Another year ahead!

We've been in this house and been tending this garden for just over a year now.  At first I thought I would never settle, but at last I feel at home and love the garden every bit as much as our previous one.  Not that I've done much in it for the past month or so - I've been preoccupied with homeschooling the daughter and my own literature study.  However, I'm putting all my faith in the Winter fairies, knowing that the garden will bloom resplendent come the Spring.  Already there are the tips of daffodils and various other Spring flowers poking their way through the soil.  I love this time of the year, when it's still cold and bleak yet the first signs of growth and Springtime can be seen.

Speaking of fairies, the harsh weather can give the garden a battering so one of my projects for the coming months will be to make it prettier and more comfortable for my little helpers. The above picture and the one below, are examples I found by googling, of what I would like to do in my own garden.  Sweet, aren't they.
 

 I've pretty much got the design of the garden how we want it, but there is still some work to be done.  I'm going to plant a couple of rambling roses.  One will be rosa New Dawn (pictured below) and I've yet to decide on the other.  There are so many fabulous ramblers and climbing roses on offer.  My other tasks will be to make the garden even more wildlife friendly than it is now and I'd like to plant more fruit bushes.
 

The beginning of 2011 in our new garden was pretty grim, because of the flooding we had, but it all came together.  The highlight for me was being blessed with little Jack's company.  Hubby and I still think about him often and hope that he fared well over the Winter.

I'm so looking forward to the coming gardening season. 

Happy New Year everyone!

Not about sparrows this time. :D

I took some photographs today just to prove that I have actually been doing some gardening over the past few months!

 Our resident duck

The apple tree ~ its first year. 

I don't really like those perennial cornflowers.  They were already there and I intended removing them until I saw a pair of goldfinches return to them time and time again for the seeds.  

Bob peering through the front gate, one of his favourite past-times

Benji participating in his second favourite past-time, sleeping.  His first is eating.  Hubby's in the photo too.  Can you see him?

Always blessed with fairies!

There are strawberries in there somewhere!

Bob being handsome

Bob being extra-handsome!

Come on in

Look, hubby's managed to get himself in the picture again!

It took a long time for me to settle in this house, but I'm glad to say that it now feels like home and we're happier here than ever.

p.s. I didn't take any photographs out the back because the grass needs cut! :O)


p.p.s.  Couldn't resist a small update.  Saturday, 23rd July ~ eating well and gaining strength

The blooms & beasties in our garden this week.

This is Clematis 'Miss Bateman'. It's a large-flowered clematis with creamy-white petals tinged with pink. The claret coloured stamens make a wonderful contrast.

On top of the table are pots of herbs and baby tomato plants getting the sunshine on the patio. Underneath the table are this week's plants on my eBay auctions. :)

I did this at the weekend. It's a wigwam of bamboo canes. Runner Beans (Scarlet Emperor) will grow on the outer ones and Sweet Peas on the inner ones.




This is the lilac tree from underneath. It's growing next to a weeping willow, so it has to stretch way up high for the sunlight and all the flowers are at the top. It creates a pretty dappled light.

And, of course, we have fairies living in the garden whose help we couldn't do without ..... a little bit of magic fairydust works wonders! Oooops, looks like they have a pet rabbit. Can you see him?