Blooming well

The garden is moving onto its next phase. The snowberries are now giving way to a beautiful cream coloured broom. It looks resplendent next to a copper coloured hazel. Copper coloured leaves always seem to have a pinkish tinge when they have recently opened.

 

The broom in full bloom

On the other side of the garden the apple tree is covered with the red buds of blossom. Some buds are opening out to reveal their pale pink/white centres. If all those flowers set we will be inundated with apples come the autumn. the branches will be bowed down to the ground under the weight of them.

Further up the garden the camellia is covered with pretty pink flowers. While on the other side the dark red buds of the peach/apricot coloured rhododendrons are just starting to open out. In between, the rowans are uncurling their delicate leaf buds.

Further up still the azalea is in bud. And there’s a plant I don’t know the name of, but is low growing & at present covered with delicate white stars of flowers.

Each day new flowers open. There are new discoveries to be found. The troilus (globe flower) in the walled garden is in bud. Any day now their golden spheres will appear to compliment the colourful primulas under the oak trees.

Everywhere there is colour & signs of hope. Summer is i-coming on.

A new light

Yesterday the new lamp arrived. We put it in place. We liked it. It suited the space for it. Nonetheless we didn’t throw out the wrapping or the old lamp until we’d been able to see it switched on in the evening. We feared it might distract too much when we watched the TV. It didn’t.

So now we have a sensuously rounded wooden lamp of various shades of brown. It has a simple beige cotton shade.

In the box with the lamp were various catalogues from various companies. Glancing through, I spotted another lamp of interest. A quick measure of our second lamp that needed replacing & it seems an appropriate size. This has a stand that looks as though it’s made of a dark wood but which is in reality metal. The shade has a woodland look, dark brown trees on a beige background. It should look good where we want it. I think we will be ordering that too.

With a little bit of luck, our light problems will be solved. And at a fraction of those we’d liked in Chorley.

Hampton PIe

I’ve just been making up a Hampton Pie, a potato topped pie with corned beef underneath. The Fox was originally intending to make this for us. Then I pointed out, as we are using up from the freezer at the moment & on to chorizo, I would therefore be making Spicy Prawns & Chorizo for Wednesday. The Fox makes this dish better than me. I’m not sure why but he does. He instantly volunteered to make that yesterday, a day when I don’t have too much time for food preparation because of the carer coming in. So today I’m making the Hampton Pie. That’s using up some corned beef left over from a hash the Fox made last Friday.

I sometimes feel my life revolves around food. We only eat once a day, though if we’re hungry we might succumb to a nibble, a slice of toast & marmalade for breakfast, or a bowl of soup as a midnight feast. Even so food takes up a lot of time spent in thought, looking for ideas, deciding what to do, shopping, working out how to make the chosen meal. In my case it also involves loads of breaks, for a rest, in order to complete the next operation. Now the pie is ready to just go in the oven this evening. Nice & easy.

Hampton Pie is an old favourite, discovered in the early years of our marriage over 40 years ago. It still remains something of a treat. It has a satisfying simplicity, especially when it’s served with a warmed tin of baked beans. Mmm mmm…