Thursday 31 March 2016

Flowers in the Garden

Following up from my post on the sculpture exhibition on Tuesday I am returning to the Botanic Gardens today to show some of the flowers that were out in the garden. It is quite early in the season and a lot of the shrubs were still dormant. There was however quite a few spring flowers. These wild daffodil were prolific in the native plants area.


I had never seen these collared narcissi before.


Then there were some rather wind beaten but beautiful anemones.



Then several stunning white magnolias which always make a good picture.




The glasshouses also had quite a selection.




Certainly a lovely setting for a stroll.











Wednesday 30 March 2016

Snap: Through the Round Door.

Following on from my "through the door" pictures last week I have four more for Helena's Snap this week.  I described yesterday part of my visit to the Festival of Sculpture at Bristol Botanic Gardens. These gardens are relatively new and have been thoughtfully laid out. The entrance into the Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden is through a circular gateway.
Looking in and towards the right.



Then to the left showing also the two Regal horse heads guarding either side which are part of the exhibition.


A zoomed in look of the same direction.


Then finally looking back up out of the Chinese garden into the local flora area.




 

Tuesday 29 March 2016

Art in the Garden

It seems to be coming quite a tradition on Easter Monday to visit the Festival of Garden Sculpture at Bristol Botanic Garden. It makes a relaxing walk after an otherwise busy weekend. There is always quite a diversity of art work which I will try to give you a taster of.


I would have to think carefully before introducing these to my garden. I wonder what Monty would make of them?


I am pretty sure he would think this was a dog bowl!


Perhaps a bird house which are apparently frost proof and impervious to moisture.


My ex-colleague Jude Goss had as always a wonderful display of her stained glass.


These little creatures displayed in a tree were also made of glass.


Then these were from recycled glass.

                                    

Should you be partial to the rust look there was a giant pine cone.


These mushrooms I could happily blend into our woodland.


Perhaps my favourite this year was the water fountain powered by solar energy and moving in response to music. 



My photographs far from do it justice and don't show the series of patterns it made and the consequential patterns on the water. I could have watched it all day! Anyone wishing to buy me a present can get me one of these but you will have to dig a large pond for me first!
Later in the week I shall show you the bird artwork on display in the greenhouses and some of the flowers in bloom.














Monday 28 March 2016

Memorandum Monday: New Life

Firstly I would like to give a big wave to Sian and all the other blog readers and wish everyone a very Happy Easter.

                

Easter is all about new life, new growth and resurrection. Anyone who has read my posts over the weekend will know there has been plenty of new growth happening on the farm this weekend. We have been thrown rapidly into the midst of full on lambing. 


We have of course had time for a family roast dinner of Roast Lamb (sorry to the squeamish!) and all the trimmings. The girls who own most of the sheep are expected to do the majority of the work. Older daughter has spent most of the day in the lambing shed.


Younger daughter has divided her time between revising for A Levels and doing her share of work with the sheep.


The expectant mums wait patiently. Things aren't as crowded as they look.


Then guess what this little one was named??


Had to be Patch!
There was of course time to dash back to the rest of the family for some Easter tea. 

                     

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the Easter break.








    

Sunday 27 March 2016

First Class Accommodation

Some of you may recall that back in November I talked about a small barn that was in a field that we had recently bought. You can see it here.


Several of you were taken with the idea of an art /craft room but it is too isolated with no electricity for anything like that. The first step has been taken to encourage wildlife to use it. An owl box has been fixed up on the outside.




Meanwhile another resident has been using the inside. An early lamb and ewe have been penned in there to give them shelter from the elements.



Pretty cosy accommodation really!






Saturday 26 March 2016

Lost Lamb

Over the last couple of days the ewes have started to have their lambs. They were still out in the field until yesterday and I went up with older daughter to check them. Once they start they need checking every few hours in case any of the ewes need help and to try and prevent any mix ups.


It is necessary to quietly walk round them all.


On this occasion there was a mystery lamb all on it's own. This is unusual as the mother usually stays close by.


A little bit of checking was done to try and find the missing mum.


Expectant ewes can appear interested in a lamb if they are close to lambing themselves.



We were unable to identify a mum so the lamb was brought back, given a bottle and given to another ewe with a single lamb to foster. The rest of the ewes are now in the shed where they can be monitored more easily and are in the dry.






Friday 25 March 2016

Six Word Story: Cool

In order to take part in Miriam's six word story  I have again delved through my old photos for the word cool. One hot summer the girls made a few visits to a waterfall adjacent to one of our fields.


Thursday 24 March 2016

The Reluctant Patient

Tiggy as I have previously mentioned is a bit of a wanderer and can be gone for a day or two. We get used to him coming and going.


He is not so happy at the moment. He has had an abscess on his face which has needed some attention and he has been put on antibiotics. I have had to keep him in to bathe his face and to give him his tablets. He has been confined to the house and conservatory.  He does not agree with this.


He has been taking every opportunity to escape and has to be bribed with treats to come back in. The  cat flap was locked to stop him going out. Imagine my surprise to find him missing. We can only guess at how he squeezed his way out! He returned after 24 hours and the cat flap was blocked with a bag of compost until his tablets were finished!


This was all several days ago. Tuesday evening I left him for the night curled up asleep with Socks on a chair. Just one more antibiotic to go. I came down on Wednesday morning ready to give him his last tablet and let him out. Tiggy had other ideas! During the night Tiggy had burrowed his way through the bag of compost, pulled all the rubber off the cat flap and was GONE leaving a tattered bag of compost all over the floor! No doubt he will be back soon!







Wednesday 23 March 2016

Snap: Looking Out

 Wednesday means Snap Day when we join Helena  in her challenge to show up to four photos with a visual connection. Today I have chosen a selection from my recent visit to Tyntesfield House, a National Trust property in North Somerset. We had a wander down to the Walled Kitchen Gardens. I have shown a fondness for taking pictures through gates and doors. On this occasion I am giving you a glimpse out of the walled garden.
The first looks out East onto a new orchard that has been recently planted and on into the hills behind.


The second looks out towards the west where there is a further small walled garden which as well as containing some old fruit trees is used as a nursery for young shrubs and trees.

                                                           

The third looks back through this same gate, across the middle of the garden and back out through the first gate.


Lastly a view out of the main gate towards the greenhouses.