Rose Vintage

Chicken Run

You would think that the fact that I am overrun with eggs during the summer months would put me off purchasing anymore livestock but these two little chickens were so irresistible that as you can see it did not stop me. So now I am the proud owner of two bantams, the prettily named Silver Sebrights! 

Last Friday I found myself invited to a 'Hen Party' and went along the next day to hopefully meet some new people and chicken contacts. The hen party was an idea started by Francine Raymond who has written some beautiful books on the subject of the kitchen garden and all things associated with it.  Keeping hens, ducks and geese and bee-keeping are just some of the subjects she has written about.  Take a look at the book page of her website if you are looking for a book to get you started and with the added bonus of some really beautiful photographs  I met some lovely people at the party, a lot of whom were complete beginners at keeping chickens. I asked one particular lady what had started her interest and she said without a moments hesitation 'Jamie'. Ah the power of the media! She is excitedly looking forward to her hens laying their first egg. I can remember that moment, and it is a real thrill! That's without taking into consideration the wonderful taste and colour of a 'homegrown egg'. The Hen Party seemed such a good idea that I mentioned it to my neighbour Lucy. We have decided to have a party of our very own later this year and with that in mind we are going off to buy some hatching eggs this coming Monday. So expect lots of chicken posts and pictures in the next few months.

You might just be able to guess what I called my two newbies?

Why Francine and Raymond of course!

Beth Chatto's Garden

 

I don't know if you fellow bloggers feel the same as I do but why am I so surprised when I realise that it's nearly June!!? Where has the time gone? I am feeling a lot better since my last post especially as I have had so many comments from other women telling me how they are all going through the same thing! It made me feel better just realising that you are experiencing the same problems with the menopause as myself. I have now been taking Meno Herbs 2 for about a week and half now and the improvement has been amazing. From having 3/4 flushes an hour, I am now experiencing about the same amount but per DAY! I feel so much better! Last week though I might have been happier to have a flush or two as I visited Beth Chatto's garden on a freezing cold Tuesday that was more like November than May! That said I had a lovely time wandering around the garden with my mother and sister and bought home some unusual plants to plant in my garden. The picture above is from the gravel garden. It used to be a car park until Beth Chatto decided to experiment with drought conditions and the plants that could be grown within that environment. She wanted to be able to grow plants under conditions that the everyday gardeners experience like hose pipe bans and low rainfall such as is experienced in Essex, where the garden is located. I love the colours in the grouping above.

A series of ponds, fed by a spring within a ditch, link the lower garden together. An abundance of greenery along the edge of the ponds, dotted here and there with splashes of colour from candelabra primulas draw the eye along the length of the garden....

The Hosta leaves look as if they are quilted,don't they ? The planting scheme of the garden always looks so effortless as every great garden does I suppose. One thing I took heart from was the fact that every time I go there is always an area undergoing re-planting. I sometimes struggle on with planting schemes in my own garden that don't please me anymore. Often the plants have grown too big for the border so now I think I will take cuttings from them and then replant. At least then I will still have the plant but a somewhat smaller one which is more in keeping with my garden.

The gravel garden again.....

The alpine garden was the most sheltered area in the garden and far more welcoming when the sun came out!  The tree to the left of the picture is a Judas Tree a very pretty pink...

And finally, beautiful blues......