Good Friday skywatch

A flat blue sky may not mean much to many skywatchers, but for me it is a delight after a long, grey winter, especially when, like today, the air is still and warm. Now the horse chestnut tree is covered in fresh green leaves,

but the walnut tree is still bare-leaved, it is always slow to waken after the winter months. We, however are wide awake and getting ready for the summer months ahead! We brought the garden furniture out of store and gave it a coat of teak oil. A blue deck chair is in action while the oil dries and  here is my blue sky photo for Friday Skywatch.

At last I'm able to put some of the plants from the greenhouse outside. 

At this time of year the sun comes round to the west side of the house and today it was warm enough to have the door open. The sunlight flooded in and lit corners that are usually in shadow.

Lighting up the carvings of Christine Kowal-Post.

It was a warm and peaceful day, a good start to the Easter weekend. I hope that your Easter holiday will be equally enjoyable. A large orange-coloured moon appeared in the early evening but my camera couldn't capture the unusual colour.

Changing weather

It is misty, damp weather today, but warmth and sunshine is promised for the end of the week. Hurrah, I'll finally be able to get some seedlings into the ground. The wind has eased and everything feels far more promising. The cold weather has meant that the daffodils have flowered for far longer than usual.

Blossom on the pear and plum trees is also looking good.

It is too damp to work outside but, whatever the weather, I can't resist wandering about the garden to see what changes are taking place.

The new ladder has made clipping the bay tree a far easier job. I'm trying to get it as spherical as possible.

The large shrub that covered the pergola has been cut down. It died of either old age or the drought, most probably a combination of the two. I thought I would miss it, but am actually enjoying the open view.

I've got a repeating theme of rounded forms throughout the garden. These box balls sit in an untidy herbaceous border. The idea is to give some formal structure to the chaos that grows up around them!

The veg garden is ready to spring into action.

and in the greenhouse the auricles are coming into flower.

It's a lovely time of year!

A walk and talk

Our local hotel has a food miles policy and they grow much of their own produce within their walled kitchen garden.  The growing season is well advanced within the shelter of the walls which keep out the bitter winds that are currently raking through my garden. Any interested people from the village were invited to come for a walk and talk with the gardeners. 

It turned into a walk and a nibble as there were many unusual, and spicy, plants to sample.

Heated poly-tunnels get everything off to a good start.

We walked across this area of grass looking rather downcast. It is where the open air swimming pool once was. It was a popular village meeting place throughout the warm summer months and is much missed!

We had a peep inside the mushroom house

to admire the crop.

and than back to the hotel

for tea and cake.

Just my kind of event!

Spring in the Dales

We've just returned from a week in the Yorkshire Dales. We arrived in sunshine, but no sooner had we stowed our bags than I looked out of the window to see snow falling! It didn't lie for long however, only leaving a dusting on the hill tops. But during the week we had a bit of everything. For several days we were in hill mist, unable to see the other side of the dale. The wind was cold and I wasn't tempted to do much gardening, only tidying up last years dried sticks and foliage. 

It  provided an excuse for a bonfire in the garth.

A pair of mallards were in the beck. 

I hope they are going to nest nearby.

 We did our regular circular walk on the moor top. 

How I love this landscape.

From the moors we dropped back down into the village.

Our neighbours across the way have sold their house and are moving into town.

They will surely miss their view!

We had a lovely, sociable time, a catch-up with friends, good food and a trip to Betty's for one of my favourite  Yorkshire specialities.

Delicious!

There was a heavy early morning frost on the day that we left,

traveling over the hill to see call in on my brother

before the miserable journey back to the West Country.

In London.

There are a lot of good things to see in London at the moment. Last week I went with a friend to a couple of exhibitions. We stayed overnight with one of my daughters who lives in central London. Her garden is the size of a pocket handkerchief and, though a nice space, provides little opportunity for picking flowers to bring into the house. She compensates for this with lovely shop-bought bouquets.

Roses to drool over.

And ranunculas that reminded me of the dresses we had seen at the Dior exhibition the previous evening. 

Our first visit was to the Bonnard exhibition at the Tate Modern. What a delight! So much to see that we took a break for lunch and then returned to the paintings for another look.

It made me think that I should paint in my garden as Bonnard did. But after digging, planting and weeding where would I find the time? Perhaps he had a gardener!