GDPR and us

Over the last week my poor in box has been overwhelmed with GDPR emails. At Hill Farm we only use guest information in relation to your stay with us, we keep it secure and never share it ... The End.

Glorious sky

After such a dry spell rain is forecast here, maybe because of this the sky is full of glorious colours tonight, I've also been watching the swallows who are swooping around our barns.

Looking back

What a difference! The top photo is how our garden looked nearly five years ago when we bought Hill Farm. Originally there were vegetables grown here but by the time we arrived it had reverted to field.

Cow parsley

This year the cow parsley is so beautiful it lines our lane with its clouds of white blossom, some think it unlucky to bring indoors but I'm afraid I've filled the church with it too!

Finally

Finally Dave is painting our barn door the same colour as the front door ... this was always the plan but after putting on the grey undercoat several years ago he decided he rather liked it!!

Bees

The ceanothus is in full bloom and full of very small bees making a surprising amount of noise as they gather the pollen. I'm always tempted to use sprays for flower arrangements but it doesn't keep well in the vase.

Just sitting

We have made a new path through our long grass which grows around our apple trees. Sitting here gives a different view of the garden and hopefully it will also be easier when the time comes to cut it back!

Vapour trails

Today our son has flown to America for work and tonight the sky is criss crossed with vapour trails. So many people on the move.

Flower time

Suddenly after a long winter the garden has come back to life, there are flowers opening on my beautiful Jacqueline de Pré rose and the borage has seeded everywhere but that's great as I love using it to garnish guest breakfasts!

Royal Wedding

Making posies to take with us to our neighbours where we are going to watch the Royal wedding - a day of posh frocks and fun!

Extraordinary rainbow

There is an extraordinary rainbow above us this evening, a sideways semi circle and curving up not down. Apparently it's a circumzenithal arc!

Late frost

I was surprised to wake up to a frost this morning, we've had so many hot days recently it's easy to forget we are only half way through May.

Memories

Gardening today I was so pleased to see my rosemary in flower, this had come as a cutting from a bush in my parents garden and it had been looking very unhappy after the hard winter. I also found a pretty blue and white china fragment whilst earthing up the potatoes!

Cow Parsley

Suddenly our lane is full of cow parsley, I love it and often use it for flower arranging but have recently been told that it is thought by some people to be unlucky. I love the billowy softness it brings.

Swallows

We were beginning to worry that we wouldn't have swallows nest here this year. They'd arrived just as we had a few cold and very windy days which meant they'd gone away again, but glorious sunshine and blue sky has brought them back and they've spent all day swooping in and around our barns making their chattering call.

Well dressing

We went to Tissington to see the Well Dressing today. They are beautifully made using petals and other natural materials pressed into clay. It was much cooler today and quite breezy.

Morning mist

We have a beautiful rising mist here this morning and when I drink my tea outside it's cold enough for my breath to show. Lots of birdsong in the air and vapour trails high above.

Colour combinations

My orange ballerina tulips look lovely this year emerging through a sea of pale blue forget me nots.

Homegrown

For breakfast I had English strawberries, creamy yoghurt, Hill Farm granola and my first borage flower of the year, then I had to clear a little patch of leeks so I made a delicious creamy leek and cheese tart for our supper. Summer eating (and yes it's only May!)

Sunset

A beautiful sky as the sun slips towards the horizon tonight, even better I was viewing it from the hot tub!

Spa day

This is what happens when you pop out to buy some seeds and find that the store has an amazing deal on a hot tub!!

Our meadow

The grass is suddenly growing so fast in this hot weather that you can almost see it happening and in the top field we have a mass of golden dandelions.

Sunset

We are lucky to see incredible sunsets at Hill Farm with our wide open views. It is interesting to observe how quickly the setting sun moves further west each day which I hadn't really appreciated until moving here. In January it sets over Doveridge looking straight down from our kitchen window but now it sets across the Big Field at least 45° further round.

Gardening

The cold, wet spring means that we are very behind with our sowing but today the weather looks perfect and I've been preparing the soil and checking which seeds we need to go and buy.

Dandelions

Our Top Field has turned golden with hundreds of dandelions, later the goldfinches and partridge will come to feast on the seed heads.

Curbar Edge

We went walking, I loved the way stones had little fairy pools in them. Dave was happy to go to the edge to enjoy the view, but I preferred to stay further back! Then just as we sat on a rock to enjoy the peace and listen to the skylarks to military helicopters roared over the top of us!

Skylark

It was windy but sunny as we walked along Curbar Edge in the Peak District, we heard skylarks and suddenly saw this one singing from a rock just in front of us, although it was beautifully camouflaged its loud song helped us to locate it easily. It was hard to believe though that something so small could produce so much volume.