In flower at last

Three years ago, armed with loads of enthusiasm and some seed packets, I sowed several varieties of perennials.  Some, like the corepsis, obligingly flowered the first season; others put on lots of leafy growth then flowered the following year and have continued to do.  The aquilegia, however, was a bit of a disappointment.  Off all the seedlings that germinated, all but two died.  They were rather weak and ended up at the back of the greenhouse until I found them again last year and planted them in the garden in the hopes of future success.  And this year they have finally come into their own.

Two pretty lilac and yellow flowers.  They are often referred to as 'Granny's Bonnets' and indeed the flowers do look a little like old-fashioned hats.

I am so delighted that at long last these plants have produced flowers.  There is something so satisfying in planting a tiny seed and watching it grow to maturity.

We are loving our blue and white tea-pot.  It holds just the right amount for two mugs of tea.  And I have learned to take my time over pouring the tea to avoid dribbles from the lid!  Some things need to be taken slowly.


After watching with wonder the bluetit chicks venturing into the open yesterday, this evening we saw with some horror one of the neighbourhood cats sitting on the fence trying to swipe at the nestbox with it's paw.  It obviously knows there are chicks in the box.  We can only hope that our little bluetit family is safe.

Fledglings, and brushes

We have seen one of the bluetit fledglings in the garden today, on several occasions.  Of course, it may be the same one every time or there could be more than one venturing from the box, we have no idea.  But it's been out with one of other of it's parents, a bit of a puffball and wings fluttering furiously.  We've also heard the chick(s) cheeping in the nestbox.  Fingers crossed that however many chicks are in the brood, they all fledge successfully.

The wedding cushion is finished - photos will wait till the day itself, but I'm very happy with how it has turned out.

We are planning on some decorating soon, and we decided that it was a good opportunity to sort out all the brushes and assorted bits and pieces.  For some reason - and I'm sure there once was a reason - some of the decorating stuff was in the shed and some was in the loft.  Why it wasn't all together in one place I don't know; we're usually very organised in that respect.  One brush was beyond use and had to be thrown away but all the others are perfectly serviceable, and will be for several more years if they are properly cleaned after use, and they are all now all together in one bag.

This was a little job that really didn't take long to do and will save us time when we need to find a paint-brush, roller or scraper.  

And we will be needing all of those, very soon ;)

The day after

The boots tell the tale

We both ache a bit today.  We are clearly not as young as we used to be.  

As promised, a few photos from along the way yesterday.

We've only just started, and already there's a hill.  Actually, it's a very steep hill up onto Culver Down - N was reaching for his inhaler by the top of the climb and there's still another 12 miles to go!

From the top of Culver Down there are great views across Bembridge Harbour and towards the mainland,

and on the other side, the broad sweep of Sandown and Shanklin Bay.

After that, the photos were few and far between.  It wasn't that the views weren't great, because they were - the Island really is a beautiful place.  But I found I had to concentrate on the walking, and stopping to take piccies wasn't the best of ideas.

Head down, eyes on the footpaths and try to negotiate the other walkers.

Sometimes we were all spread out along the trail -

 - other times, especially on the climbs, we all bunched up.  This nasty steep hill is almost at the end of the first half, coming into Carisbrooke.  You can see the pathway from some way off and it looks as bad as it is!  As we got nearer the the top I could hear bagpipes and as we rounded the corner, with Carisbrooke Castle in sight, we passed the Priory and there, on the top of the tower, was a bagpiper playing us all to the half-way finish post.  

For some reason I felt quite emotional; perhaps I was just relieved to have made it to the end.

And here we are, medals round our necks, having just crossed our personal finish line.  Others were carrying on to complete the entire walk, but we had set out to do the first half and had succeeded in our goal.  There was a great feeling of comaraderie throughout, and we met up with a number of friends along the way.  The marshalls and volunteers along the course were wonderful, encouraging ('just a little hill now') and did a grand job.  I have wanted to try the main walk for a number of years and I'm chuffed that we both had a go.

