Summer break

As you may have guessed I am taking a summer break. I have already been on two short cycling trips, but next week we'll be off to Denmark (taking our bikes on the train to northern Germany), hoping for not-so-hot weather!

 

 

 

 

 

My balcony garden is doing really well this summer. We don't own a car and don't live near a garden centre, but fortunately there is a shop nearby that sells organic compost and plants, so this spring we would visit it several times a week, transporting compost bags on my bike or in our shopping trolley. I grew several plants from seed and bought some wonderful annuals at the Arboretum. I also had a mix of seeds for climbers, which must have included a cucumber, as I now have a very vigorous one climbing up the pergola. 

My brother in law made some sturdy containers that are attached to the wall surrounding the balcony. I have planted them with perannials that I know can stand the sun and the wind, and they are doing well.

 

I am happy to see I'm getting quite a few visitors to my blog these days. If you know any books I should write about please leave a message. Have a great summer!

Back home again

 

After a week away we came home to this colourful jungle. I have been using a new seed mix (to attract bees and butterflies) and I am very pleased with it. The sunflowers have surprised me, as the seedlings were very floppy and even needed support, as you can see here:

(I used cups from our favourite coffee place)

And now they look like this:

Sweet peas and morning glory are doing well, passionflowers are racing to the top of the pergola. I also have caterpillars eating the leaves of some shrubs, but, oh well, let's hope they turn into beautiful butterflies!

I hope to get around to posting about a book soon, but this being summer, there are many temptations outside. Maybe another cycling trip . . . I am very pleased to see more people are finding this blog.  Welcome everyone!    

Glad Wild Rooster?

 

 

What's this? A new species? A new song by the Rolling Stones? No: it is " slippery cattle grid" in Dutch! We came across it on a recent cycle/camping trip. We went to Oostvoorne, a village on the coast south west of Rotterdam. Apart from a few stretches, we cycled on separate cycle lanes, like the ones in the pictures. After a very wet month of May we now have sunshine at last. As most local authorities don't mow the grass verges any more there were lots of wild flowers to admire and there was the wonderful smell of cow parsley, hawthorn and other plants I don't know the English names of. Best of all was the  bird concert we heard from dawn to dusk. Living in the centre of Rotterdam all we hear is a blackbird, pigeons, seagulls and magpies, so this was a real treat.

Back home after only three days, the plants on my balcony seemed to have exploded! You can see part of the watering system I bought last year. It is very nice having a large balcony and I do enjoy looking after the plants, but I felt I could no longer ask my neighbours to water them when we went away. It was a bit of a faff installing it, but now it works quite well. The hoses are attached to a timer on the tap, which turns the system on twice a day. As you can see I also have a water butt, but I use up all the water in a few days and it is now completely empty. Hoping for rain again! Some of the containers I found in the street: a large basket, rubbish bins, a laundry basket and a baby bath! They work just as well as regular plant containers (we drill holes in them) and are free.

Anyway: back to books! Next post will be about the New Forest.