Hedge cutting, mowing and biting flies!

Before

and after.

After the door that leads nowhere, it was back to reality with grass and hedge cutting - all afternoon.  Chris cut the hedge in the lane, the Beech hedge and the Yew topiary - in fact he hardly put the hedge cutter down.  I mowed all the lawns and the verges and, as we'd had some rain dosed the roses with some Top Rose and hoed it in.  Earlier I took loads of cuttings for propagation so fingers crossed.  We both fought of swarms of biting Dun flies which were an absolute pain!  We have been troubled with plague proportions of these flies for the past 3 years.  prior to then, they were hardly noticeable. They suck blood and leave nasty swollen and inflamed bites that itch for days and days!  They even bite through fabric!  Long sleeves are a necessity right now.

Pediment, Pillasters & Portico + Pear!

Door to nowhere!

We have been busy building a new garden feature in the Yew hedge at the end of the house.  Chris Genever and I have built a mock door frame complete with pillasters made from decking board and pediment made from left over bits of timber and moulding. We bought 2 @ 8 foot 4"X4" posts and a sheet of ply plus 1 decking board.  The door step was made from half a left over kerb stone topped with some left over York flag stone pieces.  At present it's just a blank door frame in a hedge but,  the addition of a mirror should transform its appearance and give the illusion of an entrance through the hedge with garden beyond.  In reality, the Yew hedge hides a brick wall and there's nowhere an entrance could lead to. Some more Asplenium Trichomanes are on order for planting in front of the step and hiding the concrete. Admittedly, it looks a tad weird at present but, watch this space and see exactly what a mirror will do!

Artists Everywhere!

A sunny day in July and the garden was full of artists.  They sat everywhere sketching and painting.  One lady even sat in the Creosote Yard!  They were ladies from the Worcestershire WI Artists Group - well, I say ladies but, there was one gentleman.  MI 1 perhaps?  As well as giving a generous donation to St. Richard's Hospice and also enjoyed teas and cakes which was more money for our cause!  I was given a lovely purple Oxalis plant for which I shall find  a special place - probably in the conservatory.  We really enjoyed having them and hope they will return.  More photos can be seen here

Chicken Changes - A Flock of Five

Henny Penny

Fiona Fenton

Sadly we lost a couple of chickens (due to illness) and so have increased our flock by 3 sixteen week old girls. Why 3?  Safety in numbers! We knew 2 remaining residents would show their darker sides and they have lived up to expectations!  Their thuggish and vindictive behaviour to the new youngsters was serious enough for them to be separated by some chestnut palings for a few days.  That way, they could look at each other and become a little accustomed before being put in together.  They have had 6 days acclimatisation and have been allowed to mingle today.  Hopefully, there will be no nonsense at roosting time! All are hybrids and Henny Penny is a Copper Maran, Fiona a Fenton and Cicely is a White Sussex.  The remaining villians are Marigold and Winifred. 

House for Hens

Cicely Sussex

 Anyway, They've just been inspected and all are roosting quietly (for now!) in the House for Hens - their Medieval style pole house.

Open Gardens Weekend

The full results!

Everything has now been counted and monies raised were as follows:

• Plant Sales                            £227.50
• Entry                                     £345.00
• Teas                                       £154.70
• PTC Cards                            £  26.00
• PTC Cards/Donations         £  50.90      TOTAL                  £804.10

(PTC cards are occasional cards and postcards with photos taken in the garden.  I have itemised them twice because, on Thursday, we had another garden visit by Norton Horticultural Society who bought cards but put their payments directly in the collection tin so I don't really know which was card money or just donations to the NGS!)

Anyway, that's a brilliant result for one little rural garden opening alone!  Very well done team and another BIG thank you for all your help, support and hard work!

For those who may be interested, here are some NGS facts:

Since its foundation,The NGS has donated over £42.5 million to nominated beneficiaries of which £23 million has been donated in the last 10 years.  For most of our beneficiaries, we are the largest cumulative donor in their histories. (Now that's a pretty amazing fact!)

• Macmillan Cancer Support
• Marie Curie Cancer Care
• Help the Hospices
• Carers Trust
• The Queen's Nursing Institute
• Perennial
• Guest Charity for 2014 Parkinson's UK

NGS Open Gardens 2014

Phew!! All over now but what a team we had and how hard they all worked!!  A big thank you to them all.  We certainly had the weather maybe, (dare I say?) even a little too hot.  Chris came first thing with additional woodchip and blew up balloons whilst watching Al's toast - which Al then couldn't find beneath all the balloons!  He then sneaked off on Sunday and so, we lost our official photographer - result: not so many photos this year!

Maureen, Di, Eve & Lyn taking a well earned break!

Dave models his waistcoat

Our Grade 1 Advanced Police shuttle bus driver had his official day-glow waistcoat!  I say that because at one time there were 4 of us on the drive together putting the world to rights! 

Visitors having tea in the sunshine.

We had lots of lovely compliments in the visitors book (mostly about the delicious cakes which friends were kind enough to bake) and, surprisingly, many visitors were returning following a previous visit - again, for the teas and cakes, I think!  Obviously, there were fewer than when the whole village opens but, this meant that the steady flow was far easier for the helpers.  This year, our visitors enjoyed easier parking as, our neighbours, Roger and Sarah had their hay cut and baled in time to offer their field for parking.  This meant that there was no steep hill for the less able to negotiate.  How lucky was that?  As for funds raised, we don't have a total yet as we await plants sales contributions but, here's a link to a few more photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/NGSOpenGardens2014

Incidentally,  Google earth has updated it's photos so PTC can be seen as it actually is - in an orchard!

Judith and her plant sales team

Once again an ENORMOUS thank you to all those who baked cakes, served teas, washed up, sold plants, put up signs and made last minute deliveries with woodchip!!!  It was all very much appreciated!

Getting ready for open gardens..........

Chief Blogger has been so busy getting the garden ready for Open Gardens weekend, there's been no time for blogging!  It's been gruelling long days and I wonder why I even like doing it!  However, we are getting there.  Judith has been a star as despite being right in the middle of a house move, is undertaking the duties of Officer in Charge of The Plant Emporium!  Chris rolled up with her trestle tables and the first of her plants.  How organised is that?  Steve has also been busy growing contributions which also arrived today.  Brilliant neighbours have offered parking.  Rob offered an orchard and Roger has cut and baled his hay in time to offer his field which is nearer and, more importantly - no long uphill haul! We even have a full size NGS flag to fly!  Tomorrow, is last minute mowing and edging everywhere and then setting up the conservatory for use as a tea room!  The weather forecast is excellent so let's hope we get the odd visitor!