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The garden at home

Hello everybody,
It’s been hectic round here lately with me trying to settle the house down and get ready to switch countries.

For that, I spent several days getting the garden ready for my absence.

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We’ve been having lovely sunny days and that’s really helped in the garden.

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Our little resident humming bird has been eyeing the crocosmia and visiting the blossoms every day.

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It’s been a fabulous season in my garden for raspberries. I managed to freeze several bags for Chloe so when she comes back from Japan in the New Year, she’ll have garden raspberries for her smoothies.

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The lavender is heavenly right now. I wonder if I have some time to make a few lavender bottles before I leave.

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I’m sure that this early summer and me feeding the bees is what’s responsible for the bumper raspberry crop.

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The peas in the garden have come thru. I was really worried about the seeds I chose for this season. There was an abundance of green growth with only one or two blossoms, but suddenly the plants erupted in a massive bloom and there are peas for miles and miles.

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The kale, chard and celery root are all doing really well too, and I spread the rest of last year’s straw on the ground to help with the moisture and keep the weeds down while I’m away.

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Oh, also, the little row of pollinators is a big hit. It was supposed to be sunflowers, poppies and calendula, but has turned into mostly calendula. That’s ok though, it’s working brilliantly to bring in the bees. I think I’ll do this again next year.

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The early tomatoes are also coming. They will all be for my house sitters though.

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And the last thing I did was repot all the houseplants and stick them all outside where they will be easier to water and care for.

My little cactus has so much new growth on it. Even the one branch pod leaf round segment that I managed to break off during repotting (it’s the one in the middle leaning up against the larger part), has rooted and sprouted new round bits. This is one of my first ventures into cacti. My grandfather loved them and so do I, but I just haven’t grown very many before. This one is deadly though. Just a quick brush against it and tons of invisible barbs stick in and stay there irritating for days and days. Next time I’m going to chose a much friendlier cactus!

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And lastly, Morgan is doing much better. If you are my friend of FB then you’ll know the trouble Morgan has had, if not, why not? Come be my friend.

Her asthma is under control and she seems to be having less pain in her knee, so I feel much better about leaving her in the capable hands of my house sitters while to go back to England.

But first, a quick little visit out to see Kerstie and our little girls.

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Comments: 12

  • June 30, 2016
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    Happy travels, Veronica! Busy here too but not going away. Best on Canada Day! 🙂

  • June 30, 2016
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    Such a beautiful garden, beautifully photographed.

  • June 30, 2016
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    A friendly cactus? That is a contradiction in terms. Truthfully though there are some very attractive species with much friendlier spines. Good luck..

  • July 1, 2016
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    Your garden looks absolutely lovely. Here on the east coast, we have been having some nice warm weather lately. We have planted pumpkins, squash, beans and beets this year, so my fingers are crossed for a good grow season.

    I am intrigued by your comment on making some “lavender bottles”. What exactly is that??? I have lavender growing, so I’d love to know a little more.

    I hope you will be blogging from wherever you are going—I really enjoy peeking in on you regularly!

    Safe travels

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    July 1, 2016
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    Garden looks gorgeous, Veronica! … but then your surroundings always look lovely with your touch. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pics! 🙂

  • July 2, 2016
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    Beautiful images V . You are leaving your house sitters some yummy treats. Oh dear what happened to Morgan? I’m a great fan of calendula too! How exciting that you are heading back to the UK. I just love the pic of the humming bird ?

  • July 3, 2016
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    Veronica, your garden is gorgeous!! I love the crocosmia, which I have never seen or heard of before. It looks like you have done lots of work which your house-sitters will be the beneficiaries of! I hope I’m not too nosy if I ask why you move back and forth every year? It sounds very exotic and romantic, but also very hard. And I’m glad to hear that Morgan is doing better. Hope your move goes well!

  • July 4, 2016
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    Beautiful photographs… I can almost smell the lavender… You and me, we’re like birds flying south… trouble at the moment it’s monthly for me, still no complaints, I’m a lucky girl. Take care love mx

  • July 5, 2016
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    oh poor Morgan, i knew she hurt her leg but i had no idea she had asthma … our Jack has it too and we use a people inhaler which gets inserted into a gizmo called a AeroKat ..one ‘pouf’ a day every day .. he doesn’t love it but he no longer wheezes/coughs … and its so much safer than the steroid shots (which can lead to diabetes, we experienced that first hand with our late cat Gus whose asthma was treated with steroid shots that triggered diabetes, and hip joint issues)

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