Making up the Christmas Wreath!

I've never made one of these before but inspired by a recent episode of 'Gardeners World' on the box and a stallholder selling similar at Stratford market, I decide it's time to have a go!. The challenge as ever in the Fothergill household is to see if it's possible to make one up entirely from foraged and recycled items found in and around the garden.

Well, not bad so far...a couple of coathangers and some wire salvaged from the old fencing are a good start!

So now all I need is some ivy (plenty of that around), some holly with berries (in the front garden), moss (foraged from the roadside), some fir cones (erm...well I did have to buy those from the stallholder), some gardening wire (ok ...had to buy that too!) and a bit of ribbon (plenty of that in our resource box)...oh and some chillie peppers (from an old flower arrangement).

All looks a bit of a mess so far but hey ho...this has to be better than Sunday afternoon ironing! First thing is to wind some ivy around the frame and then add in the moss to create a base. A bit fiddly and realise that without some sort of binding the whole lot starts to fall off! So.......off to the local farm shop to buy some garden wire to wind around the structure and pull it all together! Add in the fir cones and it's starting to look promising....interesting bug life emerging too - ladybirds and devils coachmen..will have to put them outside in a mo...

So now - to pretty it all up with some variegated holly with berries, a few bundles of chillie peppers and some ivy berries and flowers to add a bit of colour. Add in a green bow for the final touch and Voila...we have our very own Christmas Bouquet! All from mostly home grown or foraged finds and now hanging prettily in our little porch! Thank you Gardeners World!

Potty about Pots

I've always had a few potted plants in my garden and whilst they can be high maintenance during dry months, there is something rather sculptural about arranging different shapes and sizes of pot with a variety of interesting plants.

At our previous home, most of the borders were in constant shade so if we wanted some colour it had to be from potted plants on the south facing patio.

Here is a different ball game altogether....plenty of borders and space for planting so hardly any need for potted plants. However I can't resist planting up just a few and placing them on the new seating area. Inspired by our local pottery at Whichford and their amazing display of courtyard potted plants I'm off to the local garden centre to see if I can find something that will add a little cheer to our garden during the bleak winter months.

So here we have a little display of pots, Euphorbia Characias, Heuchera, Skimmia Japonica, Carex Brunnera and at the back a newly replanted Mahonia, transplanted from another part of the garden, adding interest and height to the corner of our little veggie plot. Let's hope it didn't notice the move!!!
Oh...and there's that little doglett again!!!

Meanwhile, the terracotta pots newly planted up with bulbs rescued from the borders are already showing signs of life and green shoots are breaking through the compost!

One of the other things we inherited here were 3 water butts. I've always wanted one of these so to have 3 is a total bonus! Perfect for dry summer months when we need water for the garden most and no worries about hosepipe bans when we have our own supply of fresh rainwater or extra water rate charges for use of utilities.

Water is something we all take for granted but in many countries this is simply not the case. This was brought home recently when we went to a local supper at our village hall and listened to a talk by one of our residents who currently volunteers in Uganda at the White Eagle Project. Amongst the many things they do to help local communities including helping to educate street kids, building schools, working with local youths and orphaned children, they are also on mission to bring clean and drinkable water to the community. Whilst we have an endless supply of water in our homes, in Uganda water is a valuable and scarce resource - on many occasions children and adults have to use fetid and stinking water wells as their only source of drinking water when regular supplies dry up.

It is a sobering and humbling experience and I am full of admiration for these young people who give up their time and effort to give people in difficult circumstances a better life. What can I do to make a difference?? 4,000 miles away it seems all rather remote and alien and not quite real. Perhaps though we can all do our bit by spreading the word and thanks to the internet it's easy to do these days.

So...I'm off to sign up and donate a few pounds each month...it's a small contribution but amazing how much of a difference it will make to each individual some 4,000 miles away and maybe through the power of facebook and the internet you can help to spread the word too!!!

www.riveroflifeuganda.org

Once Upon A Time...There Was a Tree!

We are fortunate indeed to have a property that borders onto fields..and beautiful views - morning sunrise and evening sunsets are a daily joy to behold and our neighbouring field is also host to a herd of gorgeous Jersey Cows, intermittent docile residents who gaze at you with their big brown eyes as you walk amongst them.
We also have a number of Ash trees on our boundary that tower above the garden. Not only are they engulfed but literally imprisoned and enslaved by ivy. The ownership of these trees is ambiguous and further investigation tell us that it could be a long journey to define responsibility for maintenance. We've had expert advice but to all intents and purposes any works to the trees is going to be an expensive choice...and probably beyond our budget at this time.

So...what to do. I love trees and am loathe to cut something down just because it gets in the way....there has to be an alternative!

