A Perfect Weekend

Hello again!

What a perfect long weekend that was!  On Saturday we had the pleasure of visiting RHS Tatton Park Flower Show for the first time.  I can't believe we have never visited before!  The tickets were a kind gift from my Patient Other Half's sister, for POH's birthday.  A brilliant gift indeed, including a ticket for Premium Parking, which was a great success!

There was so much to see we literally spent all day there, and I'm sure we were virtually the last to leave ;)

The sun shone right up until the last few minutes, at which point it chucked it down, but we were heading back to the car then anyway so it didn't matter.  (Premium Parking, near the gate, came into its own then!)

We loved the show gardens.  So much thought goes into them that I can't possibly do them justice. This one, the Mid Cheshire Hospitals 'Remember Me' garden, was particularly poignant for me, having lost my Dad to dementia a few years ago.  Full of familiar plants that were grown in back gardens everywhere, it tracked the journey from first diagnosis to requiring 24 hour care.  The iron bed frames were planted with herbs, for peace and rest in the final stages.

Below is another show garden, representing Crohn's and Colitis.  Again, so well thought out:

This one was the Gabriel Ash Greenhouse Garden.  Greenhouse envy or what?!

Look at these bonsai trees!  Decades old!  The patience in creating something like this is phenomenal.

The one below was started in 1893.  Imagine being the one to forget to water it...

It was quite by chance (I think) that the tickets we had for the Saturday coincided with Monty Don being there, giving a talk.  I love watching Monty Don, particularly on Gardeners' World, and also enjoy reading his books and articles in Gardeners' World magazine.  He has such a natural, thoughtful way of writing I really enjoy.  He was even better 'in real life' and the hour that he spoke for zipped by.  Sadly he was without Nigel, the undisputed doggy star of the show for many people, but I was very happy just to listen to Monty describing the creation of his own garden, Long Meadow.

We had such a good day out, we will certainly go again.  

(OOH!  Where did he appear from??  He was very yummy though!)

Saturday evening brought another joy, in the arrival of my beloved eldest nephew and his wife, who I truly consider to be my niece. They were visiting for a few days in order to attend a wedding locally, but we had lots of time to talk, laugh, eat, and have fun. They arrived bearing gifts - beautiful gifts

Isn't this just the sunniest, happiest flower arrangement?

We took them to my Happy Place, Dunham Massey. I know I told you all about DM last time, but I must show you this photo of the deer.  We were lucky enough to spot a White Hart Deer. You can see him on the right hand side of the photo, by the archway.

My nephew and niece went home yesterday, and I do miss them. Daisy Dog must miss them too, as she is definitely off her food!  I even cooked her some minced beef, but she turned her nose up at first.  I think she just loved being carried around and cuddled all day!

Changing the subject completely, our home grown potatoes are particularly delicious this year. We are growing two varieties, our usual 'Charlotte' and, new for us, 'Pentland Javelin'.  I must say that we are preferring the Pentland Javelin, as the flavour is excellent, they are smooth, waxy, and deliciously sweet!

We do grow potatoes in our vegetable beds, but these were grown in an old, holey bucket, with extra holes drilled in the bottom.   I grow several lots of potatoes like this every year, as they fit into any spare, reasonably sunny corner.  You can buy potato growing bags too, and I do use some, but I prefer buckets as they seem to keep more evenly watered.  The soft sides of the bags have a tendency to collapse inwards and prevent the rain, or water, reaching the tubers.  Some DIY shops sell buckets for as little as 99p, and they last several years.

I place about 4 inches of compost in the bottom, and put 3 tubers, eyes upwards, on the top.  Then I cover them with another 3 or 4 inches of compost, mixed with some farmyard manure (from a bag). It's important to keep them well watered too. As the plants grow, 'earth them up' with more compost, and a handful of manure every so often.  Once the compost is a couple of inches from the top stop adding compost, but keep up the watering.  The plants will flower and when the stalks start to droop they are ready to harvest! Tip them out and collect up your tasty tatties! The used compost can go on to the garden.  

New potatoes are best served the day they are harvested.  You can't beat them!

I still haven't shown you my vegetable garden, but it's raining at the moment, so I will save that for another day.

Now, I must go and sew on 52 buttons...  I'll tell you all about that next time!

Donna x