Flutterby Patch

Jolly fun

What fun it would be in these days of economic gloom and the credit crunch (good name for a biscuit don't you think) to be able to make whatever you needed from a cardboard box, scissors and some sticky tape. 

Take this little house for instance. It has a splendid front door and two little windows with the prettiest red and white check curtains. Who could ask for more!

But how would you feel if one day you returned to your house to find a glassy blue eye watching you from one of the windows? Would you, I wonder, recognise the owner of that eye?

Well yes, you probably would if you had read 'Jolly Tall' the wonderful little story for children written and illustrated by the very talented Jane Hissey. 

In the story the toys find a cardboard box and draw a door and windows in it to make a house. But when they cut out the windows they find a very tall furry giraffe inside and they name him Jolly Tall (because he is).

After several attempts to get him out of the box the toys use a little red crane which successfully does the job with only a few spills along the way. 

My daughter and I are huge fans of Jane Hissey's stories about Old Bear and his friends and, as you can see, we have collected a number of the cute characters from the books over the years.

If I didn't think you'd seen more than enough snow this year already I could have told you about the book entitled 'Jolly Snow'. In this story the toys long for some of the magical white stuff to fall from the sky but when it doesn't they try making it from flour, pieces of cut paper and even soap bubbles. Eventually they settle for some fun sledging down a white sheet obligingly held high by Jolly Tall. (Yet another cardboard box has come in useful you'll notice!)

If you have any cardboard boxes left at the end of the day you could try making a train just like the toys have done in the book about a little dog named 'Ruff'.

Many of you I'm sure will be very familiar with Jane Hissey's stories for children. The illustrations are wonderful and all the characters in the books are kind and friendly to each other. No one gets hurt and no one is ever unhappy. There is however plenty of action and excitement in the playroom, and best of all plenty of simple play ideas for young children to imitate and enjoy. As you might have guessed by now, I love all Jane Hissey's books and feel sure you would too!

Until next time,

Eli

No shortage of stone

Recently we've seen the prettiest frozen goose feathers gently drifting down from the sky which have magically transformed the garden for a few hours before melting away to leave us with unwelcome muddy puddles.

These stone steps winding their way up from the drive to our back door make a pretty picture in the snow but the white blanket hides the stone wall alongside that has been badly in need of repair for some time. My husband is impatient to get on with this job as he enjoys building walls and in this mountainous region we are never short of suitable stone.

Today he got just the right weather window and made a start.

In no time at all he'd removed the rickety old wall and had set about digging foundations for a new one. At the bottom left hand corner of the picture you can see natural rock. This will give you some idea of just how shallow our soil can be here.

Hubby does a quick survey of the work done whilst I point out the plants that are just beginning to show signs of growth (a gentle hint for him to take care where he is thrusting his spade). Daffodils, foxglove, saxifrage (we know it as London Pride), valerian, lysimachia, and some rogue ferns that pop up in any available spot. Many plants won't tolerate the north facing aspect of this little bed but needless to say I have a few planting plans for the area once work is finished!

At the bottom of the steps we look back towards the house. This single story extension was done in 1994 and has given us a very useful computer room/office and a utility room.

The new extension adjoins the kitchen which is in the main house. You can see the kitchen window with the red bird feeder hanging in front of it.

There is a long 'crazy paving' stone path down this side of the house. Made from local slate, it gets a coating of algae over the winter and is therefore very slippery when damp. My husband attacked the algae with the pressure washer last week which helped but you still have to take care when walking on the path in wet weather.

 At the end of this path you reach the terrace which overlooks the lawn. Across the lawn another path takes you to a long flight of stone steps that winds down to the bottom of the garden; but I'll leave that for another day. Meanwhile birds are merrily chirping in the trees and are obviously confident that spring is on the way. I wish it would hurry along!

Month of many weathers

In the early 1800s John Clare wrote in his Shepherd's Calendar...

March, month of many weathers wildly comes
In hail and snow and rain and threatening hums...

...and just three days into the month we have fallen victim to them all here in England's north country.

The dried yarrow and honesty on our window sill are lovely but do little to brighten the grey skied scene outside. I need colour. So muffled up in coat and wellies I take my camera into the garden to look for some. Its raining so I won't stay long.

This miniature kingdom of mosses and ferns flourishing on damp rocks gives me plenty of green. We are never short of greenery here, we have it in abundance.

I venture across the courtyard and round the corner and immediately spot some tiny daffodils huddling together beneath the shelter of the old beech hedge. Reliable forget-me-nots blanket the cold earth bellow.

One of our early rhododendrons is in full flower now. Deep pink in bud opening to a paler shade and fading to white. The leaves are leathery and will withstand all weathers but I fear the delicate blooms will suffer badly if the threatened snow arrives overnight.

This is a new arrival to our garden. I discovered it at a garden centre on a sunny afternoon last week and it immediately stole my heart. A Helleborus with the charming name  'Winter Moonbeam'. It has masses of waxy pink/white blooms that darken to deep red with age and stand erect above marbled evergreen leaves. Unlike other hellebores it prefers to bask in sunshine; I only hope it gets the chance to do so in the near future. Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy its beauty.

Until next time
Eli