Walking in our local woods, I note that many of the beech trees that have suffered the invasion of ivy have been rescued simply by removing a layer of ivy roots from the base of the tree. Could this work with our resident Ash?? Worth a try methinks.

So here it is...somewhere beyond all that ivy is a tree!!!  "Can you tell what it is yet?"

Mr F was a bit worried when I appeared in the living room wielding an axe! Needless to say..no murderous intentions, he he ... just needed him to help me sharpen the blade.

Several hours later after much hacking, chopping, sawing, swearing and hard labour, a tree emerges and the garden receives more light.

So far the ivy defies all atempts at obliteration, but it's early days and with any luck we will win the battle of the Ivy over the coming winter months and by the Spring, start to remove more dead ivy wood from the branches, slowly bringing back to life our poor neglected and rather lovely Ash Tree.

Birdie Nom Nom

I've always liked to feed garden birds and in our previous house, apart from blue tits, finches and blackbirds, we had a noisy flock of sparrows who lived in the bushes. Each day they would eat their way through a whole feeder of nuts! They had mastered the art so well that they even fed their fledglings from it:

Here in our new home we have quite a different selection of bird visitors. So far we've had nuthatches, goldfinches, long tailed tits, blue tits, sparrows, woodpeckers, robins, blackbirds and today a pair of doves....word must be getting around!

In the mornings it's a feeding frenzy as they flit in and out of the apple tree, the nuthatches are greedy little things and feed upside down, stabbing their beaks at any other birds who dare to disturb their personal space. The sparrows and blue tits are more tolerant of each other and happily feed in groups but when the woodpecker strikes..the other birds are disturbed and fly off into the bushes.

Being messy feeders, quite often the birds will flick bread from the bird table onto the ground... Truffle has cottoned on to this so her enthusiasm for the front garden has become part of the daily routine as she races out there to nom tasty morsels carelessly discarded by the greedy birds!!!

We've tried to get photos of the birds but it's not easy so the best I can do is a little sketch of three types of visitors (not quite up to Mr F standard but it's the best I can do and he's buggered off to Twickenham today...something to do with Rugby, Help for Heros and Wessex Choir).

All very distracting as I gaze out of my office window but such a joy to see more visitors every day, even if it is costing us a fortune in bird feed!

Truffle and the Robin

Our doglett Truffle loves the garden. Any opportunity to be out there and she is in doggie heaven....... and if you haven't already noticed, she manages to feature in many of the photos we've taken of gardening progress to date!

One thing that drives her potty is wild birds. We do our best to educate her that chasing birds is not acceptable behaviour but it's an ongoing battle and her natural instincts - being a Spaniel born of working stock - are hard to suppress. Roosting pheasants clucking in nearby trees at dusk are a particular tease ...on hearing the call Truffle goes into high alert, ready for the big chase into the distant mist.

The Robin is a different ball game altogether. Well known for being territorial - indeed they will fight to the death to defend their territory, our resident read breast is no exception! He seems particularly peeved that we have the audacity to invade his personal space and follows us around the garden watching us with his beady eye.

Truffle in turn, stalks him and watches his every move. Never quite quick enough to catch but just enough to tell him that this is her garden not his. So the stand-off continues and neither party wins.

You would think that Robbie would be grateful for all the tasty morsels we reveal for him but judging by his angry chattering from the shrubbery he is not happy! In fact if I were to translate his chirpings into human language...it would be full of obscenities!

Whispering Knights and Mysterious Stone Circles.

I've always known about the Rollright Stones but up until now not really thought about them that much. Now that we live so close it seems churlish not to pay them a visit. Home to pagan rituals, myths and legends this ancient circle dates back to Neolithic times and according to the leaflet I picked up in our local farm shop the stone circle was constructed around 2500 - 2000BC.

Legend has it that a King and his army were marching across to the Cotswolds when they were stopped by an evil witch who tricked the King into thinking he would become ruler of the land. Needless to say being the wicked witch that she was, she turned him and his army to stone instead!

Now hang on a minute, one minute these soldiers are marching forward, the next standing in a circle???  What's all that about?? I've never heard of that as an army manoeuvre before!

Anyway a week or so ago Henry suggested we should take doglett for her afternoon walk to the Rollright stones. It was nearly dark, cold, damp and foggy! Mmmmmmmmm, can't say it filled me with enthusiasm. Oh well...the dog needs her exercise so why not?

It's a short car drive away so we were there in a few minutes. Our previous visit was in late summer, hedgerows full of blackberries and sloes, autumn leaves just starting to fall and it was a warm, sunny day. High up and overlooking the hills towards Chipping Norton, tonight it's a cold spot and there is an eery light that hangs.....a stillness about the place that is chilling.

Who knows what ancient rituals and ceremonies took place here? Only the stones can tell....and they ain't talking!

