September Photo a Day ~Week 2

This week's photo a day. Not always very descriptive of what I've been up to, but just odds and ends I wanted to take photos of x3


09.09.15 Going around the garden again, I'm still taken with the onions hanging to dry in the greenhouse.


10.09.15 Wednesday was a day of good weather and we had strawberries and cream for pudding x3 I sat by the door to enjoy the weather as I ate.


11.09.15 OMG. O. M. G. Waiting for this album for 11 years. And here it is. I am dying. I need this on loop just plumbed straight into my head for at least the next couple of weeks.


12.09.15 Last week when I was out at West Brom I visited their local Tesco. It has a massive foreign foods section and I always have to go buy some seaweed crisps. I also couldn't resist buying this sake to try! I still haven't cracked it pen yet, but doesn't it look pretty?


13.09.15 I had a busy Sunday between my computer, town and visiting friends, but I had my mind set of catching some autumn colour somewhere along the way :]


14.09.15 Last night I finally started my Fantasy Life game on 3DS. I'd been waiting for a good day but I was starting to drag it out so I just played it XD So far it's looking good x3


15.09.15 Spyro is so cute! She is waiting to be fed here, look at the little tongue!
Next week I am away to Devon so I'm not quite sure how I'm going to be posting the photo a day, as I can't really schedule it! I do all my blogging/photo editing from my PC and I don't have a laptop to take with me, hmmm. Any ideas?



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Project Wednesday ~September Garden

It's coming up to autumn and the garden is winding down. It doesn't seem all that long ago I was planting so many seeds and propagating all those tiny plants, and now they are all either at harvesting sorta time or already harvested. I'm not sure if I'll do another garden update this year as we're so close to end of season, and next year in theory I'll have my own garden! (I'm sure I'll still be over Dad's a lot though as his garden is much bigger XD)
Until then though, shall we see what's going on?

Out the front my 'Pinterest Pot' went nuts and bulked out just as I hoped it would x3 I think it's a bit of a pin-win! I think a lot of this will die off in the winter so at the moment I'm considering putting pansies or violas in over the winter to keep some colour. As the front garden is very flower based it can look pretty grim out there in winter.

Also out the front is this beast of a plant! A couple of years back I decided I would put in a passion flower to climb up one side of the house and it's just set off! Last year we had a couple of small passion fruits off it and this year it looks like it's going for a more sizable attempt, it's the size of my palm! Now it just needs to get a little riper X3

Heading towards the back garden, the tomato plants went nuts and started escaping the greenhouse XD Hopefully the tomatoes will ripen before the frosts hit, but if not perhaps we will have to make green tomato chutney (what else can you do with green tomatoes?)

All the onions have been pulled now before they went to seed and are hanging to dry so we can eat them over winter. The white ones didn't grow nearly the size of the brown, but I don't know if it was caused by type or placement, or maybe a little of both. Maybe next year I'll start them off earlier under a cloche. I'll certainly try to buy the same type of brown ones!

All the peas have been pulled up now and in their place strawberry runners were planted to set the bed in time for next year. We didn't have a large crop this year out of the pots so we are hoping that by putting them back in the ground they'll put in a better effort.

The corn is still going for it, it seems. I should probably look into what it looks like when it's ready as at the moment I don't really have any idea but I don't want it to grow just to sit on the plant and be ignored while I think it's still growing! Depending on the success of these, I'm considering putting in regular-size corn next year to see if I can decent sized cobs.

 
  Lastly is my current pride and joy, the vines! My courgettes have been producing and I've already had 2 big courgettes, and there's a third massive one on the plant. There are many smaller ones too, just waiting to get bigger.
The squash didn't do so well, though not for lack of trying. So many little fruits were produced, but none really set? I'm still hoping for something though at the last minute xp
The pumpkin though is another story! Although it played the same game as the squash at first, just producing buds that never set into growing, it kept trying and has managed to get one going! And just look at it! It's growing up in the air as the vine climbed a bush, which worries me a little as it's starting to get weighty, but so far it seems to be supporting itself and getting bigger day by day. I'm excited to see how big it'll get!
Did your garden do well? Or are you just starting on it?



