Garden bounty

I'm delighted with the newly planted 'scarecrow bed'. Created mainly from seedlings that I already had and plants purchased from garden open days it has matured even better than I'd hoped. My pumpkins are already at the top of their tepees (very Sarah Raven!) and my bargain B&Q dahlia is excelling itself (bought from the clearance bin!)

More jam

Dave and I combined efforts today to pick a lot of our blackcurrants. I made more jam and also froze some of the fruit having collected 8lb and left some more on the bushes. They'll be plenty to have on scones and crumpets this year! I also got on with the job of labelling my jars so I store them away carefully in the pantry.

Butterflies

Whenever the sun makes a brief appearance the garden fills with butterflies. Sitting outside with a cup of tea I'm bathed in the scent from the buddleia and occasionally the butterflies mistake me for a flower alighting on my skirt. At the moment (as seen in the photo) we've lots of Comma's and Red Admirals here with the odd Peacock making an appearance (and Large Whites lurking round the brassicas).

Sweet peas and courgettes

After a slow start my sweet peas have begun to flower and I've just been out in the garden to pick a bunch, along with a small courgette (a couple escaped my notice and are turning marrow like already!)

Fresh air

We had a lovely walk, sheltering like the sheep from the heavy spells of rain (I took an umbrella, not very proper rambler-like but it kept me largely dry!) I loved this mother cow gently licking her calf. The fields are full of very young cows enjoying the rapidly growing summer grass.

LBJ's

These birds (on the wall, OK photo not very clear) were flying above us as we walked The Roaches, at first I thought they were dunnocks but maybe they are female stonechats as the one in flight definitely has a touch of red to the body. They were reluctant to stay in one place for long enough for me to get a good picture though. (LBJ's in birding terms are 'little brown jobs')

Bilberry picking

We were after bilberries, but so it became apparent where the sheep and there were a) more of them and b) they'd got here first. Much hunting produced a tiny bowl of fruit, about enough to have with a couple of scones!

The Roaches

Our real destination for the day out was The Roaches just north of Leek. We stayed in the car as a heavy band of rain passed through and then went in search of bilberies which grow wild on the more. We walked up to a gap in the rocks and were amazed to see the sun shining on Jodrell Bank in the very near distance.

A day out

Fed up with weather we decide to head out for the day. Looking west from the farm are the Weaver Hills so we drove up there and marvelled at the panorama before us, we need to return on a day when visibility is crystal clear and bring the binoculars.

A British summer

The weather has been awful this last week with strong winds that blew the bunting down and after such a dry spell, very heavy rain which is pouring down the lane to the village. Time to focus on indoor tasks for a while I think and hope August delivers summer sun.