A short walk along the path and we find the whispering Knights. A huddle of enourmous stones that really do look as if they are planning treacherous deeds. The surprising thing is that these were built around 3800 - 3000BC, long before the stone circle. So was it the same witch who turned these chaps to stone too?

As we head back towards the car our pace quickens and I resist the temptation to glance back over my shoulder...Truffle is drawn by the call of roosting pheasants and being the silly Spaniel that she is we have to make every effort to stop her running off into the mist. The coldness is starting to bite and even once we're back in the car, feet and hands are like ice blocks. It's a short ride back and we're thankful for the warmth and comfort of our little home.

Rollright Stones

New Dawn....New Lawn!

For some time now mother has been nagging me about the lawn! She's right of course...it's looking a bit tired, full of lumps and bumps, thinning at the edges and a wierd looking water-feature plonked in the middle!             .........Now what does that remind me of????

The electrics for the feature run through a pipe buried under the lawn and when you switch on the thing glimmers in the dark...but that's about all!

Hmmmmmm....more landfill fodder!

A bit of internet searching to find a good supplier of turf....might as well get some gravel for the paths whilst we're at it! Friday morning delivery, 60sqm of turf and a tonne of gravel....not much to do here then!

Mr F is looking worried!

Now all we have to do is prepare the old lawn, wheelbarrow the turf into the back garden and get to work! It's heavy stuff and back-breaking work, how come Mr F is all warm and cosy indoors whilst us girls do all the labouring????

Water feature is no more and we've filled in a few gaps with soil...mum reckons we can lay over the old grass so I'm not going to argue with that. We've calculated that we will have just enough to cover the area so starting from the bottom end of the garden here goes.....

Ideally the whole lot needs to be laid within 48 hours so it's a race against time to finish before dark - and my arms are starting to ache. I'm sure this stuff is getting heavier by the minute!

Job Done and nothing to spare! Now all I have to do is move a tonne of gravel.....but not today!

New Borders

Meanwhile, back in the borders more work to be done. Having cleared out all the random wild trees and self-seeded nut bushes we are left with a few gems previously hidden amongst the overgrown jungle!

All dormant now but hopefully if they survive the winter we will have some lovely Spring blooms to look forward to.

Buddleja-Globosa

A very long time ago when I lived in London I had one of these and the bees love it. We've cut ours back right to the base - seems drastic but you can do this with Buddleja and it will happily regenerate new growth. Situated at the top of the garden in the newly laid veggie plot it will provide a pretty feature next to the patio area.

Tree Peony

At this stage not sure what variety we have but the leaf looks very much like the photo below. We've cut out the dead wood and given the poor thing a bit of support. It was so starved of light it was leaning forward into the garden, desperate to grab sunshine where it could so it's a bit spindly at the moment but there are some promising sticky buds that look pretty healthy so fingers crossed.

Magnolia Tree

Another tree that has survived the purge but only just! Looking a bit tired and weary at the moment but hopefully now that it has space to breathe and light to feed on it will thrive.

The only thing is I'm not sure that these trees are too keen on limestone and ideally prefer acid soil - so the fact that it has survived this far is interesting.

Might have to get the soil testing kit out soon...apparently we have 2 types here as we are borderline limestone so maybe that's why the Magnolia is still hangin on in there!

With the final addition of leaf mould which is in abundant supply thanks to our enourmous resident ash tree, the planting up of a few more shrubs and trees and our border is finally taking shape.

Neatly edged with log roll and ready for the next phase when we re-lay the lawn!

'Armless Gnomes!

I can't say I'm a great fan of Garden Gnomes so this one found amongst the shrubbery made a brief apprearance on facebook before taking up residence in a Warwickshire landfill site!

A week or so later...and look what's lurking in the geranium pot!....A bit prettier than the last.... and due to a plea for amnesty from a friend I decide that maybe I'll keep this one after all!

Apparently one of the first garden gnomes was introduced to the UK by Sir Charles Isham and was called Lampy. This particular gnome still exists and is insured for a million quid! Blimey......and to think I might have thrown out a national treasure!

Gnomes are meant to ward off evil spirits....just as well I kept one of them in view of the sink hole find....who knows what lies beneath??

Dungeons and Dragon Whisperers!

Now who's this in the middle of the herb garden? Non other than my friend Agent Green the Dragon Whisperer aka Chloe of the Midnight Storytellers!

Death and destruction to all weeds, wherever you are!! Now, whilst Agent Green was aware of the mystery drainpipe hole, what she is not aware of until now is that this weekend we made a startling discovery...right underneath where she was busy digging!!!!

Well???? ....And?????

A rather large sink  hole that looks like an underground tunnel!

