rubykittyruby

  Bank Holiday's come thick and fast at this time of year, which - if you're stuck in an office job or a schoolkid - you think is wonderful.  Short working weeks and time to kick back and enjoy yourself.  We've sunshine and showers over this long weekend.  The rain's arrived at last, giving the plants a desperately needed drink.   The rainfall hasn't been heavy, so no chance of the water butts being refilled, but I'm still a happy gardener.  Everything's fresher after a shower of rain.  Greener and perked up. I love how the water's pooled on these Valerian leaves.   The foxgloves are in a range of colours from white to cream, pale pink and a more vivid shade.  The bees love these, and it's so much fun to watch them feeding, buzzing from one bloom to the next.  Crawling inside the tubular flowers, sometimes having to squeeze in if they're a particularly chubby bee.   There are a few purple aliums dotted around, threade...

  I thought I'd start with a round-up of what's growing on the allotment and in the garden.  These hollyhocks have suddenly bloomed, and isn't that a glorious pink?  The leaves do tend to get rust spots, which is a shame when the flowers are so beautiful.   Also on the allotment are evening primrose, dotted around where they've self-seeded, growing here among a sea of seed pods.   The marjoram's flowering too, and will be a bee magnet.  They love it.   I think these white flowers are mallows.   The apple tree's going to provide plenty of fruit.   Should be lots of blackberries too.  I know I can gather them from the hedgerows, but cultivated ones tend to be more productive than their wild counterparts.   Redcurrants are ripening.  Blackcurrants too.  Gooseberries too, or goose-gogs as we always called them.   In my front garden the valerian is everywhere, another favourite with the b...

  I shared images the other day of a secondhand craft book I'd spent a grand total of £3.50 on, and here's another bargain for the same price.  The previous book was from the '90s, but this one's pure '70s.  More of that in a moment.   Firstly, how pretty is my corner of West Yorkshire?  The cow parsley's out, lining grass verges with clouds of frothy white flowers and lush greenery. This horse chestnut tree in a local cemetery promises conkers will be abundant in autumn.   In my small front garden the Love-in-the-Mist are starting to flower.   Mexican daisies and Evening Primrose have self-seeded everywhere. I should have peonies blooming soon, as well as foxgloves, calendula and goodness knows what else is in the mix.   Indoors, all these blocks are sewn together, and I've about 40 more that are waiting to be added.  Hopefully I won't need to make any more blocks, and I can soon add a layer of wadding and sort out backin...

Every time I walk outside and nose around the garden something new's come into flower.  This - iris? - is a beauty.  Sadly, there aren't too many alliums, but maybe more will pop up in early June.   This poppy's not shy and retiring, is she?  The sage is flowering too.  (Sorry, not the greatest photo, is it?) Here are some chives with their purple poms poms!  And these blooms are pretty in pink.   This is a cistus, the plant bought a year or two ago from Wilko, I think. It's been growing happily, but this is the first time it's flowered.   For part of my Bank Holiday Monday I made yet one more of my fabric postcards.  I hadn't a clue what to make, and was staring blankly at the scraps bin when I had the idea.  The scraps bin is where the teeny, tiny bits of material and lengths of tangled thread end up, before they get re-purposed as cushion filling.  I grabbed a handful of straggly bits and a glue stick, plus my 6 x ...