Hot,, Hot, Hot

This last week we have had a heatwave, almost too hot to garden. The gardens have thrived on the sunshine, both plants and weeds. I am up to date with weeding all my gardens and just have a few more flowers to plant out. I have lost most of the flower seedlings and some veg seedlings in the Artful Garden. Something has twice been eating them as I replanted some veg. I have put jam jars and plastic bottles on top of some seedlings. They have now reached the top of the container so I am looking for other solutions.

The runner beans are growing very slowly.

No giant to be seen

The blue campanulas are swaying in the flower borders. They flower for a long time.

Ring the bells

I love delphiniums and have a variety of colours.

Powder blue

This week I picked my first strawberries and made some into jam in the microwave. This is a very good technique if you have a small quantity of fruit.

Delicious

Last week in torrential rain and a howling gale we walked from Mungrisdale to Bowscale Tarn.

Stunning views

Suddenly the gradient changed

The ascent was very steep and the driving rain felt like needles on your skin. The wind was so strong you felt you could be blown over. The views should have been stunning and the tarn itself was very dramatic hemmed in by crags.

The tarn is 17 metes deep

An old sign.

Is there a hobbit about?

The wild roses in the hedgerows have a fragile beauty that matches their perfume.

Paper thin petals

I saw this willow chicken in Glasgow.

You alright, hen? 

Street art in Glasgow.

Padering to the tourists

This mosaic in Silloth commemorates the millennium.

Tiles of buildings and places of interest

I made these flowers with class 1 at Kirkoswald school. Each child had a petal preference colour and each design was individual including a cactus.

Petal power

Crazy Maisie has left the Artful Garden to go to a health farm to detox.

Feeling slightly under the weather