Honey I'm home

Well we have been away for a holiday to Lincolnshire this past week - and had a lovely break and change of scenery - I haven't uploaded those photos yet so more of that another day.  The chooks spent the time we were away on the lawn.   Once to get them used to being 'shut in' the run instead of freeranging from early morning until dusk - so that they would get used to it whilst we were away.  Then I moved them to a fresh patch of lawn last week.

 Before I moved the chooks back onto their paving slabs yesterday, I took the opportunity to trim back all the grass.

 It's amazing how much more room there is now that I have done it.  I did also weed the other slabs at the side and give them a good wash too!  Where all my energy came from I do not know!

 This is where Peckingham Palace has been whilst we were away.  Doesn't it look a mess - especially as the chooks are moulting too!

Dolly has turned broody whilst we were away, and was sound asleep in her box.

I moved her all around the garden and she didn't wake up!

 Now that I have mown the lawn a couple of times, it doesn't look too bad does it - and it soon recovers.  There is a patch to the left where the chooks home and run was on the grass for 10 days, and it's almost back to normal after a week!

 Peckingham Palace all washed and filled with a deep bed of Hemcore

 Chooks rushed in to scratch around - and even Dolly deemed to join in!

 A few photos around the garden.  The sage bush  has flopped over with all the rain, but it's a magnet for the bees at the moment so I won't trim it back yet.

 The early flowering pink lupins have gone to seed - I'll let them ripen and save the seeds.

The delphiniums are just coming into flower so look stunning

 The fruit cage has 'gone wild' in a week too.

 The rose and honeysuckle smell divine!

The woodland bed in front of my studio is bursting with colour too.

 The clematis flowers are bigger than dinner plates, and the roses are just heavenly  - again perfumed.

 We raided the salad bed before we went away, but it's still packed with goodies!

The alstromerias have taken a battering with the high winds and rain - but still flowering - and they compliment the purple rose which has velvet leaves and the most heavenly perfume - it's called
Cardinal Richelieu

In the late summer of last year I created a flower bed around the garden room called 'Kath's Garden' named after a very dear friend of mine.

 In the winter the penstemons flowered - even with the snow!

 And spring time it was as so pretty with the bulbs, and alpines

Now the lavender is in bloom, the penstemons are flowering again after I prumed them, pretty annuals are emerging, and lots of summer surprises.

This view fills me with joy every morning as it's outside my back door and garden room doors, and the lavender aroma is my absolute favourite of all the summer blooms.

I've not had a chance to get up the allotment - tomorrow hopefully.