Bang on with late July trees!

This one is none too exciting in July…

And my special tree has also lost its party clothes ( still makes a brilliant den for a five year old though!)

This one is plain weird, but might be the winner for July:

The young Judas tree is not doing much either – it’s developing a rather odd shape, so maybe needs some attention

No-one seems to know what tree number 5 is – but it has clearly lost a chunk from the middle!

Every one of the trees in these gardens with a trunk over 10 cms diameter has a protection order on it. I’m not sure which bit of number 5 would count as the part to be measured….

Overall, I think the flower beds are looking rather tired and straggly now:

And looking at these last two pictures I am struggling not to mention the A word – come on, it’s only late JULY!

In a more reliable world we would have been on the Newhaven ferry yesterday. We dithered a while, then cancelled, at least for the moment. We are still booked to return from Dieppe at the end of the month, so maybe we haven’t given up altogether… just mustn’t forget that bit! Decision time by the end of this week, I think.

Super late with late June trees

But my special tree (pictures 2 to 4) did do its stuff – this is the one that provided my daughter’s wedding bouquet – a fabulous scented mock orange.

The gardens were definitely not at their best this June. Weird weather, I suppose. The green garden might have been the most impressive, for once.

Otherwise, the newly established meadow area probably had the most colour. And very clearly the most bees – you could hear a constant buzz around this part! Plenty of other insects and butterflies too – definitely proved a success worth repeating next year.

I have given up trying to fight the alignment. Sorry. One day I will actually put in the time to learn this properly. It would no doubt save me hours in the end!

Late with late May trees

Same old trees – but, I realise, not the same year after year! The problem with sticking rigidly to an end-of-the-month schedule is that the weather gets in the way. May 2021 was cold, very wet and miserable here in SE UK. This meant that tree number one, which was spectacular in May last year, had all its blossom pelted off in a few days in week three this time. The winner for May is clearly tree number 4 – a young Judas tree with glorious colour, even on such a grey day. This month (June) my money is on tree number two – the mock orange. Fingers crossed – this is a very special tree for me.

Hic sunt dracones….

And plenty of them…

Half term fun. Dragon hunting with a five year old in Brighton Pavilion.

She was less keen on this:

She refused to believe anyone had ever eaten it. In fact, I think we may be heading towards more vegetarian choices quite soon….

The most interesting thing in the Pavilion apparently has nothing to do with poor old Prinny. It is Queen Victoria’s bed – with SEVEN mattresses, carefully counted!

Playing with the dye pots again

(And I have the fingernails to prove it…)

Some dipped, some injected, some spattered, some painted with a brush…. no end of fun! The unwound skeins above are not yet finished, but they will end up as sock yarn and/or mini skeins. The samples at the top are on a new base of kid mohair lace weight. I like it, but it may be better suited to more pastel colours.

May in the UK has been utterly grim, weatherwise (at least in this corner of the South East – I haven’t travelled far). So indoor activities like the above are ideal. I use mostly acid dyes in England – much less messy than the natural plant materials or indigo that I prefer in France (where I can work outside, with proper SUN!)

I did get out walking today though – despite the chilly rain. I usually end up on the Downs or along the seafront but today I went Urban. I have been lucky enough to have lived in Brighton for my whole adult life – mostly right in the city centre – but there are still numerous back streets and little squares to discover. Because there are so many separate conservation areas, there is a lot of information online – so I set out like a proper tourist to explore. It is quite surprising how much you never notice till you actually look for it…I shall do more!