I couldn’t resist including a little typewriter love in this post – a packing list for last week’s holiday. To my old house. Sounds exciting doesn’t it!?
An odd list of holiday necessities it would seem. Secateurs? Boxes of cushions? Actually it wasn’t exactly a holiday. The purpose of our trip was to make preparations for our eventual return to our property and for the arrival of a special house sitter. There was lots of work to do.
But there were lots of sweet surprises to be had too. Like the abundance of flowers in my garden despite the fact that it’s winter. My resourceful preschooler set about collecting them (edible ones only) to make various exotic teas. (Nasturtium or calendula tea, anyone?) I showed her the delightful red pineapple sage flowers and hinted about their sweet nectar contents. Needless to say Miss L kept herself occupied with those for a long while.
Our old vintage rocking horse became a surrogate pet for the week. ‘She’ was lavished with various garden treats including nasturtium leaves and flowers, of which we have an abundance. Thanks to my nasturium planting method of throwing handfuls of seeds onto the general designated area and hoping they will eventually germinate. And of course now they self-seed quite happily. This could be a problem. But I’ve noticed that as the seeds are too large to be dispersed by wind (they’re about pea size) they tend to fall close to the parent plant rather than spreading all over the garden. Which is very good of the nasturtium. (In contrast to the lemon balm which I mistakingly planted in a front garden bed and now discover popping up anywhere there’s a bit of soil.)
While Miss L was busy with plants and animals I found myself taking pseudo-holiday snaps in between wiping out the kitchen cupboards, unpacking boxes and blindly assembling the timber bunks which I bought second-hand on ebay. ‘Blindly’ refers to the fact that the bunks came minus instructions…so it was a joyful exercise. As you can imagine. (And thank you, Mum, for your amazing dedication, perseverance, and skill.)
The sunny calendulas below were shot in a hurry – those little feet were getting into a suitable position for flower-picking. I had to be quick!
This bright but delicate fungus was growing on a timber log that informally edges the front garden. It was quite tiny. But look at that colour! Nature is incredible, isn’t it?
And this beauty was in a pot amongst the other orchids that were given to me by my mother-in-law a few years ago. Living in absolute neglect. What a perfect welcoming gift from my home itself.
Related articles
- Nasturtiums: a Kid’s Party Treat (cookingmagicforkids.wordpress.com)
- Tuesday is Herb Day – NASTURTIUMS! (lilithsherbgarden.wordpress.com)
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