PLANTING TIME

Last week I bought some plants from the Garden Centre, plus tulip bulbs, but only found time to plant the bulbs and some wallflowers. Then the rains came!



But today is a lovely sunny day, very windy, but I found a pot for the Heuchera I had bought. I fell in love with it as it was so pretty. Its called something like "Silver coils" - I love heucheras!




I was going to plant the Heuchera in the pot these begonias are using, but I hadn't the heart to pull them up as they were still looking so lovely! So I've left them for a bit. The pansies are in a big trough in front of them, but I had too many for the trough so was hunting a couple of smaller pots to plant the overflow!

Its lovely to see the sun today, a real autumnal day, windy but not too cold. So many leaves have already fallen that I don't think we are going to have a long-lasting autum this year.

To all you kind friends who asked after me, following a spell in Hospital - I am fine, but I am going to see the Consultant at the end of November in his clinic, and maybe we can find the source of the trouble. But I sincerely hope it doesn't happen again, twice in one year is far too many times!

MADE IT AT LAST!

I intended to post a new blog last week, but an unexpected stay in Hospital has thrown all my planning! However, we did manage to get to Leek Flea Market on Saturday.



It was also a Farmers' Market, though it seemed to be all meat, sausages, eggs and things like that. I don't think I would have fancied the meat here, which was is the full sun. (Not that the sun was actually very warm, and there was a very cold wind!)




There was the stall with the usual eclectic array of stuff....




.....but the Baby walker, or whatever it was, looked very uncomfortable for the poor baby! Someone said it was french, which could have accounted for it!!




There was a doll and a teddy - I had a doll just like that when I was a small child.




It was so cold there I had to buy a scarf from Oxfam! I tried to take this photo of me looking in a mirror that was on one of the stalls. I'm wearing the scarf, and was very glad I bought it!




And lastly it was so cold and I was very tired, I took shelter in my favourite cafe to wait for Mr.G who is far hardier than I am! And yes, I did have a piece of the cakes there, plus a good hot cup of coffee!

A LONG TIME AGO

I was looking through old photos, and came acxross this one - and it started me thinking! I expect we have all got similar photos - this one is the First XII hockey team at my school. You will have to look hard to find me, but I am there!

I thought back to my schooldays - they weren't great, and I must have been a real pain in my early years there. I went when I was 10 rising 11, and it was all so different from the private school I had attended during the Second World War. But eventually I got my head round most subject and did quite well. Not Maths though. I missed a lot of lessons one year, and never caught up. Some things are still a mystery to me.

What were quadratic equations actually for?? Has anyone used them in adult life?

I didn't keep up with my ex-classmates - I moved away, and life changed. But I sometimes envy people who have stayed in the area they were born in, or went to school in, and still know what everyone from their school is doing.

But if I hadn't moved away, I doubt I would have found the opportunities I did find, and I don't suppose I would be the person I am now!

A very philosophical blog! But what about you? Did you move away? Stay in the same area? Do you now wish perhaps you had done things differently?

A SURPRISE VISITOR!

A little while ago we noticed a baby plant growing in a pot of old, used compost which stood by the back door. This door opens into the garden, and there are 8 awkward steps down into the garden, which explains why the pot of used compost was still there!

We left it alone, and it grew and grew, and soon became obvious it was a sunflower. We didn't think it would get to bloom so late in the year, but now look at it!

I grant you it is not one of those giant sunflowers, but it is very pretty. The seed must have been dropped, either by a bird or one of us, as we feed the birds with mixed seed.

Talking of strange plants, in the winter we feed the Siskins and Redpoll on Nyjer seed, and every year we have a fine crop of Nyjer plants, although they never come to anything, as it is too cold here for blooming and setting seed.

But the birds seem to have disappeared this week. I don't know where they have gone, but I imagine there is such a lot of natural food, they don't need ours. It is strange though, last week the sparrows and various sorts of tits were fighting over the peanuts, but this week - zilch!

IT'S MARKET TIME AGAIN!

Today (Sunday) was the monthly Treacle Market in our Market Square and adjoining street. Sadly, the "real" antiques seem to have disappeared, but there are still a lot of stalls to search



there was a lot of pretty crockery on this stall, but I wondered if anyone ever used the traditional wicker hamper for picnics? They must have been terribly heavy - you wouldn't have wanted to carry them too far!




There were a couple of bookstalls, and I was very pleased to find a book illustrated by Charles Tunnicliffe. I love his drawings, painting and all artwork of his, and the black and white illustrations in this book, which is devoted to country matters, are delightful. The book is written by HE Bates, another old favourite of mine. Sadly both Charles Tunnicliffe and HE Bates are dead now.

There was one book I didn't buy - though I did wonder if there were any other sort of slugs other than terrestrial ones!




There was a stall with lovely coloured ribbons.......




........and one that was all sorts of bits and pieces. It actually was a very windy day, but you can't see it from the photographs.




On the next door stall there were some old bears and other animals.......





.........and a stall with all sorts of floaty scarves and things.





The food stalls were all together down a street leading off the Market Square. There were two bread stalls, both were loaded with really yummy-looking bread. I bought a loaf that I was promised was full of seeds and goodness!



There was also a stall selling Fungi. This was a new one for the market, and although there were plenty of "ordinary" mushrooms, there were boxes of mixed fungi, which I really wouldn't have liked to try without positively identifying them first! And then I might err on the side of caution and not eat them!




And lastly, in case you needed a sit down and a cup of tea or coffee, this maiden was there to direct you down the ginnel!

BUTTERFLIES

We have had more butterflies in our garden these last few days than we had the whole of last year! These two are Tortoiseshells, but we have also had Peacocks, Red Admirals, Spotted Wood, and of course, the usual Whites. At this time of the year they love our Sedum. We have two huge clumps of this, but they are getting a bit too big for their boots now and will have to be dug up and slimmed down!




This last is a dahlia I thought would never bloom! I planted it in a tub, and then put the tub in a space in the border where there was a gap, but it sulked for weeks, until this lovely orange bloom appeared.

Sorry this is a short blog - what with one thing and another, there doesn't seem to have been much time for writing blogs!

HEATHER TIME

I've been longing for ages to get up in the hills to see the heather. We finally made it on a lovely day last week.



First we called in at a reservoir I hadn't been to for at least 10 or 12 years. I was amazed at how much it had changed, and couldn't recognise where I used to walk! Trees had grown, and paths altered, and it looked a very strange place. I was also very surprised at how low the water is. Considering how much rain we have had this summer, I thought the reservoirs might be full!




Our destination was the Goyt Valley, and Errwood Reservoir. Again, the water was very low. If it gets any lower, the remaining bits of the village which was flooded to make the reservoir will be showing!




One of the little streams that feed the reservoir. Makes a lovely sound, rushing over the stones!




But there was definitely heather there. It looks so lovely against the grey stone.




And just to prove it really is heather - its here!




There are lovely places to stop and you can walk for miles from here, right across the moors. Not for me now, alas!




We drove through beautiful countryside. You can maybe get a peep from the window and see why I love it up here.

Unfortunately, the road we were on is a very dangerous road, with lots of bends and steep downhill bits. So we couldn't stop, and I had to peer past Mr.G to take it!

It was a lovely day out - I really must get us out more!

If you want to see more of my photographs, on all sorts of subjects, go to my other blog