Lunch, chickens, flowers and weeds.....

Finally I've got round to updating my blog.  I seem to spend every waking hour when I'm not at work in the garden.  My fault - I plant everything in pots or trays and then of course they need transplanting!  My greenhouse is not big enough, windowsills are still covered in trays and propagators....

The first cucumber of the year

I've given over one of my vegetable beds to flowers for the first time and I keep squeezing more plants in.  Hopefully once it all starts to grow a bit, it should be a mass of colour right through to the autumn - well thats the plan, lets see what happens.

The beginnings of a flower bed

I need a bigger greenhouse

The first lot of chicks, the marans are growing well and now live outside, and my "little chick", now know as "Lit-lun" is still as friendly as ever.  As soon as I pick her up she goes straight onto my shoulder.  No accidents so far!  She is with some of the younger birds and loves being outside.

Who needs a parrot!

Enjoying the fresh air

I've just read that I'm an "old school friend" - old..... sulk.  Through Facebook I got back in contact with a few of the people I was at school with and yesterday I had lunch with one of the most talented crafty people I have met in a long time.  I love her blog. http://nicksartystuff.blogspot.com/ Last week another of our "school mates" was over from New Zealand so I met him for lunch too.  Strange how you don't see somebody for many.... far too many years... since leaving school and they haven't changed a bit!

I titled this post "lunch, chickens, flowers and weeds" - well now for the weeds.  I have a back garden full of wild flowers - weeds to most people, which I love.  We don't cut the grass at this time of the year as it looks so pretty.  I have identified my favourite as "Fox and Cubs", part of the Hawkweed family, and in fact I managed to grow some from saved seed.  Another cute flower has intrigued me so finally I managed to trace it on the internet.... Common Vetch... oh.... and its poisonous.  And I thought it was rare!  Still more "wild flower/weeds" to identify...

                                      

They are far too pretty to be just weeds