I learned that:

• proper walking boots are a must
• I should have checked my cycling jacket before the day - the zip was broken and had to be held together with safety pins
• lined trousers are great for keeping the wind out
• sunglasses are great for keeping dust out of eyes
• t-shirt and waterproof jacket works well
• a pocket-full of boiled sweets comes in handy
• sometimes you have no idea of where you are (not being able to see over the tops of hedges)
• a thumb-stick would have been useful for going up the hills and coming down the hills, and there was a lot of that to do
• you find your own pace and stick with it
• sometimes you need to dig deep to achieve a goal, but the sense of satisfaction is worth it.

A Sunday morning 'stroll'

Perhaps 'stroll' is not quite the word.  This morning, N and I joined several thousand others in the annual 26-mile Walk the Wight fund-raising walk in aid of the Island hospice.  Now in it's 24th year, this is a long-distance walk across the Island, from Bembridge in the east to Alum Bay in the west.  A few years ago, a 'flat walk' was introduced, 8 miles in length, from Sandown to Newport, allowing people who wanted to participate in a shorter, less-demanding route - ideal for those with young children, or for those for whom the long walk was a step too far.  We have done the flat walk ourselves, once with my mother and again with N's dad, daughter and grandchildren, making 4 generations of the same family walking together!

This year, however, I felt I should stretch myself to tackle the main walk.  We decided to do just the first half of the walk from Bembridge to Carisbrooke, a distance of about 12 1/2 miles, which we felt was probably our limit.  

We started walking at 07.25, set ourselves a target of 4 hours, and staggered through the line at Carisbrooke at spot-on 11.25, feeling mighty chuffed with ourselves.  All ages were walking, and whilst we were certainly twice the age of quite a few, we were impressed (and slightly in awe of) those people who clearly were more senior than us.  And all credit to all those people who kept going on to the end - 26 miles is a heck of a long way!

Although we do quite a bit of walking, this was different.  We are used to a more gently pace, with time for photos, investigations and watching wildlife.  And of course, it's just us.  When there are walkers in front and behind you, and a bit of a time factor, it's surprising how much quicker you walk.  We were certainly walking faster than we would normally, and after about 5 or 6 miles, we weren't talking much, either!  

The Island is hilly, there's no getting away from the fact, and we tackled quite a few of those hills today!  And there were even more in the second leg!  On the downs we felt the full force of a very blustery head-wind, and it was pretty tiring battling against it, especially when the dust from the fields started blowing into our eyes.  I had planned to take photos along the way, but it soon became clear that stopping was not an option - 'head down and keep going' became our motto.  

The last 2 or 3 miles were hard work for N, as cramp set in and blisters were a problem - I could see him in a bit of discomfort, digging in hard to keep going - but he was grimly determined to see it through to the end.  And we were really pleased, as we ceremoniously crossed the finish line, that we had succeeded in achieving what we had set out to do.  N has admitted that 8 miles is probably now his comfortable limit, so I'm very proud that he kept going with me.

I would really like to tackle the full walk, and I think I need to do it sooner rather than later - I'm not getting any younger!  Maybe I'll try the second half next year, but I know that I need to maintain a level of fitness in the meantime.  But that's no bad thing.

(photos to follow)

Sightseeing

The good weather recently meant that we could get out and about with our visitor - a little walk here, a trip in the car there.  It was a good excuse to go a little further afield than we normally do, and we had the opportunity to re-discover favourite haunts that haven't been visited for quite some time.

We had lunch one day at the Propellor Inn (been here before - excellent food!) which is adjacent to Bembridge Airport. It caters predominantly for private light aircraft, and the airfield was busy while we were there, about 20 aircraft and plenty of activity.  Amongst the many visitors who had flown in for lunch was a certain A Sugar (but minus his Apprentices!) - he pops down quite often, apparently, and appreciates the fact that the locals don't make a fuss.