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Sunday Catch-up ~Random Happenings

Another week gone by already. I can't believe how fast this year is going! And still no true signs of summer, I think I'm going to have to give up on it and just look forward to autumn ;p Anyway, instead of looking too far ahead shall we look back on the week I just had?

Earlier in the week we went to visit Face's parents, they are getting their garden remodelled and their dog Brandy is playing the 'poor pup' role by sitting in the muddy areas and chewing on bits of stick he can find...even though he has plenty of fine toys XD

The garden is getting on now and we've got many, many tomatoes to eat XD Some are better than others but they're all good. Earlier in the week we had a massive fry-up where these guys were the star of the show, I'm looking forward to a few more ripening up x3

My day off was a pretty nice day, with a little bit of sun here and there. Dad wanted to go out and I suggested we head out to Sutton Coldfield to hunt for more of those owl sculptures. We ended up having a really good day looking around an area I'd not been before and we found all the owls but one! In a visitor center was this fox, all posed with the other stuffed animals. Apparently he was road kill, poor thing.

You can tell the year is getting on when the rowan berries start to appear, but they look good anyway, right?

Face's parents have both had new cars recently and so they've given us this car to help us move! It's an estate so I won't have to keep trying to wodge things into my car XD And it's super fancy in the mean time too, at least it seems it! It has a large glass roof, many different electronic features and even a 5-cd changer XD It's pretty cool!
Have you had a busy week too?



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Project Wednesday ~Bonsai

This is one I don't talk about too often yet I actually have quite a collection of!
A few years ago I really got into the idea of bonsai and started reading up about them a lot. I bought my first little bonsai, a 'Carmona', or Fukien Tea from Dobbies. It was adorable and lasted about 3 years before sadly it died of a disease. I don't know what brought it on. My only issue with it was that it had obviously been a lot taller at some point and it's top had been snipped off to make it bush out into a bonsai.

So, from there I decided to stop buying bonsai and instead attempt to grow my own! I have had varying luck with this method as well though. I tried oaks a few times as we have a large oak tree behind our house and although I kept them going for a couple of years, for some reason I couldn't get them past that. It's a shame as I really liked this one with a large twist in one of it's branches. I found it this way out the back of the house around 2008, it wasn't engineered by me!

Basically my ideas for what species to grow as a bonsai now is 'any small tree I find growing in the garden'. I have 5 going at the moment, and not to jinx myself but other than one, they have all been going for at least 4 years now! This one is the exception, it's a yew I bought on sale in Tesco for a quid as when I saw it I straight away thought of bonsai. It's the first tree I've bought since the fukien tea, and this one isn't even a bonsai already XD I read that they should go in the ground ideally for a couple of years virtually unchecked so as to really put on some chunky trunk size, so as I thought I may be moving from home soon I put it in a large pot instead. I'm still considering whether it will actually go in the ground when I move out.

This is one of my oldest ones at about 4 years old, a maple tree I picked from the garden. I put it in the old bonsai pot and that's where it's been since. I have tilted it purposely, but in the last couple of years I've not really been sure of the shape I've been aiming for from it, so at the moment it's in some kind of perpetual fall.

This is my biggest bonsai, and the only one I've grown from seed myself. It's a canadian horse chestnut, so if it ever fruits it's conker shells will be smooth instead of spikey :] I got its conker from a tree in Bridgenorth, the only canadian chestnut I know of. I think at the moment it's about 4 years old, and I'm hoping to keep it this size. I'm hoping in the future it'll get a few more branches too :x

These pair are my two cherry trees. These things pop up in the garden all the time, and so one year I decided to bonsai one. I'd been reading a lot about tiny bonsai, only 5cm tall, so I decided that that's where I would go with it! It was a tiny twig for the first year, so the next year I added a friend, another find from the garden XD Group growings are also a thing with bonsai, although I'm not fully decided if that's what I'm going to end up doing. They hate being this size though, every year putting more effort into growing random branches far beyond the shape I'm trying to maintain. Sometimes I catch them in time to shape them to grow where I want with wire, as you may be able to see here.


