Friday Smiles 2023; Week 19

Like many of you I suspect, my week started in front of the TV on Saturday to watch the coronation. I am not ususally in front of the TV during the daytime, but I didn't want to miss such a historic occasion. Leo took the opportunity to have a comfy resting place between my legs and he laid there for ages, watching the movement on the screen, though he did look at me when he heard me use my camera. Canyou see that he still likes his little teddy which is well chewed and sucked on now.

I do think UK does that kind of ceremony very well, and I enjoyed watching it. We also enjoyed the Sunday night concert from Windor. It was a varied, well-balanced programme and I enjoyed it much more than the one they put on for the Queen's jubilee.

Most of my photos this week are from the garden again, starting with this succulent 'shrub', which suddenly produced tiny pink flowers all over it. It has only done this once or twice before so the conditions must have been just right for it this year. It is another little surprise that pleased me. It pleased the bees and other insects too as they are busy around it all day.

And on the subject of surprises, last week I showed you the lovely cacti that is blooming all down the slope to the green zone at the back of our house. I mentioned its lovely peachy, yellow flowers, so imaging my surprise when the next day it was covered with  bright, deep red flowers! I have no idea why or how this happened. They still only lasted for a day, and the next day they were back to their original colour. Here are the two shots taken on consecutive days to show the difference. And it wasn't just these flowers;it was all the flowers on the whole trailing plant.

Our 'Bird of Pradise' tree is again in flower. We pruned this almost down to its bare trunk in the Autumn and it obviously did it good. I love the long stamens on these flowers.

Out in the back garden, the pelergonium I planted in the new corner garden last year, has flourished and it is looking beautiful right now.

And in the next planter we have a rose. I planted it there because it was quite small and slender so I thought it might cope with being in a confined tough. But it actually has surprisingly big, full flowers. The petals are smaller than on the tea roses out at the front, but there are a lot of them and it is very pretty.

Last Friday we went shopping and in Lidls they had a good dispaly of flowers and plants. I realised it was because Sunday was Mother's Day here. But just because we liked it, we bought this rather beautiful white hydrangea. Normally they are streaked with yellow or green, but this is a really pure white. We have put it in the front garden in a bigger pot and I am hoping it will keep its flowers for a while.

I thought this was quite interesting. We both love ginger, so I almost always have a couple of pieces of root ginger in the fridge. But if it gets too cold it can go wet in a plastic bag, and unwrapped it dries up and wrinkles, so this time I decided trying to store it in the fruit bowl. Well when I came to use some, I found it had started growing. That has never happened before, so I cut off the growing tuber and have planted it outside. I have no idea whether it will grow, but I will try to remember to check on it now and then.

Chris has cleaned out the little fountain so we can run it again, and replaced the missing pipe so it has four spouts at last. Lots of insects dip down for a quick drink, and this year there have been some little birds coming to it as well, which is what I hoped for. Obviously the cats are a threat to them, but they haven't bothered with them so far. Leo loves water and we have seen him trying to pat at the water in the pool though it is just out of his reach. I can see him falling in one day.

Leo is six months old tomorrow so I have had to start letting him go outside a bit, though I keep an eye on where he is, and make sure he is back inside before the sun goes down. He is very inquisitive and playful so nothing is safe!

The house next door, that overlooks our pool area, is empty for most of the year, though Dolores, who owns it, does come for a month in July most years. It is a two story house and just  under the roof there are a few of what we think are ventilation holes, and the little house sparrows come and nest in them each year, and we like to watch them coming and going to feed their babies, and then to see the fledgelings take their first shaky flights. Well maybe there was no room left this year, because one little bird started to build a nest on the windowsil of one of the bedrooms, behind the rejas (black railings). It started off as a small, untidy pile of dried grass and twigs, but they have worked on it all week and now it is a large, very untidy pile of dried grass and twigs! I have never seen such an untidy nest, but the birds visit frequently so hopefully there will be eggs and then babies very soon. It is a bit vunerable for the high winds we get some afternoons, and offers little protections should we get the storms that they are promising us for this weekend. And as it is so open, it is easy prey for the magpies and starlings who are known to steal eggs and baby chicks, but we are hoping this one will survive.

Although I said it was my last batch before the summer, I have sold all the picallili I made, so I decided to make one more lot. Last night I cut up all the vegetables and left them in salt over night, and today I cooked and bottled it. I usually put Leo out in the sitting room and porch when I am busy, but today I let him come in the kitchen and Tolly was in there. They 'play-wrestled' for ages. Leo is very brave and is not deterred by Tolly's greater size. He leapt onto him, and got his ears cuffed over and over again, but he just kept going back for more. It reminded me of how Tolly tormented Tango when he was little. In the end Tolly got a bit annoyed so I separated them, but it is the first time I have seen them interact like that. I was too busy stirring my pan to take many photos but I did catch this one.

And now I am ready to publish this and link to Annie's Friday Smiles.