Friday, March 16, 2018

Rocking Your World 2018: Week 11


It is once again time to highlight some 'Happy moments' from the past week, and what better way to start than with a 30+ year old photo, taken when little Ben was just a couple of days old. Fortunately his big brothers all look quite happy about his arrival!

And now here they are 'all grown up' along with hubby and I.
As one might expect, they have all followed different paths through life, but I am proud of the men they have become, and love them all to bits. And it was a joy to have video calls and messages from them for Mothering Sunday.

It has been a quiet but fairly productive week, and much of it was spent getting the garden ready for a new season. We set off on Monday for a big garden centre in Mojacar, and came home with the car boot filled with plants. I can't do too much at a time, so each day I tackled another bit and now we have a lovely pot of osteospermums to add immediate colour. They close up and go to sleep at night, but by day they look lovely, and they have quite a long flowering season.
When we moved in we inherited some lovely plants in tubs in the front garden, and among them was a standard gardenia. Sadly it was one of my failures and it died. This year we have also got rid of an old oleander that was past its best, so I have now replaced it with a new gardenia.
It is covered in buds, and the one flower that is open, smells heavenly.
Other plants in the front tubs are doing quite well without too much help from me. Look at all the flower buds on my little mandarin tree. It was new last year and only had two fruit on it, but I am hopeful for more this year, even if the winds do blow most of the blossom away! It is a rather weedy little tree, but I have cut the thinnest branches off, and I'm hoping it will get stronger with time.
You may remember I got excited last year when my Elephant foot palm had a flower for the first time. After watching it develop from a tight bud over several weeks, I was a bit disappointed by the rather nondescript flower. However, when the flower died, a new rosette of tiny leaves grew from the same leaf, and that is now a big head of leaves,and this week we have noticed it is again about to flower. A second head of leaves also grew from lower down, but that one isn't flowering. So now I am watching again to see how it grows. Unfortunately, our cats, especially Paco, have decided the trunk is a good place to sharpen their claws, so the bark has gone, but apart from its looks, it doesn't seem to have harmed the plant.
Those sweet little tiny daffodils I had in a pot, sadly only lasted a about a week, as we had some very warm days. So I cut off the dead heads and left the leaves to die off and 'feed' the bulbs, just in case they survive until next year. I have tried this before, but the summer is too hot for them and they dry out and just disintegrate. So I was really surprised to find this in one of my tubs. I didn't have any last year, so it is one from two years ago, that has managed to push through again this year, and give me a delightful surprise.

Next I turned my attention to the side yard, and more specifically to my tiny water garden in the corner of the fly-free area. This had been neglected all winter, and was looking rather sad. Now I have replaced the hydrangea with a new shrub. I don't know its name but it is smothered in buds, and has a small pink flower, and dark green leaves.
On and around the water feature there are some pretty pink and white verbena, a pink petunia, one more osteospermum, and two different ivy plants, and on top I have replaced the pot-bound fern with a tradescantia (spider plant). So it is looking a lot better now.

We have had a fair bit of rain again this week, gentle enough to do the plants some good, and settle them in without washing all the soil out of the pots. But it is still cold enough in the evenings to settle down in front of the TV, though there have been some nights when we haven't needed to light the fire. But that has given me time to crack on with my new crochet project, and by Wednesday I had completed part 2, and had to wait until today for part 3 to be published. I have just downloaded it now, so I am raring to go again. I am loving the pattern which is called Arizona Blanket and is based on a Navajo design. This is what it is like so far.
It started with the pattern for eight squares which were then joined together, and they run down the centre of the blanket. So now I am working in long rows on either side of the squares. I actually decided to use nine squares, so my rows are even longer, and it is too long to lay along the settee for a photo. It looks rather wavy so far, but I am confident a lot of that will sort itself out as I go along.
The pattern is in eight parts altogether, so maybe when I have finished part 4 I will show you again.
Now I have just got time to link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World, and then I am off to choir practice. When I get home this evening I shall make a start on part 3 of my blanket. I want to get as much done as I can, before it gets too hot to have it on my lap.

8 comments:

Lisca said...

What a lovely photo of the boys, both the current one as well as the 30 yr old one. You can be proud for sure.
The plants look great. Your climate is so much better than ours, you being on the coast makes a lot of difference.
I've seen your Arizona blanket on the internet (Pippin Poppycock) and have been thinking of doing something like that, but we are going into summer (I hope soon) and it will be too warm. And I have not got much time to crochet as we don't watch TV. So I decided it was not for me. But I find it fascinating and look forward to your updates. The gradient colours are very effective.
Enjoy your weekend,
Lisca

Gill Edwards said...

What a great display of flowers and plants, I do love the plants whose petals close up each night, its like magic.

Your crochet work is amazing! those colours are so striking.

have a good week
Gill

Annie said...

Your gorgeous plants and flowers always make me smile so thanks for sharing them with us. Well done you with the latest blanket Kate. I used to crochet a lot but rarely get my crochet hooks out now. I do remember making a huge circular baby blanket from a pattern in a day once.....those were the days lol.
Hugs,
Annie x

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

What a lovely family you have, gorgeous photos. Loving the plant pics too. Although the East Midlands Airport is not far from us this is the first time we've used it. I think it depends on where you're going. We stayed at a local hotel and left the car there. Hope your weekend is good, Angela xXx

Lilly's Mom said...

That's a lovely family photo you have shared. I love all your flowers. We have lots of those pink bushes like you have. They're planted all along the green areas where we live. I'm excited to see more of your new blanket your making. What a wonderful design. My best to you, Pat

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Sorry this is brief. I'm having keyboard problems. You are truly blessed to have such wonderful sons who obviously love you to bits.

Jean said...

Your blanket is looking lovely,I like the way your choice of colours is working out. Mine is looking a bit wavy at this stage too but I am hoping that now we are onto the straight rows that it will flatten out.
Your flowers are all, looking very pretty.What a nice surprise to have a daffodil appear in the flower pot. We have got a few in the garden, but the snow flattened the first ones that were just opening. When the snow had gone I rescued them and let them share the vase with my shop bought ones indoors for a few days.
Jean x

Virginia said...

So sorry I'm late, what a lovely positive post, I'm loving all the flowers and plants, alas we are yet again surrounded by the white stuff with plummeting temperatures so no chance of getting out and planting anything at the moment, I'm enjoying my house plants though!

The family picture is lovely, I bet it doesn't seem two minutes, time really does fly!

I'm loving the look of the new crocheting that you are doing, what a fabulous combination of colours!

I hope you have a grand weekend and week ahead.

Hugs