An old abandoned store heading south from Sperryville, VA.

The first geranium flower indoors.

Heading towards home on the back roads, the mountains disappearing in the rain clouds.

26 Apr 2023

I forgot to post this yesterday. My 2000 red wrigglers worms arrived so I had to lay down a bed of coconut coir for bedding, then place the worms on top, and then cover them with soaked blankets. I can’t feed them for a week until they’re settled, and then we can start adding our food scraps and paper, which will be turned into compost as the worms feed and leave castings. I planted some parsnips today along the front, and will add other plants soon. The top is a seat.

Both of my hands were like this after a day of planting my winter sown plants. Hoping they all make it. I have gloves but it just feels better to get my hands in the soil.

I drove 25 miles on back roads from Marshall, with this 16ft bendy hog panel on Stanley’s roof. The guys at Tracror Supply said it couldn’t be done, I’d scratch my paint, hit the windshield and get pulled over. Proved them wrong. Plenty of kayak straps using knots I learned in the fire brigade, job done. And it’s going to be an arch for my luffa plants that I winter sowed.

What a beautiful fern growing in one of the raised beds in the back garden.

Beautiful old brickwork at the old brickworks near home where Elliott and I picked up some old bricks and pieces of wood for a bug hotel.

I picked up an old wooden railing for the garden at a local farm. Sheep’s, Goya’s, chickens, turkeys and a barn cat greeted me on my arrival. 

The back porch lit up by the street light. More work to be done here before the tour date.

My winter sowed seeds are growing! I’ve got about a 75% success rate, so I’m stoked. We’ve been getting ridiculously high temperatures with a blazing sun, so at the back of the photo, you can seed the white fabric that I pull over them before I go to work. It’s actually material for cloches to protect from frosts so I’m getting a double use from it.

A ‘painting’ style of the ragwort in full bloom by the kitchen door. It’s been getting many insect visitors.

Stanley’s home! The engine is running fine, took it easy on Rte 66 and gave him a wash in town. Fingers crossed that there’s no more huge expenditures for a while.

My invite for the Coronation arrived!

16 Apr 2023

I was tidying up the garden, removing all the dead foliage from last year, when I spotted this, and it made me happy for 2 reasons. The Aaron’s Rod, or mullein, has decided to return, there are 3 plants, and the sawdust means a carpenter bee has found a nice little nook in the wood above.

I was up early and at our local yard waste dump this morning. It took me 3 trips and the waste is turned into free mulch or wood chips. The view from the dump is beautiful.

Barren wort, or fairy wings, which I prefer, is from the Epimedium family. A non- native plant, but one of the early bloomers, which I look forward to seeing every year.

I’m hoping there’s a valid reason for the way these bridges are built, but I can’t help looking at it and thinking how sloppy and inept the workmanship appears.

After giving blood for 28 times in England, I am finally allowed, after living here for 24 years, to give blood in ‘Merica, and it only took 10 minutes to pump out a pint. 

No idea what was going on at the gas station this morning, but it didn’t give me the free tank I hoped for!

Rosie Lee thinks I should be petting her, and not reading my book.

My hard earned sandwich, after an afternoon of digging up more lawn. It was delicious!

I discovered fritillaries as a teenager and have always wanted them. So it’s lovely to see them doing so well in the garden. This is their second year.

Hanging out at Richard’s house with Urbexia, drinking high end beers and listening to obscure music. Fun!

The Virginia bluebells have multiplied this year, woo hoo! They’re in full bloom and looking lovely. This is one clump of many.

Marty,  the clean up guy at the grocery store, was looking dapper as an Easter bunny today.

50 containers, filled with native plant, veggies and annual seeds. A lot of the early plantings have begun sprouting, fingers crossed the rest follow suit. I just have to sit and wait.

As I was checking the cemetery, before locking the gates, the radio was running a competition, asking people to send in a photo of a local outside clock. The monument of the unknown soldiers was casting a long shadow, and I thought, hey, it’s a sundial, and from where I stood, it gave the correct time of 18:00 hours. Ha! 

This photo popped up on Facebook today, of Bing Crosby, 73 years ago, when he was in Front Royal for the premiere of his movie, Riding High, at the old Park Theater on Main St.

I met an alien at the Strasburg Emporium today.