We had several walks along the front as there is always something to see on the water.  This is the view across the Solent to the Spinnaker Tower from Puckpool Park.

The Church of the Holy Spirit is the parish church of Newtown.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon in and around Newtown Estuary, somewhere we don't visit very often, yet when we do, we are reminded again how beautifully quiet it is there.  It is a large salt marsh estuary, and is an important area for birdlife - there are several hides for enthusiasts to set up cameras and binoculars.

  

The area is managed by the National Trust (as is the Old Town Hall mentioned in a previous post but I now can't find it).  Despite the fact that it is rather 'off the beaten track', there were a number of people there, simply enjoying the peaceful nature of the place.  We had a short walk around (welly boots would not have gone amiss!) but agreed that we should make the effort to return during the summer to tackle some of the other footpaths in the surrounding area.

I'm also pleased to report we managed not just the first ice-cream of the year, but a second as well.  Both were delicious.

And for the record, we caught sight a fox in the garden next-door early one morning, and saw a family of four thrushes on one of our walks.  

After a break - what's happening in the garden

We've had a visitor for the last week or so and it was more important to spend time with them than try to keep up with the blog.  Actually, I think I learned a valuable lesson - sometimes things have to be put in hold.  It was important to us that we gave our visitor all of our time, not just when it suited us.  And when we embraced the visit whole-heartedly, well, of course, we enjoyed it so much more.  A few 'out and about' photos to follow, but first a quick re-cap in the garden.

We're certain now the bluetits have chicks.  Both adult birds are flitting in and out of the nestbox all through the day with insects and seeds so it looks like they've become parents :-)) 

These pretty pink flowers on the saxifrage are brightening up the rockery

The recent warm, sunny weather, and just a  little bit of night-time rain, has got everything growing well in the garden.  The perennials are bushing out (always exciting), and the shrubs have lots of new shoots.  The trees are well into leaf and the neighbours are cutting their lawns.

Purple flowers on the chives

Every Spring, we have a hunt around the flower beds just in case a rogue spud shows its face - and this year has been no different!  In amongst the grape hyacinths and perennials I spotted the tell-tale leaves of a potato that got forgotten at the end of last year:

We'll leave it and see if any potatoes develop; we might get enough for a meal!

Here's the pile of winter greens I picked a few days ago, a mixture from the cabbages, sprouts and broccoli plants.  These leaves were shredded and blanched and are now in the freezer.  They are a wonderful dark green, tasty, and rich in goodies and make a welcome addition to any dinner.

This evening I need to sit down and pick up the 'to do' list again.  There's a few things on the horizon and I think I'll be juggling quite a few lists.  More of that anon . . .

The tide's out!

April seems to be coming to an end with plenty of rain.  Not little short showers but a good downpour all day.  We're back to standing water in the gardens again; the ground is still saturated from all the winter rain.  

A gallop on Appley Sands; yachts on the Solent and Portsmouth in the background

This afternoon, however, cleared bright and sunny, though still a bit chilly and breezy, but I was in need of a good walk so I took myself off along the esplanade towards Seaview.  It's always a popular walk on a Sunday afternoon, and there were lots of people about.

Seaview in the distance. 

The tide was out - way, way out.  From a distance, the pier looked as if it had been left high and dry, and the hovercraft was making it's approach to the slipway across a vast expanse of wet sand. 

The white wading bird at the water's edge is an egret; one of the Solent forts looming in the background.

 I walked along the sea wall as far as Seaview, but walked all the way back along the beach.  The huge shingle bank that was thrown up during the storms a few months ago is still there, but it is gradually flattening out.

 

Appley Tower

I thoroughly enjoyed my walk; if nothing else it blows the cobwebs away and gives me a good dose of healthy sea air.

I'm still working on the wedding cushion and really enjoying the hand stitching.  Hopefully it should be finished this week.  Then I need to give some thought to a dress for the wedding.  And do I wear a hat?