Tremendous Tatton

Last Saturday I went to the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show. There is always a lot to see and a wonderful selection of plants that you can buy. 

There is a Produce tent that has fascinating display of fruit and veg.

What imagination! 

Mr and Mrs Cornucopia walked around the showground.

How many flowers in each outfit?

The school children are given a story and a character and have to design and make a display.
Fantastic Mr Fox certainly was fantastic.

Where's Bunce and Bean?

Old Toad was hopping about.

Toot toot

Cacti are popular this year and these are in oil drums.

Giants

A dried flower rack.

A wonderful way to display

I love the window box on the shed with a painting as a backdrop.

Bonny

A willow horse.

Fantastic artwork

A willow ant.

Only an ant no uncles

A willow bee.

Buzz Buzz

This figure is made from tyres.

'I'm tyred out'

An alternative planter.

Delicate wash please

We had a lovely walk around Dufton pike one of our local 'pyramids.'

Part of the walk is on the Pennine Way

We suddenly came across this tree.

Are you a tree hugger?

Two interlocking hawthorns.

Conjoined trees

Can you see the face in this tree?

It looks like a dolphin

Wall art in the centre of Manchester.

Hang on

I have been harvesting this week my garlic, blackcurrants and gooseberries. I have picked about 2 stone of blackcurrants that took ages to pick and process.

The buddleia is in flower. The butterflies love it.

Long purple spikes

Giant gunnera along the riverbank.

Giant rubarb leaves

Himalayan balsam.

Not a popular plant because of the way it spreads  

Sticky burs that as a child you would love to throw.

Spiky hooks

This tree despite have a huge hole in the trunk is still alive.

A cave at the base

There is fungus around the base of the trunk.

It looks like dinner plates

Lichen on the tree branches shows how clean the air is.

The branches are covered

The berries are forming on the hawthorn.

Pale red berries

Mist hanging in the valley.

The meadow alongside the river Eden

Children's art has its own simplicity.

Smile

Hadrian's Happenings

Last week we had a walk along Hadrian's Wall from Housestead to Milecastle. Hadrian's Wall is a World Heritage Site. The weather was perfect for the long views.

We followed the wall that climbed and dropped according to the contours.

Housestead

Looking along the wall.

It just goes on and on

Along the route were various tarns.

One man and his dog, Jill

Tarns were dotted along the landscape.

Panoramic views

The iconic Sycamore Tree.

Made famous by Kevin Koestler's Robin Hood

In places the landscape was rugged.

Steep ravines

The Romans were brilliant at building.

Do you fancy building on this terrain?

I have been picking blackcurrants and have made some jam.

Yummy

The flower bed on my allotment.

I have a lot of flowers that attract the bees

The dahlias have come into bloom.

They are prone to black fly

 I have made several wreaths.

They do not last very long

Daisies and perennial wallflower

I am growing lupins as a green manure.

A pretty shade of blue

The monbretia Lucifer is now in bloom.

Vibrant red

The mondara looks dramatic.

Giant pin cushions

There have been some lovely sunsets.

Red sky at night

This is  part of Penrith's  Cumbria in Bloom display.

Garden fashion

Mix and Match

It has been a mixed week of weather some very wet days and others warm and sunny. I have continued to update my artwork on wet days and then have been frantically weeding and getting the Artful Garden and my allotment ready for the Cumbria in Bloom visit next Wednesday.

On a walk along the river I saw an orchid.

It is part of a wild flower meadow

Also giant hogweed with blooms the size of a dustbin lid. 

Hogmundus

Heather on the moor is coming into flower.

Bell heather

This is the centre of a peony flower.

Exotic

The mallow is attracting the bees.

A froth of pink

I have started to harvest my kale.

Crispy kale

These carrots are a heritage variety.

Crepeus Paperus  and Wooly nets

The runner beans are starting to grow.

They have bean a long time growing

This is a french holding basket that make a good flower container.

Not fish but flower

Bobby Barley has returned to the Artful Garden. The straw hen has been re thatched.

Do you like my socks?

I have painted the ghords I grew last year and put then on canes in both gardens.

Gourdeous

I have created a marbling effect

Only two knobbly ghords survived

The painting is abstract flowers

The farmers are making hay.

Hoping the sun will keep shining

A view from Hartside looking towards the Solway.

Stunning