Lined with London bricks! Hey...I could do with some more of those but maybe that's taking the whole recycling thing a bit too far and the consequences don't bear thinking about!

 

Now if you look closely you will see a little froglett sat on the rubble.... wait a minute - of course, why didn't I think of that before? It must be the Soup Dragon's lair!!!

Mmmmmmmmm....think we might have to get Agent Green to come back and investigate!

Time for a nice cup of Tea!

"What is this life if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?"

Or in my case, time to stop and sit down for a nice cuppa! One of the garden pieces we brought with us was our much loved old swing seat. In order to move it though, we had to dismantle the frame  - but as some of the bolts bolts refused to budge, drastic measures were needed and the only solution in the end was to get out the hack saw! Bolts and fixings carefully stored in a plastic box but on arrival here nowhere to be found! Funny that.

Oh well...Henry and his friend Silas managed to fix swing seat and frame back together so all it needs now is a coat of  paint  and it will be as good as new. More slab laying and a repair to the dry stone wall, steps made from faux log slabs found under the Yew tree, a few pansies to pretty it all up and we have a little place in the sun to sit and contemplate!

 

Truffle likes it too!

Now here's a funny thing....whilst building the steps we find a deep drainpipe hole but with no manhole cover! Goes pretty deep too as  no sound when dropping stones down it. What could it be? An air vent for an underground bunker? The next discovery deepens the mystery further........

Reuse and Recycle!

I think this should be our family motto...not sure what the translation would be in Latin and as I'm not fluent in the language the best I can do thanks to Google is:

praecessi quod redivivus
So if there are any Latin scholars out there...please feel free to correct!

Now that the basic garden clearance is done, time to start sorting out the borders, build a terraced seating area in a sunny spot....and create a veggie plot at the top of the garden. We had to get outside help following the tree felling in order to dig out the stumps. And what better company to call in than our local man from 'Grindforce'.

Job done and we set to work...endless digging and masses of roots removed. A scout around the garden and I find a supply of Bradston bricks and random slabs left by our predecessors. Rich pickings and perfect for building the patio. Hard labour for someone who spends most days slaving over a hot computer and muscles found that I never knew existed before!!!

However, things are starting to take shape and remarkably the pation area works really well. I have no means of cutting the bricks so have to hope that I can fit them all together somehow without ragged edges...bit like doing a jigsaw but with heavy bricks! However it works and here is the final result.

Just enough London red bricks to create an edging between the lawn and top of the garden, set in a curve and bedded down with sand and soil it makes a pleasing curve that defines one area from another. More finds in the undergrowth as we discover a whole collection of old fashioned hand thrown terracotta pots....perfect for potting up random bulbs found when we were digging through the border. No idea what the bulbs are so it will be a pleasant surprise to see what emerges in the spring! 

Taming the Garden Jungle

Well, here we are in the depths of rural Oxfordshire. Most of the boxes unpacked, some rooms redecorated and our studios up and running!

We knew that we'd taken on let me say 'a bit of a project' regarding the garden but it was only once we arrived that we realised just how much work there was to do!!

20 years of neglect, unruly hedges, overgrown trees and shrubs, a tangle of a broken rose arch with an old gate hidden in the undergrowth and a pretty apple tree engulfed by ivy require drastic action....

 

Time to call in the professionals and get some help with the clearance! Luckily we have a neighbour who is a tree surgeon, although not much surgery involved here, more of a general chopping down!

Meanwhile in the front garden we are busy at work, and the apple tree is released from it's ivy prison. A little bit of pruning (with help from Henry and my 80 year old mum) and we have a pretty tree rescued from oblivion!

Now it's a haven for birds since we added a couple of feeders and a little bird table. Daily visitors include a family of blue tits, plus nuthatches, sparrows, goldfinches, the robin, chaffinches and blackbirds. This week we were really excited to have our feeders visited by a gorgeous woodpecker. The greater spotted, swinging on the nut feeder with gay abandon! Haven't managed to get him on camera yet - he's quite shy but we're working on it!

A Bunch of Mugs and their Priori-teas...

Moving house at least seems to be an imminent and highly exciting possibility in the Fothergill household, and a year's worth of decorating, sorting, throwing-out and organising is a valuable comfort with the prospect of upheaval and chaos.

However as we munched on brownies, put the kettle on and opened the mug cupboard this morning we were met by an over-flowing and neglected shelf of outdated and accumulated tea & coffee accoutrements. Something had to be done.

Players: 4. Rules: 6 mugs each. Time-span: Sunday morning. Bonus: 1 extra mug. Outcome: success!

Top to bottom [Chris, Gill, Charlie, Henry]

Truffle has a collection too!

It's so interesting how different our collections look (and how eccentric too!). What are your priori-(teas!) when it comes to your perfect mugs?