Making plans. Worcestershire.

I love this time of the year. My garden looks a little scruffy in places as things start to die back. Tidying up in the garden is so satisfying as you know it will stay looking great for months.

On top of that the spring bulbs and winter bedding are in the shops. Lidl is particularly brilliant for bulbs this week. A very satisfactory morning spent planting bargain bulbs means I am looking forward to more hyacinths, tulips, crocus, and allium next spring. Deep joy.

Circular walk, West Malvern, near Worcester.

This walk starts and ends by the Outdoor Centre in West Malvern, at the top of Old Hollow road. Walk down the path through the outdoor centre and on to the farm. You cross the yard through the two metal gates and then stick to the path through two fields in which sheep are grazing. At the top far corner f the next field you go up through the next field and in the top corner you pass under trees to a path entering the wood. After you pass through the wooden gate you go a little further up before meeting a path making a t with the one you are on. You have now done the hardest part of the walk. Take the left hand path and you follow the ridge through the woods until you reach a metal gate. This is a long flat section of the walk. You now go through a farm yard and then on to the bottom of a private road. Just past a few houses on the left is a footpath sign, and following this you go through a few fields and then are back at the first farm at the outdoor centre.

Sheep freshly shorn

Here are a few of the sights I saw today following this walk.

First field

View north

Towards wooden gate onto ridge

Tree detail

Ridge path

Path in dappled shade

View west towards Herefordshire

View east across to Malvern Hill from second farm

Lower path back to first farm

Interesting burr in hedgerow

Beautiful butterflies in my garden, Malvern, Worcester.

Cabbage White butterfly

I have at last found the secret to photographing butterflies. I have been trying to photograph the butterflies in my garden for weeks but they kept flying off before I could focus the camera. If you go out first thing on a sunny morning they haven't yet warmed up enough to fly off as quickly as they do later on. Using this tip, hurrah I finally got some decent pictures. Hope you like them.

Peacock butterfly and a Bee

The garden they were enjoying

Romantic Roses, Malvern gardens, Worcestershire.

Roses are very much the traditional flower of the English country garden. Climbing, standard, bush and traditional forms, all are beautiful. They come in every colour and grow reliably. Dead head them once they bloom has passed it's best, and you prolong the number of flowers and length of flowering period. Enjoy these pictures of some of my roses.

Lovely Lillies, Lilium, Malvern, Worcestershire.

A warm start to August has really helped my lilies bloom magnificently. Grown from bulbs, these flowers are frost hardy and once planted require little from you to ensure they flower spectacularly every year. The only real problem I have faced is the lily beetle. This beetle is a jewel bright red colour when in its adult form. If you spot them you must remove them by hand and destroy. The beetles are quite pretty and easy to spot, but their young cause amazing amount of damage and will eat not only the flowers and leaves, but also bury down and devour the bulb. They are harder to spot, black brown in colour and maggot like, and as a defence they cover themselves with their own poo. Sadly these also need to be picked off by hand and destroyed.  It is all well worth it though as I hope these pictures from my garden show.

Beaches and coastline near Morpeth, Newcastle.

I enjoyed a fabulous couple of days exploring around Morpeth in Newcastle. One day we spent exploring the East coast of North England. There are many castles dotted around this area but it was the sand the sea, the fabulous rock formations and the incredible sky that I fell in love with. here are just a few of the pictures I took.

Market Place, Alston, Cumbria.

Oil burner and tealight holder

Unfortunately I forgot my camera the day I visited Alston. I enjoyed some fab shopping, the town has a number of jewellers, artists, potters and other crafts people working and displaying and selling their work. In particular i was impressed with the pottery at Gallery 1611 Ceramic, and bought a sweet little candle holder and oil burner.

I also bought loads of things from Mellow yellow gift shop and had a delightful lunch in the rather old fashioned tea shop, called Blueberries. My other half bought outdoor gear from the Outdoor Ramblers Shop.

For more details on the gallery try www.gallery1611.co.uk

Bees and Vegetables at a friends allotment, Morpeth near Newcastle.

Whilst visiting friends in Morpeth near Newcastle, they took me to see their allotment and the bees they have. They have only been keeping bees for a short while but already have had two honey harvests. The bees clearly love it there an now they not only have the two original hives, but a new young swarm, which are currently housed in the middle nursery hive box.

We were very lucky whilst we were there as the queen from one of the two established hives decided to go on a walk about. When still young queens will leave the hive occasionally to go out on mating flights, and the worker bees crowd around the entrance waiting for her return. The queen returned while we were there and you van see her in the close up picture, she is the largest bee in the centre of the frame.

Two hives and centre nursery hive

The return of the Queen