You can see how much I've stunted the bonsai cherries when you consider that the oldest of the pair is about 5 years old, the same age as the cherry tree that Dad planted in our front garden a few years ago! I'm not sure cherry was the right choice to try and go this small with as they are fast growers with big leaves, but i am learning more and hopefully next year I hope to have smaller leaves too x3
That's half the fun of growing bonsai, although it's a slow hobby, seeing them develop and shaping them into what they are is a lot of fun!
Do you like bonsai or just think they should be left to grow as they please?



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Project Wednesday ~Garden Progress

I haven't said much about the garden recently and I guess cause at this time of year it really only comes to watering and feeding, which Dad does as I'm at work most evenings when the plants are okay to be watered (or asleep in the mornings :x). The weather has been getting warmer these last few days which has been lovely, even though I haven't had much time to enjoy it. When I did though, I sat in the garden doodling while just taking in my surroundings.

The front garden at the moment has this beautiful big lily, a different kind to the orange ones which didn't get hit by the horrible lily bug. Just look at the size of them, I really need to keep in mind to get more of this kind for next year...

Out the back there has been a lot of progress in some areas too. Remember the other day I said we were roasting tomatoes over the brazier? Well those were the first very early ones, and we're about to come into a glut of tomatoes XD The plants are going mental, even growing out the greenhouse though a crack in the roof! I like tomatoes, but i'm not sure I like them enough to be eating them constantly for the next month..!

Talking of over-productivity, the peas have given us a bumper crop this year too and I certainly don't think these is such a thing as too many peas! Although a little annoying to shell, it's actually all part of the fun and it's a challenge when shelling with someone else to see who can get the pod with the most peas in it. My record so far is 12 ;p

I have been getting mixed results with onions however. As you can see these guys are becoming beauties, possibly the best onions Dad's ever grown and definitely the best I've done! I think it's either down to the type or location though as I'm certainly not doing so well with the white onions planted only a couple of weeks after these and tended as well. Luckily I've still got the packet for these ones to look out for the same kind again next year.

So as all these plants are coming to crop and plants like the peas are quickly looking the worse for wear, it's not all lost as we've still got plenty to look forward to, such as squash, potatoes and beetroot. Oh, and these apples! Our tree is just a twig really but it always put a lot of effort into making really tasty apples!

And this is hopefully coming in the future too...baby corn! Can you believe how big it's got? It not has the pollen/flowerhead on the top and the fluffy red bits that will become corn. I've never grown corn before as I'm sure I've said many times, but I just don't know what to expect from these! I had no idea they even grew a wheat-like flowerhead XD I've been shaking them over the red fluff in hopes of getting good looking baby corn in return, of course I'll let you know how that turns out!
Have you, like me, already got a few plans for next year? I'd love to hear them x3



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Project Wednesday ~Gardening Round Three

Well, it's been nearly 6 weeks since the last update on how the gardening project is going so that's what I thought I'd write about today, because since the heatwave we had a couple of weeks ago, mixed with the season in full swing, some things have been going nuts!

Remember this stacking pots pinterest idea? This is how it's looking now! The plants are getting so bushy now and really filling the pot out, and slowly the trailing plants are beginning to hang, maybe next time I will add some trailing greenery cause that seems to grow faster and may give more of the effect I was expecting. Still, for a first try I'm still pretty pleased with this pot!

