Loved Brugge

We loved Brugge!  After our trip to the amazing Katrien Michiel's Fuchsia and Pelargonium Nursery, we drove to Brugge.   We loved Brugge (did I say that already??).   When we arrived we found a policeman and barrier blocking our route into the City.  I stopped the car (probably should not have done that as it was a fairly fast road) and hopped out to ask.   He told me that there were a lot of people going to be leaving the city and it was closed for security reasons.  He actually wasn't very friendly, but I guess I was probably the umpteenth foreign person to have stopped to ask why we could not enter Brugge, and it was a hot day.  So, we parked up a bit farther along the road and walked into the city.    After walking for about twenty minutes we saw there was a marathon on - hundreds of runners.

 

There was not much we could do, and nothing open for a drink - soft or otherwise - so we walked back to where we needed to enter the city with the car and then found that we could now drive in.   Another walk back to the car and we drove to our hotel.  After settling into our room we went out to discover Brugge.  I had been there before on a day trip, but Sandy had not.  We were quite hungry and weary and just could not decide what we wanted to eat so ended up in a burger bar.  Actually very good.   The next day we went exploring.

We loved this building with the pots of tulips in the window boxes - it was so high.

Have you ever heard hang drums?  They make a really good sound and this chap played a didgeridoo as well.   Sandy and I had never heard this before and stopped to listen for quite a while, then we bought his CD.  You can hear hang drums being played on YouTube.  They are a Swiss invention apparently.

Interesting motor scooter covered in wine bottle sticky back plastic.

Very very naughty chocolate!

Of course, there were the canals:

Fish and chips, Belgium style.  Very good.

We thought this dog had the best spot to take a nap.

We loved Brugge (think I might have already said that!)  More soon on our adventures.

Visit to Belgium

Hello again.  It seems an age since I was last here, but I have had a friend from California visiting and so not much time for blogging, or crochet, or gardening.   She returned home last week, and I have been 'catching up' with myself.

As you will know, I am a 'pelarholic'!  I have two greenhouses full of pelargoniums, from species to zonals.  My friend Sandy is the same - in fact we met on the Internet about 13 years ago through our love of pelargoniums.  We have had several pelargonium related trips together over the years.  This trip we went to Belgium to visit Michiel's Fuchsia and Pelargonium Nursery.   Oh, we were in pelargonium heaven! The plants were in absolute tip top condition and we bought several plants that are not now readily available here in the UK.  We even went back the following morning for a few more plants!    Needless to say, my car was full of plants because we also had some that friends had asked us to look out for.

Pelargonium Sales Area

Plants ready for packing and posting

My car - plants in the boot

 Plants on the back seat

Watch out for my post about our stay in Brugge.

Trip to RHS Wisley for coffee and lunch date.

We had lunch in the week with Brian's cousin and her husband.  We met at Wisley Gardens - not far for either of us to travel to - and had coffee and a short stroll around the lake.  Although I had my camera with me, we were too busy chatting for me to take many pictures.

Stachyurus chinensis

My dear friend from America is arriving in the UK today.  She will be staying for a couple of days with another friend in Suffolk, and then on Wednesday I am going to Peterborough to pick her up and bring her back here.  We are actually staying overnight in Peterborough as our friend is giving a talk there so we are staying to hear that and we will drive home on Thursday.

That will be the start of our adventures.  We do love our adventures.  We will be travelling to Belgium to visit a plant nursery and then stay a couple of nights in Bruge before returning here.  Then a couple of nights in London visiting the Lindley Library and gardens.  Our last adventure was two years ago when I travelled to California.  From there we flew to Ohio to stay with a friend, then back to California and then a long drive to San Diego, stopping off at various friends on the way.  Then the long journey back.  What an adventure that was.

So I have been madly dashing around the house to give it a good tidy and clean, so not very much to report.

I have been seed sowing - runner beans, lettuce, cabbage, radish, beetroot.  And I noticed today that the radish are up already.  I also sowed cucumber, courgette, chilli peppers and some morning glory seeds.

I have also written to Thompson & Morgan about the cucumber seeds - packet states average contents 4 - there were only two in packet, and only one of those has germinated.    How much did the packet cost?   £3.99.  I had an automated reply stating there was a two week delay on replies!

Here is my Blue Jug today  - it has had more or less the same flowers in it since we got back from our trip to Bournemouth.

What a difference three days makes

Last weekend Brian and I decided that, as the weather was to be dry and a bit warmer, we would take a short break.  On Sunday morning Brian booked us into a small Hotel in Bournemouth on the South Coast for three nights.  We left mid-morning after packing our cases (and I had taken all the plants and cuttings from the conservatory and put them in our Front Room) we set off.  The journey from here to Bournemouth only takes 2 ½ hours so we were there for lunch. We walked into town and passed the balloon waiting for passengers.

The sky and sea were both a bit grey, but there were people on the beach.

This interesting memorial sculpture was at the end of the road - a memorial to Flt. Lt. John Egging who was tragically killed when his Red Arrow crashed.

The next day we went to Christchurch and walked around the small harbour there, and along the path by the river.

We came across this reproduction "Ducking Stool".  The Ducking Stool was used as a punishment for women in medieval times for such crimes as prostitution, witchcraft and for 'scolds'. A scold was a gossip, or bad tempered woman.   In the case of witchcraft, ducking was seen as a foolproof way to establish whether a woman was a witch or not.  If she drowned she was deemed to be innocent, if she floated  then she was assumed to be guilty and further punished.   I have to say that the water did not appear to be very deep here. 

