Saturday 25 January 2014

Garden re-awakening

It's been raining for weeks and months. It is raining now, as I write. We haven't been doing anything outdoorsy, apart from walking from home to school or city centre for grocery shopping or going to Cafe Nero, which kids love for the tasty Palmini biccies and Giandujotti chocolate.
A few days ago, when there was a short break in the sky business and the sun has shyly looked out of the fluffy clouds, Eddie and I ventured into the garden.
We haven't looked at it properly for weeks, and I was curious to see what is happening in the garden. I had some wild garlic delivered earlier last week, and they needed to be planted.



We also wanted to hang a little bird feeder that we made recently with Eddie.



There is a lot of work to be done soon. Lots of leaves will need to be swept from the paths, the lawn has to be cleared from all the rotting apples, which we left for the birds.
The sandpit has survived, though the lid will need a replacement, it looks battered and torn, and we don't want the neighbours' cats to feel welcome in our sand. Eddie was happily digging and trying to build a sandcastle from the very wet sand. We've had this sandpit from Big Game Hunters since November 2012 (see my original post Hurrah, we've got a sandpit), and it has been much used and much loved. When it's raining, Eddie talks about it, wishing for the rain to go away so he can play outside. The wooden frame withstands the cold and rainy weather, but as I said, we'll need to buy a new plastic cover.


Eddie grabbed a watering can, and despite me telling him it was wet as it was, he insisted on watering some plants.



To my surprise I found quite a few flowers already. The snowdrops are coming out, so far in very modest little groups, but soon there will be a carpet-full of these beautiful little fighters which are not afraid of the frost or snow.



There were a couple of purple spears of crocuses, and even a few yellow spots of primroses.
And to my total amazement, the black hellebore decided it was the right time for it to show its Royal Highness. I haven't seen it in bloom for the last couple of years, and was wondering if it would ever reappear.



Our garden is slowly awakening, and I cannot wait to start working there, with Eddie running around, playing  with the sand and "helping" me.


16 comments:

  1. This just proves that you don't have to further than your own garden for some outdoor fun and adventures. Lovely photos of Eddie having fun in his wellies and the new life appearing in your garden. Thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.

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    1. Thank you, Fiona! If only it stopped raining. I am very eager to start clearing the winter mess in the garden.

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  2. Well done for getting out, ours is like a swamp. No idea whats in it at the moment

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    1. Ours is on the swampy side as well today, as it's been bucketing all day long

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  3. I love your beautiful garden - and that amazing bird feeder. Much better than my milk bottle one! Thank you for linking to PoCoLo, great to see you back :) x

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    1. Your birdfeeder will survive better than our construction.

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  4. Great to get out even just into the garden. His face says it all really #countrykids

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    1. And it's back to rain. There was a ray of sunshine earlier today, but once we came back home, it started raining yet again

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  5. Ahhh lovely! I adore snowdrops and I have just bought a few bunches of daffodils! I love Spring flowers!

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    1. A bit too early for daffodils in the garden, but hope to see them soon as well, they are so cheerfully bright, aren't they?

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  6. I love the bird feeder you made!! A great Idea! I think I'm going to make one with my little boy....although we Will need to put it somewhere good that our kitty Binx can't get too! :)

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    1. We don't have a cat of our own, but the neighbours' cats come to visit our garden often

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  7. The bird feeder is a brilliant idea (although our cat tends to share off most of the birds still think I'll give it a go). We went out in the garden for the first time in weeks today and I was surprised we have a lonely snowdrop growing (which I'm not even convinced we planted). Good luck getting your garden back in order!

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    1. With all these rains, our birdfeeder has sadly collapsed into a pile of sticks. Thank you for your kind wishes!

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  8. It's lovely to finally be back in the garden with the kids - we have made good use of the driveway for chalk drawing, hula hooping and riding on the trikes but there's nothing like digging around in the veg beds to tire the little ones out.

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    1. Getting mucky is always fun! And all that fresh air. My little man would live in the garden given a chance

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