Everything else has been about the vegetables though as as the weather has picked up so has the garden! These three are the vines I had under the polytunnel in the last post- well, the squash and courgette are two of them. I did have a cucumber under here that did really well for a little while, then just randomly went on me, I have no idea why ;/ Luckily my friend gave me a pumpkin she'd started off and it's loving the space the cucumber left behind! The courgette in the middle is winning in size and productivity (already 2 little courgettes growing x3), but the pumpkin has begun to spread with little tendrils so I'm sure it's not going to be much longer before it has the whole garden set in it's sights!

The baby corn I started in the window is also putting on a growth spurt, and I'm told it can grow up to 5 feet tall, I think it's already at 4 so it's doing well! I don't see any signs of corn flowers on it yet though, but fingers crossed and it will figure itself out. Strangely, these two were the two I put in the ground first, covered with bell cloches. They have got to this size while the others that were planted only a couple of weeks after them in the good weather haven't really put in much effort so far. They are bigger, but not quite looking like they know what they're doing with themselves yet, if that makes sense!

  Other things, like these peas and potatoes, have already begun to start giving us their produce x3 Some potatoes that were planted in January wilted a week ago (which means they are ready) and they provided a very nice meal with some steamed fish and broccoli, and just today we had enough peas to have a few each with tea, which included more new potatoes x3

I forgot to take a greenhouse shot this time round- but here's a peak as to what's going on in there. The tomatoes are in the process of flowering and producing fruit, though I think it'll be at least another month before these are ready!
Have you got a garden? Hope it's doing as nicely as mine!



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Sunday Catchup ~Hot and Cold

All right, here we are. Catching up, okay? xp I didn't manage this yesterday as about a week ago I switched the file type my camera saves in from jpeg to RAW...and subsequently found out that nothing my computer does previews, opens or edits RAW. Huh. So what I hoped would improve my photography a little has really just resulted me converting my files back to jpeg so I can edit them and being a lot more time consuming. Hence why I'm here Monday instead of the scheduled Sunday. No worries anyway. Shall we get on then?

So Monday was a bit of a wander around the garden day, not up to much really but I got a few shots, like this one of the kiwi fruit vine in flower for the second year in a row, and again it's put on a pretty impressive display. Hopefully this year will be a little more...fruitful than last where nothing resulted.

The weather began heating up from Tuesday onwards, and Wednesday was easily the hottest it's been in a long time, as confirmed by the news! I had to go to work which was a bit of a sweatbox nightmare with power cuts taking out the aircon, but before all that I got to sit in the garden with my feet in a paddling pool, drinking homemade strawberry milkshakes x3 So good!

Things started getting busy then as many early mornings ensued (I'll go into more detail about that at a later date) and I lost track of what was happening when, as I do when I get up too early xp My week was made when the new single from The Libertines was released, the first in 11 years, Gunga Din <3 OMG this track is something, it gives me shivers!

Friday was my first day off in about 10 I think, and I was ready for it! It was another early start but after a recovery can of Red Bull and a bit of a relax on the computer, I got some mail- my Graze Box. Bored of not receiving jerky recently, I went on the website after the last one and 'send soon'ed some options I fancied, so this box looks particularly tasty x3

After I'd recovered I went out with Dad in the afternoon to go for a mooch round Shrewsbury. We had a good afternoon just taking pictures and not doing a lot, as ever! We went round by the river, up through the Quarry, where I got this pic of a lovely lily mix, and then up to the castle for a view while we ate dinner. It was a good way to spend my day off x3

Sunday I kind of had it in my head that I wasn't going to do a lot until the evening, but at 10.30 I got a txt from a friend asking if I wanted to check out a camera fair in Wolverhampton. Sounded interesting, so away I went! And it was good, I'm kinda glad I didn't take too much money though as I managed to spend too much as it was x.X I ended up with 3 new cameras! All analogue, of course x3 And two of them were only a pound each! How could I turn that down? (Even if I can't use them because they take film that hasn't been made since the 70s...)
As we left the fair this storm rolled in but as we were in the car we just watched the rain and enjoyed being dry while checking out out purchases x3
But what about you, did you have a good week? Busy or more relaxed? I'd love to hear about it x3



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