Top Garden Wall

Ever since we moved into Roseveare House, the top garden has been a cause of concern to me in that it is very difficult to look after properly. As can be seen in the previous Post, the lower section is starting to take shape but the top end, which is virtually all grass and Griselinia hedge, remains a shambles. There are three fruit trees, which would appear to have little or no chance of ever bearing a decent crop so I need to make a decision on them in the near future.
One of the main problems, however, has been access. To cut the grass, I have to lift the mower or make a ramp up the wall; to get rid of garden refuse I have had to lift it and throw it over the "Cornish Hedge" into the trailer. The "Cornish Hedge" itself has partly collapsed and is very difficult to keep looking tidy. For these reasons, we decided to have the wall rebuilt properly and a 4 ft gate put in between the lawn and the field. That work has now been going on, in between showers, for about six days now so I thought that it was about time to show the world what has been done.
The first two photos show the wall as it was and the succeeding ones show the progress.


I mentioned, in a previous Post, a Gorse Bush, well, these photos show where it was; unfortunately it had to go although the roots remain so there is a possibility that we will get some new growth in the future.

End of Day One

End of Day Two

One of the problem rocks that Chris had to deal with - compare it with the size of the wheelbarrow!

End of Day Three

That's all for now; more pictures later.

Conifer Area

Our long term plan, as has been said before, is to make our garden as easy to maintain as possible. I quite like cutting grass; I find it therapeutic for some reason and like to view the results. Maria particularly likes "stripes" on the front lawn. The grassed area to the top of the drive contains a variety of conifers of differing sizes and to cut around them is a nightmare. One of the tasks I set myself after returning from holiday, was to make this area easier to look after and so I have cut a border next to the wall and around all the conifers. I had considered another area of chippings similar to that in the front lawn but Maria wants to try it this way. The photographic evidence is not easy to see but the following two photos do give some idea of what I have done so far.

Before

After

If you look carefully, you will see a couple of newly planted Rhododendrons; the hole for one of those I had to dig using a clump hammer and wrecker bar! The sub-soil around here is fierce stuff and if the house is built on this, then there is little chance of it ever falling down!

Roseveare in Bloom

As anyone who has ever visited us here in Gothers will know, our garden is usually a collection of different shades of green. The garden was planted with a large variety of different shrubs with a view to ease of maintenance. During the Spring, however, we do get some colour from the daffodils and various other plants so I thought that I would just show a few pictures that I have taken over the last couple of weeks.

Forsythia

Tulips, Azalea & Berberis in the rockery

Tulips & Primula

Tulips in front of Pieris

Azalea

Gorse

I have a particular reason for including this last photo, which will become apparent in a future Blog.

The Buzzard, the Magpie & the Bunny

Sometimes, living in the country reminds us that not all is pretty and comfortable. Last year I made comment on the Magpie that was busily destroying the life of a Greenfinch on our front lawn. Yesterday morning as I pulled back the bedroom curtain, something caught my eye on the ground at the bottom of the field; it turned out to be a baby rabbit struggling in the talon of a large Buzzard whilst, bizarrely, a Magpie chased around at the back of the Buzzard trying to have his/her chunk out of the rabbit. I am not a great fan of rabbits but it was a sad sight to see one so young lose its life. As I rushed around trying to find the camera, the Buzzard obviously caught sight of me and relinguished the now deceased Bunny and flew off into the distance. After a Crow and the Magpie had a go at the carcase, the Buzzard eventually returned, picked up the body and once again disappeared into the distance leaving only a load of fur to identify what had been there.

Post Holiday Report

Ah well, back to the real world after two weeks in the sun (well - not quite) of Tenerife. We had a splendid time, especially the first week when the weather was much better than the second. We also had the pleasure of the company of Beryl & Ian whom we met last year. This came about when Maria & Beryl were talking on the phone a week or so before we went. Beryl was envious so Maria told her to come along as we have enough room in the apartment even if we do have to share a bathroom. Some rapid changing of work shifts and a quick flight booking and everything was fixed. If you read this Beryl, many thanks for your splendid company although I am not sure about all that encouragement that you gave Maria to go shopping.

Very kindly, Beryl & Ian treated us to a meal on the Thursday before they went home and we chose to go to the Hollywood Mirage where we had a splendid meal and listened to a very entertaining Beatles tribute band. Thanks folks.

The weather for the second week turned on the Saturday and we did not manage to get any sunbathing in for four days. This resulted in lots of walking and more shopping!! However the sun finally came back again and we had a couple of pleasant days around the pool at the Beverly Hills Heights with Victor, the Lifeguard, to look after us. What a great job he does.

Maria relaxing during a hard day's shopping

A Sunny spell but note the sky in the background!

Now that we are home, I have managed to tidy up the borders around the bottom of the garden as well as cut the grass, including the bottom of the lower field. I have also erected Andrew & Amy's birthday present, which is a new bird feeder. I haven't seen the birds using it yet but I expect that they will get used to it soon. After a winter of being missing, we have seen a pair of Goldfinches back with us. No Greenfinches yet and only one Chaffinch, which is disappointing.

One of our bird feeding stations with the latest addition

During the late Autumn, I planted about 200 mixed daffodil bulbs and about 40 Hyacinths, the latter coming from Annette's contacts at Newquay Hospital. The results have been splendid for a first year and hopefully next year they will be fully established..