Christmas is coming...

A week or so ago the winter pruning started!

Why would I start pruning just before Christmas when time is precious, panic high and the weather grim? Because the Daisy duo are not allowed to prune anything until wreath making is done!

So every year greenery is cut, minced pies heated, wine mulled, and decorative extras wired up...

in preparation for our wreath making workshops.

We have lovely regular attendees, but every year we have a few new people and it's lovely to see them, some of them wreath novices, converted to the gentle pastime of wreath making.

In no time at all everyone was absorbed snipping and arranging... 

and wreaths started to grow out of the green chaos...

a bit of trimming...

 and the odd festive refreshment and they were done!

Wreaths finished, time for a cup of tea and a bit of world sorting.

Organisers need sustenance too...

minced pies (elegantly done Jayne)...

and mulled wine (at least I was trying to be discreet at the back!)

And the end results...

(clockwise from top left) Caz (a first time wreather), Lucy, Becky and Nikki

 Rachael and Jess (my glamorous eldest and also a first timer).

Thank you lovely afternoon ladies you were all fabulous and your wreaths gorgeous.

After a swift tidy up and a lift and shift of location to chez moi we did it all again!!

Every year we worry that there won't be enough 'stuff' left for the evening, and every year we have plenty!

More greenery, more wine, more chat - it's a terrible chore but someone has to do it!

Again we had some regulars and some new...

 we ran out of mulled wine but we still managed to create some stunning wreaths.

(clockwise from top left) Wendy, Kathy (nice try - attempting to hide!), Liz and Kate...

Justine, Belinda, Jayne (who actually got to make one and finish it - we're obviously getting better at this) and Penny.

They are all stunning and what's always lovely is that although everyone is choosing from the same assortment of greenery and decorations, all the wreaths are so different. 

There is no such thing as a standard wreath in my opinion, or a correct wreath, or a proper wreath.

Anything goes - and nothing is a bad idea - although the spindly tendrils of Trachelospermum I finished my wreath off with have a tendency to grab people on the way past. The postman is definitely not keen - as if the long, slippery path and the ridiculously small Victorian letterbox are not enough for him to deal with!

So another years wreath making is done and more doors are beautifully dressed for the next few weeks. Don't forget to water your wreaths occasionally and watch out for strong winds. 

Thank you all so much for coming ladies, and for making such lovely things. We raised  £75 for the Save the Children Yemen Appeal.

Have a wonderful Christmas and try to avoid New Years resolutions wherever possible, particularly if they entail stopping doing something you like!!

Lots of love from the Daisy duo.

xx🎄🎄🎄xx

🌟

A pocketful of Autumn

A collection of loveliness from a Sunday walk on the Rosalind.

Time is so busy with work and family that the blog has been rather sidelined - sorry for my absence.

Although I should be pleased to be busy - it plays havoc with my blogging and my time management generally. It just takes over everything.

The same is true for the Photographer so we have both been keen to get out on our head-clearing walks - they're fast becoming a Sunday necessity.

Last weekend the clocks went back, and after a cold and stormy Saturday the sun came out.

The bitter wind was still strong so we decided against the coast and headed for the St Michael Penkevil on the Roseland.

Doesn't look cold does it? It was - scarf and hat cold!

The sun was low, the short autumnal afternoons really drawing in.

Contemplating the sunset.

And breathe...

Right -enough of that - back to it.

BRACE!

High summer

Goodness the summer has flown by in a whirl of heat, family, trips, renovations, work and play. My teens got their exam results (big, big ticks for both - I'm a very proud mum) and now it's back to school time but with no back to school! Neither of them are off to University this year (phew) but both are working and it all feels very odd! My routine usually falls in with theirs and now their routine is constantly changing and I'm slightly at sea - hence the lack of organisation and blogging!

Anyway enough excuses - time to do some rounding up of the last couple of months. There is a Daisy garden to tell you about, a trip abroad and an inspiring project  but I'll start with a post that I started in July but got distracted from and reminds me of the hot, hot days of July when the county was baked brown and the sea sparkled endlessly - oh I did love it. 

It was a wander along the cliffs on the north coast of Cornwall and illustrated the gorgeous dried out textures and golden palette left by the heatwave that lasted for a month or so.

All the wild flowers bloomed and set seed so quickly, their flowering season shortened by the heat, some leaving charred, black seed heads (spot the curled up spider hiding).

Snail traffic jam!

Their shells reflect their surroundings beautifully, though I was surprised to see them happy in the full sun - I thought they would seek the shady places. These are hard-core coastal snails.

Snail roundabout?

The crackly, dried stems were covered in snails sunbathing!

Vivid rusty browns...

and delicate papery golds...

Even the vibrant magenta of the Sea Thrift was bleached of colour.

A dropped shell echoing the subdued palette.

Swaying grasses with their lovely seedheads rustling in the slight sea breeze - you would think this was taken in September not July!

And on this day even the colours of the sea and sky were muted - we were approaching the end of the glorious weather and about to go back to much more unsettled weather and the vivid blues and greens  were fading...

but not completely!

We still managed a stunning sunset or two.

-xx💛xx-

End of the month - June

Missed it again! 

Although to be fair I feel we have a proper excuse this time as the turn of the month was spent tearing down the ceiling in the kitchen (on the hottest days of the year so far too). Hurrah - no more Artex!

This is just the start of a larger update in the kitchen but by the end of summer it will be all over - I hope!

The weather here is glorious - a real benefit to our DIY as we hardly missed the kitchen, using instead the utility room and the outside dining area, but the lack of rain is dire.

All water butts are empty and we are on a water meter so restrict our hose usage to a minimum. Water is being saved from the house wherever possible which is keeping my pots alive but the wider garden is a dessert.

Earlier in the month everything was coming along beautifully...

Ginger Snap Rose

 Geums

Alliums

Oriental Poppies

and my two favourite Geraniums.

But where some of those things often flower on into July, this year they all finished very quickly when the soil began to dry out.

Now the wider garden is still alive but looking so tired and bleached...

and the vegetables are struggling. The beans are flowering but there are no beans setting. I'm watering them but not really enough for them to be productive.

The pots at the back in the 'hot' garden (really hot this year!) which are easier to water and which I add water retentive gel to are fairing better. The Helianthemums are lovely...

and the Pelargoniums are glorious...

I never go subtle with Pelargoniums!

My two Jasmines (Clotted Cream and Officinale) are absolutely loving it, covered in flowers and pumping out fragrance like it's going out of fashion!

And my new succulent bowl is happy too - in this weather 'free draining' is really not a challenge! 

My mini Eucomis, with its lovely spotty leaves is looking happy (bearing in mind when I got it out of the shed in April I thought it was well and truly dead) but there is no sign of any flowers. There are no signs of flowers on the larger Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy either.

The same is true of my Agapanthus plants that are in the ground - not so much as a hint of a bud. Perhaps there is still time.

😟

But the Banksia is taking off again - shooting for the sky...

and my Tumbling Toms (aptly named Sunshine Yellow) are going well, heading in the other direction.

 

And still there are seedlings that need to go out, but it's just too dry!

The weather is so glorious I do hope it continues - garden aside, it makes for lovely days on the beach, meals outside and long warm evenings. Down in Cornwall it has also meant glorious sunsets, viewed over BBQs on the beach...

perfect!

-x🌞x-