A Sunny Subrural July!

Well, what can we say? Britain is indeed basking in the most beautiful sunshine, and we can only cross our fingers that it's here to stay (for a reasonable time at least!). It's the month for enjoying all our hard work from those chilly spring mornings, when we buried those seeds and hoped for the best! Now watching the bees buzz from flower to flower replaces television (see above video - incredible swarm!), Pimms becomes a permanent feature (enjoyed on the newly-broken-in patio furniture) and we are all looking that little bit healthier, hurrah!

I am cottoning on to this new phrase of 'Subrural', although not in the oh-so-Surrey '4x4 purely for Waitrose' way, I promise! For me, I do feel I have my own little patch of The Good Life nestled in a very typical south-east environment, and I do love shutting the door on all those endless parked cars at the end of the day, phew! I have yet to blog about my newest addition to the garden, but I just want to make sure it's looking it's best, in the meantime, here's whats happening now, look out for the amazing fruit print dress I found in a Swedish charity shop, i wasn't sure I'd get the chance to enjoy it!
I also was lucky enough to have a visit from Thom who is usually found in super-cool Gothenburg, so Pimms was naturally on the agenda!

(Thank you Bruce for those super photos!)

Hope you have been having a great week, those summer holidays creep ever nearer!!

Katie

Summer in the Garden

Due to recent events, I haven't been able to give my plot and our garden the attention it deserves. The lawn did turn into a meadow for a few weeks, and all the radishes and lettuces bolted to the sky, so I've had to replant those, or suffer very dull salads for the rest of the season!

I started by sorting out the potting area, which needs some TLC! My dad built the tables from left over planks balanced on kettle/oil drums so it's very thrifty! I removed all the weeds/dried out sticks and discovered we actually have a great stash of pots and other vessels, even old medicine bottles!

I've been searching for inspiration for this particular area online (mostly on Pinterest - click and see for yourself) but often the examples are so over styled, frilly and unpractical - like too much 'womens gardening' accessories these days, 'Shabby Chic' still reigns supreme - waaaaah!

I'm going to take a leaf out of Alys Fowler's "The Thrifty Gardener" book instead. Fantastic practical AND creative approach to getting your garden into shape, and she doesn't have to use bunting and colour-coordinated wellington boots to feel satisfied with her efforts, hallelujah! If you haven't yet picked up one of Alys's books, I cannot recommend them highly enough, however, her Twitter feed also provides great tips&hints, so get following!

Meanwhile, our bean crop has been perking up! Our 'Olympic Highjump' frame is working well, and the straight frame is full up too, sadly black fly have attacked half so I'm heading out with soapy water tomorrow, bye bye bugs!

Flower-wise, I have been slacking...apart from my still-growing sunflower, the only success story are the cornflowers, but they are a favourite of mine anyway! That vivid blue is rare to find in the natural world, i never get fed up with it! My chamomile plant is lurking under there somewhere too...

Mr Owl had to make a reappearance to try and deter some pests...very regal isn't he? Slightly wonky angle makes him slightly more endearing, which could work against him! And I am the proud owner of 3 baby squashes, we'll see what they actually turn into, they were from a mixed seed packet from Lidl!

Carrots and swedes both APPEAR to be well but who know what lurk beneath that soil (ever the optimist eh?)


And finally, our first attempt at growing potatoes seems to have been successful (although the taste-test still needs to confirm!). We grew the New Potatoes and Red Roosters in old compost bags, with well-drained pots in the bottom so they weren't getting too soggy! A few dodgy ones, but not because of blight...just because I ignored them for a while! It was very satisfying pulling them out from the soil, each one felt like a prize! I MADE THOSE!

As i know from experience, when things get tough, keep busy, keep productive. All the work on my Website came from trying times, so i know the answer for me! Gardening, blogging and reading.

Thanks popping by, as always!

Katie

To the Sea - Charmouth/Lyme Part one.

Time for a few holiday snaps from our recent trip to Dorset, staying in Charmouth and visiting Lyme Regis and Bridport. Charmouth really is a wonderful town, it has the perfect mix of rural scenery and seascape, and is far calmer this time of year to Lyme Regis. I love being able to walk to the bakery and butchers every day, they obviously have a good strong community spirit there, very friendly locals! We particularly enjoy taking Mollie here because she is allowed on the greenery surrounding Charmouth Beach, and we get to enjoy the beautiful views. This was THE week of brilliant English weather, so yes, the sky really WAS that blue! I took my good pal the Olympus XA3 this time.

From the beach front in Charmouth you get an excellent view of The Cobb in Lyme Regis, one of my favourite spots in the UK, made world famous in the film 'The French Lieutenant's Woman'. We took a stroll over there during the week, and found it pleasantly quiet compared to the heaving beaches. I braved the heights and made the most of the stunning panoramic view (managing not to lose my shoes/camera over the side - phew!)

Just a seaside snippet for now! I have one more roll to be developed, so expect more holiday snaps soon! Hope you all are enjoying/have enjoyed/will enjoy a break this summer! Where's your chosen destination?

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

Having just returned from the seaside, I thought it was a perfect time to share these beautiful seaside theme photographs with you! I picked most of these up in my favourite camera and collectible shop in Bridport, which I blogged about last year - read about it HERE

I absolutely adore being beside the sea. Like many others, some of my earliest memories are family beach holidays, caravaning in Dorset, beaches in Bournemouth, dockyards in Portsmouth and many other piers, broadwalks and cliffs. Happy times, very happy times. That's why I enjoy collecting these photographs so much.

I hope you enjoy seeing these people enjoying their holidays of the past too, I'd love to know which are you favourites, and your own favourite seaside memories!

"We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came" - John F. Kennedy



Katie