Dales diary...

I'm afraid this blog has been somewhat quiet again of late.   For several weeks life has simply got in the way.  Last week we went away to the Yorkshire Dales, an utterly beautiful area that I had never seen before. 

Having a week in such a lovely place has done us the world of good.  Even in the pouring rain this is a special place.  The wide open spaces, the mile upon mile of dry stone walls, the thousands of sheep, the rivers and becks and waterfalls are everywhere.

 

And then, finally when the sun comes out, the effect is quite magical. 

The tops of the hills are windy and slightly bleak.  You can see for miles and you can hear the lapwings and skylarks all round.  Down in the dales and in the meadows, the flowers and the woodland birds take over.

Buttercups, clover, germander speedwell and daisies are everywhere and the swallows dip and swoop over the fields.  In the evenings the swifts are up above the houses in their screaming parties, but the swallows dip low almost to our head height.  Occasionally they even rest...

The artist Turner came to the Dales and painted this lovely place, I like to think he appreciated the wonderful light and gentle wilderness .  He stayed at the King's Arms Hotel in Askrigg and the Green Dragon at Hardraw and drew many of the places nearby, including Mill Gill Fall and Hardraw Force.   It is a special place and one I shall remember for a long time.

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” 

Alfred Wainwright

Flaming June

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” ― Maud Hart Lovelace

It's Flaming June and the garden is lush and abundant and teeming with life.  A mixture of rain and a lot of warm sunshine has done its job and everything is twice the size it was the day before!  The rose bushes are laden with blooms and I can't keep up with all the dead-heading I need to do.  Insects and birds of all kinds are buzzing and twittering and hopping around the garden.

 

Weeds are growing faster than anything else, although some plants grow and they are so lovely and pretty I don't mind leaving them especially if the bees love it.  I have no clue what this is - any ideas?

 

In spite of the best efforts of our massive slug and snail population it looks as if we will get some broad beans finally and there are carrots, beans, potatoes and swiss chard growing in varying sizes.

"Now summer is in flower and natures hum

Is never silent round her sultry bloom

Insects as small as dust are never done

Wi' glittering dance and reeling in the sun

And green wood fly and blossom haunting bee

Are never weary of their melody

Round field hedge now flowers in full glory twine

Large bindweed bells wild hop and streakd woodbine

That lift athirst their slender throated flowers

Agape for dew falls and for honey showers

These round each bush in sweet disorder run

And spread their wild hues to the sultry sun."

-  John Clare, June

Meanwhile inside Hazel Cottage, a lot is going on - our Parsnip wine has been bottled and stored away for a few months time....  I can't help calling it our Peapod Burgundy!

We are in the middle of having our fireplace transformed too as we are having a wood burner fitted.  Here are some photos of the work in progress, once it is complete, I will post more pictures.  Its really very exciting!

The fireplace has been cleared out and the brickwork re-pointed

The flue is in!  And the hearth tiles have been laid

Hearth tiles now grouted and decorative tiles fixed.

The glory of the English countryside

It's beautiful the Summer month of June
When all of God's own wildflowers are in bloom
And sun shines brightly most part of the day
And butterflies o'er lush green meadows play.

Francis Duggan, June

 Those wonderful wildflowers in the English countryside grace the hedgerows so beautifully at this time of year.  On a walk in Devon at the weekend, walking along the lane we saw the last of the late bluebells mixed with buttercups, ox-eye daisies, herb robert, lesser stitchwort, and other flowers we couldn't identify.

The sun was so bright it caused my photograph to glow!

Does anyone recognise this?  Sorry about the blurry photo!

Cow parsley and sweet cicely, we think we saw hogweed as well.

Foxgloves were everywhere we went and were still coming out.  I think everything is a little late this year.

 

The ransoms or wild garlic were everywhere along the route - especially in the shaded areas near the steam.

Looking back downhill along the lane.

 

“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day"

Aldo Leopold   

The butterflies and birds flew about our heads and I took a lot of photographs and we stood and gazed at the view. We saw at least three buzzards over the weekend and on the walk also saw an owl fly past.   On a June day when the sun is blazing and the hedgerows are alive with life, the English countryside is just the best place in the world.

"A bird in the boughs sang “June,”
And “June” hummed a bee
In a Bacchic glee
As he tumbled over and over
Drunk with the honey-dew."
  Clinton Scollard (1860–1932) 

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

I mentioned in my last post that we had seven different roses in our garden.  We inherited them all when we moved in - the previous owners had obviously loved them. I have to admit to having had a problematic attiude to roses until recently.  Most of the year they look like dry sticks and don't provide any greenery, and only look good for a few weeks in May and June.  I've always loved the roses themselves, but they seemed hard work with their aphids and deadheading and need for pruning.  I wasn't about to dig them up, but they seemed more work than anything else.

This year has been different though.  I've fed the roses early in spring, I've bought organic aphid spray  to keep them in check and I've deadheaded more often.  And this year they have rewarded me with the most wondrous smelling, beautiful blooms.  As an impatient gardener, I am learning a lesson here - some plants need a little more care, a bit more effort and planning in order to produce at their best.  I also seem to have fallen in love with roses a little.  So I hope you will forgive my indulgence and enjoy these photographs of all seven rose bushes in Hazel Cottage garden:

 

 

God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.

James M. Barrie

Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, a box where sweets compacted lie.

George Herbert

They are not long, the days of wine and roses.

Ernest Dowson