More joyous things

The time has come to turn my attention to more joyous things, you'll be relieved to hear.

Last night, in the midst of eating the excellent Kipper & Egg Kedgeree the Fox had made, I suddenly noticed the sweet peas in the vase on the table move. I thought at first I was seeing things. But no, there was a bright green caterpillar looping its way from under the petals. Dinner was briefly adjourned as he was helped out of the door.

Even more marvellous, the ligularia has opened out its first flower. A hint of gold has been emerging from the chocolate leaves for some time now. When I planted it last year, the flowers were already over so this is the first time I've seen it come into bloom. The rich gold is stunning. It echoes the rather yellower gold of the troilus (globeflower) which has also decided to have a second bloom this year.

In the midst is the hydrangea. It, too, has decided to flower. Admittedly I planted a deep blue one & it is now a bright pink one. I'm not complaining. I'm just glad it's survived the winter. For a long time it continued to look a gonner, & even now it is a considerably smaller plant than it was last year when I planted it.

I did venture briefly down to the rockery. There I nearly stood on a small frog just a couple of inches big. He hastily hopped away.

Out in the front garden the echinacea is doing well. We now have 3 pink flowers. The petals are beginning to bend back. It amazes me how hard, rather dry feeling & sharp, the central cone is - a bit like a teasel. I'm glad I left that "weed" in. The bees are still buzzing around the oregano, though they are moving their interest a bit to the fennel.

I've just had a phone call from the tree surgeon, suggesting coming around tonight to look at the trees that need some trimming. We're hoping to get a bit more light in, while placating one of our neighbour at the same time.

Hopefully he will also be able to do something with the trees of our neighbour on the other side. He has one that's dead & one on its last legs. Both he feels are dangerous, but he's been told there's a tree preservation order on them. Hopefully something can be done to make them safe before they come crashing down into our garden.

Life's getting back to normal, more in balance.