Extreme Knitting Redhead: The flowers that bloom in the Spring

Sunday, April 27, 2014

The flowers that bloom in the Spring - tra-la

On the running front, I've just passed the 700 mile mark, 707 to be exact, in my running streak. It looks as if I'm going to have an even higher than usual tally by the end of the year. The next marathon in my series of 7 this year is next weekend at the Three Forts Challenge - it's known as 'the tough one' for good reason!

I can't help but show some of the photos I've taken in the garden recently as everything is bursting into life and it really fills my heart with joy. I love the changing seasons, each with its own beauty.

We had some wonderfully sunny days last week and we all enjoyed it. The horses came into the orchard to graze and get the grass down so the wildflowers come through. We usually let them in around January but it's been too water-logged until now. They get so excited when I start pegging out the area and there's always lots of neighing and running about before they are finally let inside!

Kizzy, right, in the shade of a pear tree, taking a break from eating

Mr Pheasant snuggling down in the grass to sun himself

Pear blossom

One day the buds on the apple trees were like this…...

…a few days later they had opened to this

Hawthorne blossom

The clematis is now out fully and looks magnificent. It's on the fence which screens our yard (aka the dumping ground for any bricks/branches/stones and other things we don't know what to do with!) and is just beyond the patio. The scent is absolutely divine.

Clematis montana 'Elizabeth' looking magnificent

Close-up - I wish this was in smell-o-vision!

I could spend days showing all the beautiful flowers appearing in the garden right now but I've tried to restrict myself to some of my favourites:

Peony

I found this little beauty, not planted by me, lurking in the undergrowth - it's Viola sororia 'Freckles' which has self-seeded in the gravel garden

The vivid blue flowers of Lithodora 'Heavenly Blue' which I was transferring from the pot to its place in the garden

Look at the pretty pink roots

You are never alone in our garden as it's teeming with wildlife such as this grasshopper

The next 4 photos are of some of the many Aquilegias I grow. Also known as 'Granny's bonnet' they self-seed all over the place and are a welcome sight in Springtime. What caught my attention was the one below displaying a pale yellow centre:

What a beautiful colour combo!

The reason I went to investigate was that I hadn't planted one with that colour combination so I think it must have hybridised with the deep purple one and the yellow one shown below.

One of my many Euphorbias. This one has striking dark centres

No flowers this time, just the tiny gooseberries starting to swell - I must remember to net them before the ducks get at them this year!

The delicate flowers of Blueberry 'Patriot' which I grow in a pot on the patio

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.