a small white butterfly.

Now to our first outing. Making good use of our Historic Scotland membership we decide to visit Caerlaverock Castle. The castle dates from the 1300's and it has a turbulent history due to its proximity to the border with England.

Archway and estate cottages.

Front view of cottages.

Heading towards the castle.

Inside.

 Tower.

View looking up through the tower.

Fireplace remains.

Carving detail.

 It's possible to walk right round the castle and its moat.

 The views are wonderful.

 Gorgeous sky.

On the way back we stopped at Glencaple - a tiny village which used to be a busy trading post, hard to imagine nowadays. There are lovely views from the village.

We enjoyed watching the cows going for a paddle across the river.

Landlocked boat. Looking closely at one of the wires you can see...

 ...swallows! We have so few swallows where we live, it was a pleasure to see them.

It would appear the boat is inhabited.

 The children thought the hill looked like a dragon's lair with the clouds above being the smoke from the dragon's fiery breath.

The afternoon was spent buying school shoes and the requisite navy school pinafore. Above is a nice detail from one of the boarded up shops in the town.

Next morning it rained. We decided to go to a paint your own pot cafe. Hmmm, rather expensive for what its is, but the children are pleased with their pots. This crazy cow was brightening up the cafe car park.

The back to a few photos I took of yet more clematis (and an osteospermum) in my Mum's garden. It's what I do if I feel I'm starting to get a little bored!

Now to our last day. We'd planned to leave after lunch, however, the weather was so lovely we decided to have another trip before leaving the area. We took a little detour to New Abbey. There are two Historic Scotland properties here: Sweetheart Abbey and the Corn Mill. 

Sweetheart Abbey was founded in 1273 by Lady Dervorgilla of Galloway in memory of her husband John Balliol.

When she died she was laid to rest next to her husband’s embalmed heart and the monks named their abbey in memory of her.

Some local boys had climbed through the fence for a sneaky visit while we were there. 

A curious cow grazing next to the abbey.

 We then walked through the village towards the corn mill. We were in time for the 3 o'clock tour.

Here the water is just starting to trickle from the mill pond to power the water wheel.

Cart outside the corn mill.

New Abbey is a very attractive little village.

 There are many trim, white washed cottages.

It's not great for wandering about in though as it's on a fairly busy road and the pavements (where there are any!) are very narrow.

A last look at the view from the car park before heading home.

Now there's only one more whole week of the summer holidays left. Eek!