Waiting for Summer.

The honeysuckle above the kitchen window is patiently waiting for a bit of warmth to bring it into flower - 

as is the blossom on the black elder.

But these two roses have jumped the gun and are now suffering much chillier temperatures and cold rain.

They still look lovely though.

We bought ourselves new patio furniture a week ago and haven't been able to use it yet!   I think it has sealed the fate of our weather and it is all residing in the shed until more favourable conditions arrive.  At the time we were buying it, there was such a noisy thunder storm we thought two large lorries must have collided, or perhaps part of the building had collapsed.

  I am off for a week with our youngest daughter on Saturday leaving my husband in charge.  He will be quite content as there are several shrubs which need pruning and I wont be on hand to prevent him taking too much off each one!

I hope to take some interesting photos for my next post while we are away and will take the laptop too, along with a couple of warm jumpers - just in case!   We have rented a little holiday bungalow on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales and have packed our favourite 'toys' should the weather not be kind.

I got there in the end.

 I have completed my crocheted waistcoat at last!  It is a poor photograph as the light was very bad today    and the lightest place was to hang it on the back of the bathroom door!     At the moment it has no fastening and I am thinking of having just one button at the neck.      

It's been a busy week and the seedlings in the greenhouse are screaming to be let out.  I foresee a busy weekend potting things up.  At least I will be under cover should this cold wet weather continue.  We were glad to have the heating on again this evening.  I daresay it will take us all by surprise and leave us gasping when it suddenly turns warm.

I am going to treat myself to a comfortable garden recliner.   I had one years ago which succumbed to old age and was never replaced, and am nervous of putting the mockers on our summer weather if I get another.     However, I have decided that if we have a wet summer I will sit in it in the shed and listen to the rain.  If the weather is boiling hot I will sit in it indoors with the patio doors wide open and if it is a perfect summer I shall enjoy it in the garden.   It will have plenty of use!                                       

This and That.

Our house is just off to the right of this view looking up the public footpath that runs beside the little stream which gives it's name to the Streamside Walk.  The stream is down to the left behind the nettles and cowparsley.  It's hard to believe that there are hundreds of houses in close proximity and as the leaves on the trees begin to thicken that illusion becomes stronger.   As the weather warms up, the local children love to play in the stream which is very shallow so quite safe.   They are usually hidden by all the greenery but lots of laughter, squeals and splashing can often be heard.

This view is looking across the stream down there in the shadows, and there is a row of houses on each side of it with streets going off at right-angles all the way down to the bottom of the slope.   It must have been so lovely before all the houses were built - I believe it was farmland.    Thankfully the developers made a feature of the stream and various drainage channels feed it from both sides.   This is very necessary during wet weather - particularly last winter.

It has been glorious today and it made my daily walk all the more pleasant.   I have been busy catching up on some much needed springcleaning as I am expecting visitors on Wednesday and need to pace myself so as not to be worn out by the time they arrive.   I strained a muscle in my left leg back in January and it has made walking very uncomfortable.  Regular visits to the chiropractor are helping but recovery is infuriatingly slow, however the daily walks are beginning to make a difference at last.  I had become so lethargic and unfit that everything required so much effort, hence the need to pace myself.   There is nothing like the impending arrival of visitors to spur one into action!

I hope they don't want to walk round the garden - there are some magnificent weeds out there which I shall probably not have the time or energy to remove before they get here.  I've done a bit of weeding and tidying and my husband makes a lovely job of the lawns and keeps the shrubs in trim, but doesn't know a weed from something precious and always manages to flatten one plant while attending to another.

I do hope this lovely weather continues for the rest of the Bank Holiday especially as our youngest daughter and her husband are camping at Caldicott Castle near Chepstow.  They are taking part in Fortress Wales,   a re-enactment event this weekend.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend too.