my photos

the garden is where the heart is ...

When the weather is like it is today with blue sky, little fluffy clouds and a gentle breeze, then the only place I want to be is the garden. I once had no garden, now I have a large garden, I could now never ever be without a garden.

I have always loved the outdoors, this most probably being inherited from my Dad, who after leaving school studied animal husbandry, first working with cattle and then spending most of his farming life working with pigs, and of course spent many hours outside, more hours than he spent in! Along with my brother, and best friend Steph, I would spend many of my hours exploring the countryside and what lived in it. I remember catching grasshoppers in the field, walking down to the brook where bulrushes grew, picking blackberries along the way and scooping mosquito larva with a small net from the water troughs to give the fish in the pond a treat.



I love nature and luckily inherited a garden from someone who equally did, who developed the bones of our garden, and who introduced many wildlife friendly plants and flowers. Like farming is a full-time job, my garden is a full-time hobby, and many hours are spent in it. My garden is a gardener's garden and is evolving all the time, one I don't see ever being finished, would I want it to be?

Now I have the blogs, I have become much more interested in photography and to be quite honest these days spend rather too much time snapping, instead of what I really should be doing, gardening. This cheeky bee literally flew in just as I was taking a photo of this dahlia, nothing was going to stop him getting his top of the morning dose of nectar! Maybe this is where the phrase 'buzz off' originates from?



Whilst travelling around the blogs I have discovered many artists, whose illustrations and paintings are just incredible. I have not inherited or learnt this skill, but I can see my garden as an artist's pallette and I can use the plants and flowers as my colours. I think this orange and lemon nasturtium go together so well.



Not forgetting all you talented 'needle' women out there, who make the most lovely things, out of all sorts of materials. The photo above is for you, a scabious, otherwise known as a pincushion flower!



In my garden I have sunny spots, shady spots, spots I like and spots I don't like quite so much. If you don't find me on my home blog, this is a spot where you may find me, with a nice cup of tea, relaxing amongst the greenery listening to and observing the wildlife. A garden is also for relaxing in, and shouldn't just be all hard graft, but it invariable is!

If you love gardening, or even just like it, come over and visit me in This Is My Patch.