The following day we went into Poole and had a walk around the big harbour there.  I loved these coloured buoys  We also went into Poole Pottery.  Unfortunately Poole Pottery is no longer made there, but they do have a demonstration of decorating the pots by their very talented artists.  We always find this interesting.

Walking back to our hotel after our evening meal this squirrel dashed across the path in front of us with a paper cup in his mouth.  He stopped and proceeded to get the lid of to drink the contents.  How clever is that?

On our journey home on Wednesday we stopped off at a Garden Centre for coffee (and a few purchases) and found this chap guarding the entrance.   He does look very fierce.

What a surprise when we arrived home in the afternoon.  The garden seems to have exploded into colour – well one corner anyway.     The tree behind our summerhouse/shed was covered in blossom, and the camellia next to it had more blossom on it than when we left.   There was a beautiful rainbow behind the tree when I took the picture.  Can you see it?

I forgot to take a photo of my Blue Jug, so will post that picture next time.

Bargains to brighten the days

I hope you all had a lovely Easter this year.  Ours was a rather quiet affair.  We did pop over to visit our younger son and his family on Easter Sunday morning, but did not see our elder son who was away for the weekend.    I took this picture of our grandson climbing the apple tree.  Don’t worry – it is not a high tree and he was only about three feet from the ground.

I've been a bit under the weather this last week- nothing serious – just a ‘general malaise’ I think.  I just could not get into anything, even the crochet went by the board and I just flaked out in the evening and had some early nights.   However, it’s amazing what a bit of sunshine can do, and these last couple of days I have felt much better

 

One thing that has been lifting my spirits is this Amaryllis.   I found the bulb, still in its box, in a Charity shop in, oh, early February I think.  Anyway, it was only £2.00 so I bought it.  The compost was so dry that when I lifted it up some of it fell out and then trailed across the shop floor as I went to the till!   When I got home I re-potted it into fresh compost and watched it grow!  It has four flowers and, can you see? - there is another flowering shoot coming along.  Wonderful value!

I have not been completely idle as I have spent a few days out in the garden, but really just ‘pootling’.  A few plants have been potted up and on.

I took these photos’ today of the crocus and iris in the planters.   Aren't they amazing?   I have not seen crocus like these before, so very pretty and unusual.  The iris just have to be seen from above with their intricate markings.  I bought all these bulbs in Poundland – what bargains!

Last night I picked up my ball of yarn and crochet hook and made a start on the granny square blanket I am making for my son’s girlfriend.   I am liking it more now I have the darker border round the squares.    

WHERE IS SPRING?

Despite it now being officially spring here in the UK, we are still experiencing really cold weather with cold blasts from the north.   So, the Spring Show at the Farnborough Fuchsia & Perlargonium Society I belong to was a welcome respite from the wintry conditions outside our meeting place.  This was our first Spring Show and was a huge success.  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera and only remembered the camera on my 'phone when I was driving home.    We had lots of entries and most members entered at least one and most two or three of the ten classes we had.  I was thrilled that I won a first in two classes, but I have to confess that in one class mine was the only entry and in the second class there were two entries.    Still it was all great fun and everyone enjoyed it.

Orchid Paphilopdilum - Class winner

 My Blue Jug continues to be filled with flowers or greenery from the garden - just now it has my standby Viburnum with blue Pulmonaria, primroses and Tete a Tete daffodils.

 The window box outside is looking particularly good just now 

A quieter life

It was a long day on Saturday. I left home at 8 am to drive to Northampton for the PAGS A.G.M.  Only two hours drive, but I wanted to be early and you never know what traffic conditions will be like on the motorways.   As it was, I had a clear run and arrived at the hotel in plenty of time for coffee and chats with fellow members.   We had an excellent speaker for the morning session, and after lunch the usual business of an A.G.M.  We then had a committee meeting to elect various officers and attend to any urgent business, and I was able to leave at 4.50.  I was home by 7.30.  A long day indeed.

I've made a start on my latest project - it's a granny square blanket for my eldest son's girlfriend.   I noticed that when she is at his house she is often cuddled up with her dressing gown around her - not that his house is cold; she just feels the cold more than most I think.  Anyway, I thought I would make her a granny square blanket, one she can leave at his house - hence the muted grays and beiges. The squares will be edged with a very dark gray and I will join them using the join as you go method.   It's to be a Christmas Present so plenty of time to complete it.  The wool is Paton's Aran and is quite thick, so should be nice and warm to cuddle up under!

It was meant to be my holiday project - not that I would have finished it there, but I need something to do without taking heaps of yarn.   With only five balls of wool it is perfect.   However, notice that I used the word 'meant'.  Due to the severe cold weather we have cancelled our trip to the house in Normandy.   The weather there is far far worse than here in Surrey.  Not nice to drive through and also the house will be very cold as no one has been there since October.  However, looking on the bright side, it does mean I can get on with things in the greenhouse and garden - assuming the weather warms up a bit.   We will join Brian's cousin and her husband there in September.

My Blue Jug.
I am still keeping this filled with flowers and greenery from the garden and brought these in just before the severe weather hit us.  I spotted some forsythia in bud and picked a couple of branch ends - two days in the warm and they are fully opened.

We had the family here on Mother's Day, which was on Sunday.  I love having them all here, although the house is now far too small for them all really.  But the children are very good - of course they are growing up.