Preparing the garden!

I spent today in the garden - preparing for the Garden Coffee Morning on Saturday next to raise funds for The Children's Society. The recent rain and sun have combined to make things grow at a fast rate - so some cutting back was needed to enable those who are so minded to reach the summerhouse (shed-with-the-overhang) without having their eyes scratched out! As it is they will have tp navigate though the lavender and the wildflowers that have gone to seed.

The foxglove has burst into flower - Digitalis Purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’ to be precise! I bought the plant at Columbia Road Flower Market one Sunday in August last year. I took the plant to St. Paul's Cathedral for Sung Eucharist - the market only opens on Sundays. It caused some amusement amongst the stewards and a wry smile from one of the Canons. I saved the seeds. Five germinated but only one survived in spite of my tender loving care over some weeks in the greenhouse. And now it is in flower!

Tumbling Tom Tomatoes are ripening - both red and yellow varieties, whilst the Minibel are coming along too.

And the strawberry seeds which Heather gave me in the spring are in flower with one or two strawberries forming - all in a bucket.

Visitors will be encouraged to pick and eat the tomatoes (so get here early - we open at 10am) but NOT the strawberries for they are too small and green!

But I cannot sit here writing - I need to get some sleep so that I am fit for tomorrow's task - teak oiling the benches - a task that must be done if the timbers are to be preserved. One bench is 14 years old, the other some seven years.

Bug hunt!

The Fun Day and Bug Hunt at the Dick Turpin and Cuckoo Hall Orchards was advertised widely - and in the William Torbitt Primary School newsletter. Four families joined us as the result of reading about the event in the newsletter - in sunshine and rain. The photographs here show Lily Villaschi with her father, Angelo, and Chichi Lu who enjoyed searching for bugs and then examining them with Stephanie Irvine of the Orchard Project. Both Lily and Chichi spent a couple of hours with us - and did not want to leave! They found a number of different insects which they were able to examine under magnifying glasses. Chris Gannaway, who represents the London Wildlife Trust in Redbridge, gave them a range of materials to take away as they were both clearly very interested and wanted to learn more. 

Pupils from the school visited the orchard a few months ago when we started renovating the 100-year-old trees. It was good to have them taking part again last Saturday. Sadly the community did not seem interested in taking part - but the organisers felt it was more than worthwhile just to see the keen interest taken by the pupils from the school. 

A good harvest of apples - mainly cooking - and pears will be available for picking in about three weeks’ time. There were blackberries in abundance on Saturday!

This summer we won an Award in the 2017 London Tree and Woodland Awards. We presented the certificate to the Manager of the Dick Turpin who will arrange for this to be displayed in the Foyer.

Photographic evening

On Thursday 27th July I attended Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral, seated in the choir stalls beside a proud father from the USA - his daughter was singing in the choir. St. Paul's choir are on their summer break. The choir this week was from the USA. After supper at Paul (no relation!) I returned for the St. Paul's LATES when the cathedral is open from 6.30pm for photographers. Photography is not permitted normally but on a number of Thursdays in the summer photography is encouraged. What is interesting is that whereas on most days there is a hubble and bubble of voices of tourists and visitors, on these evenings (and this is the second I have attended) there is almost complete silence except for the click of cameras and mobiles. Last year I enjoyed an evening with Graham who is an expert photographer. This time I was alone - and just shot away on automatic!. And I guess it shows. Here are some shots of my favourite places in the Cathedral. I stayed for an hour and a half, lingering in the crypt to read some of the story boards. The 25 bus to Ilford called - but was very crowded and I could only find a window seat at the back upstairs - so I left at Mile End, for the Underground and Overhead to Ilford where Radio Cars took me home. An enjoyable evening - my only regret being that Yvonne and I did not discover all these things when we were together. I guess we were so busy so that days in London were few - but such treasured. The Freedom Pass is a blessing.

Mosaic Sunday

Mosaic working continued on Sunday afternoon. It is very intricate. We have provisionally booked another Saturday in August - but I would guess it will take about three more days to finish. Good to see members of the local community getting involved - as one lady said, it is addictive! I was a glue-er - but found I preferred cutting! And I keep off the difficult stuff like fish, leaving these to the experts. The finished mosaic will be placed in the new community garden at St. Peter's Church, depicting the crossed keys of St. Peter surrounded by fish - Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven and Peter was a fisherman. The keys are similar to those in the West window at the church. 

All this to be ruined!

After 50 years of cancerous dust, noise, mud on roads and of contractors who are allowed to get away with ignoring the conditions under which planning permission was granted and take twice as long working as promised, the residents of Aldborough Hatch have had enough! OK - so the Council passed the application, the Mayor of London did not interfere but now it is up to the Secretary of State to say NO!

And if he does not? The battle may have been lost but the war is far from over. We will lie down in the road and chain ourselves to the farm gates! And make the lives of the contractors and the councillors most unpleasant as we monitor their every move! 

Mosaic day!

Saturday was a full day working on the mosaic for the new community garden at St. Peter's. We are back again on Sunday afternoon - but it will take a few more hours to complete. It will be stunning when finished. Grateful thanks to all who worked so hard and diligently - no names, of course, but I thought Mary Garrett was a terrific glue-er and Kristy Leach had the sort of delicate touch that I could only admire from afar! And Lee Hawkes' roast potatoes were something to die for!

Early morning sunshine 0n the overnight rain drops

The welcome overnight rain stays on the Tumbling Tom tomatoes and the pink rose near my back door in the early morning sunshine. Moody clouds billow above - signalling more rain today. I like rain in the nighttime but not during the day please!

Wild!

Writing in yesterday's GUARDIAN, Patrick Barkham referred to professional gardener Harriet Rycroft noting "a huge increase in wildlife since she left her lawn to grow long". He commented that he has "recently re-wilded my lawn and I'm logging far more butterflies . . . overgrown gardens require a mental readjustment but a wild tangle is much richer that a tightly trimmed sward".

That made me feel a lot better. The end of my garden has become something of a wilderness now that Yvonne is not around to pull out the weeds ('wildflowers in the wrong place'). The path that winds its way towards the water butt is now overgrown, the barrel seats have all but disappeared, the lilac sweeps the top of the greenhouse, the buddlea climbs ever skywards (and I cut it to the ground last autumn).

But it is the main side bed that pleases me most for here I have grasses that move softly silently in the slight breeze that make a humid day bearable. And in a pot is Salvia Africa Sky, purchased at the Hampton Court Flower Show last year, cosseted in the greenhouse over winter and now in full bloom - with cuttings doing even better. Socks has a hide-away here in the long grass and I sense that he may have the company of a young fox at times.

I have made the 'mental readjustment' and I like to think that Yvonne would approve. Today in B &Q to buy seeds (before the weekly shop at Aldi and Pets at Home, the first for me, the second for Socks), I spotted a Salvia new to me - Suncrest Lemon Light. It stands with Africa Sky with cuttings in the greenhouse.The red and white Salvia (which I call Hot Lips) is in the front garden. It survived a harsh cut back and an equally hard winter and blossoms now.