Cut

My yard, flowers

Apple tree grows,

Next door? Hedge gone

Cut, hacked, defiled.

The view now, roofs

The birds homes shattered.

Where will the roost tonight,

Open up? Let in the light?

But shade gone, it will be blasted by heat.

The sun not shielded.

A sun trap,

No words can tell my despair?

They left a mess and an old fridge!

Well that’s nice to look at

Not!

Hedge gone!

I came home from a nice afternoon singing with a choir to find the hedge behind my neighbours back garden has gone. It’s because one of the houses have been sold and they need access. It’s a shame because the house sparrows used to nest in there. I feel like I’m under threat in all directions! The hedge on the other side of the house has been cut right back which was when we were burgled. It’s all men chopping the plants down. Tidy and lifeless. They will put some gravel down! Meanwhile my garden will survive somehow!

Quiet day

I’d like to have gone outside.

Today was quite a quiet day. After yesterday I’m glad. I did have someone knock on the  door asking if my garden gate led down an entry to the back of the next door houses. They had bought a house two doors up and wanted to get round the back?

I had to explain the entry was further down but since the shop on the corner has bought the land where the alley was you now have to go round into the next street and walk along a narrow path by the side of a garage to get round.

I have also been waiting for some medicine so I was pleased to get a text message to say it was ready I started to get ready to go out I realised it was 4.25 pm and they shut at 4.30 pm so I will have to wait until Monday.

Tomorrow might be more interesting. Fingers crossed.

Buddliea outside

Out the window

I have a huge buddliea bush that has grown upwards and has reached outside the upstairs landing window. The bush hasn’t been pruned as it grows huge bracts of white flowers which butterflies love. The flowers are pressing against the window pane, starting to go over now. I really need to get it cut back. My garden is full of big plants that have overgrown too much. I guess my green fingers must be working too well? I hope it means my carbon footprint is quite low.

Petunias

Flowers everywhere. I love these deep pink petunias. It’s a close up of one of my hanging baskets. When the sun shines they seem to glow.

The head in the background is a ceramic one I made about 30 years ago. It’s got a few flowers trailing from it that managed to survive the winter.

There is an ancient song from the 14th century I think?

Sumer is icumen in,
Loude sing cuckou!
Groweth seed and bloweth meed,
And springth the wode now.
Sing cuckou!

Ewe bleteth after lamb,
Loweth after calve cow,
Bulloc sterteth, bucke verteth,
Merye sing cuckou!
Cuckou, cuckou,
Wel singest thou cuckou:
Ne swik thou never now!

We sing this at choir practice (with slightly less difficult wording).

Sunlight

Sun shining through the kitchen window. My cctv camera seems to be being affected by the brightness of the low sun. All the colour is washed out. It looks like a black and white photo. You can see how overgrown it is. We really did create a wood by the side of the house. Cherry, walnut, eucalyptus, plum, apple, and other trees were planted over twenty years ago. They have grown large and healthy. It’s one way of mitigating my carbon footprint I guess.

No cherries, no pears

Each year we have cherries and pears on our trees. The birds get most of the cherries but we get good pears, that is until  this year.

We had a lovely display of blossom. The cherry and the pear tree blossomed first. Early in spring. Lots of flowers, pink and white. But I was worried because it was cold and wet and windy and I didn’t see many insects (and we don’t seem to have had birds nesting either). A couple of weeks later the blossom had faded and petals showered the ground. Then the apple tree came into blossom. The sun shone and bees arrived. Now I have no cherries, I saw the little stalks with tiny pips all over the ground, and no discernable baby pears. It’s so sad. It’s like they have given up now hubby is gone.

My only consolation is that there are lots of apples on the tree. But it hangs over into my neighbours yard and I am worried they will cut it back, and as there is a trellis fence in the way I can’t access the fruit. Drat!

Wild plants and flowers

Walking through the middle of Stoke today, there is a small patch of land next to a car wash that was seeded with wildflowers a few years ago. Every year I walk past and I’m amazed with what springs up. I think the local bees must be happy. Just down the road from there another patch of land in front of a large billboard has become overgrown with buddlea and grass and amazing clover flowers. I hope they don’t get cut down!