The Purple Tepee Beans in the allotment poly tunnel have sprouted. Hooray!
The sun shining through the engraved glass on the front door this evening threw this pattern on the wall.
We had nothing much more than carrots in the fridge so I looked up carrots on BBC Good Food and found Carrot Biryani so that’s what I made and it was truly delicious.
Much has gone over in the garden but the Kaffir Lilies are looking lovely.
This striking Geranium was a present from dear friends a couple of years ago and serendipitously, just as I went to get the photo for them, in flew a bee!
We harvested our first Sweet Corn today, steamed them and ate them just as they are with lots of salty butter melted over them – fabulous!
Our walk each morning around part of the Great Flat Lode sees us dodging stray brambles (I take my pruners most days) rampant Bracken encroaching onto the paths and various brown items. This one turned out to be most benign, a Common Toad whose scientific name is the delightful Bufo Bufo.
We visited some very dear friends this afternoon and took a big bouquet of flowers from our garden. At the end of a lovely afternoon, we left with much produce from their garden.
The phone rang this morning and it was our local nursery to say that our baby veg plants were ready to be collected so we went out! It was actually quite exciting to go out in the car for a ten minute ride each way, constantly on the alert to be stopped by the police who are doing a great job of encouraging people to stay at home. We were ready with our explanation for our journey – collecting food. We hoped they would understand that it would be all food in a few weeks/months and that would be that. We weren’t stopped!
Here then are one of the lanes we travelled along, one of the lettuces that I planted this afternoon and one of my favourites, Camassia flowers.
Ten of my scrub bags were collected this afternoon. I have saved one for the young woman that I used to teach who is a Nurse in Yorkshire. She and her husband, both nurses, have taken the huge decision to send their two boys to live with their Grandparents for the duration as S and her husband are so frightened of taking the virus home. I can’t find words to describe how that makes me feel. People use the word heroic to describe our frontline carers – that’s a truly heroic thing to do and my heart goes out to them all.
It is so lovely, on this April morning, to see the new green shoots everywhere. Despite the cold it seems that Spring has sprung. 
I love how raindrops collect inside the new Lupin leaves. Zoom in on this one. It is truly beautiful.
We have taken advantage of the sunshine to plant some seeds in the hope that they will germinate while we are away.
Nigella, Cornflowers and Night Scented Stock seeds planted
This seems an appropriate poem for today, April Morning by Sara Teasdale. I especially like the last two lines in the first stanza.
I went out on an April morning
All alone, for my heart was high,
I was a child of the shining meadow,
I was a sister of the sky.There in the windy flood of morning
Longing lifted its weight from me,
Lost as a sob in the midst of cheering,
Swept as a sea-bird out to sea.
1 We have a new raised bed just outside the kitchen where I am growing edible flowers and small salad leaves. So far the Rocket and Pak Choi have sprouted, the Nasturtiums are doing well and the Violas are pretty – I did buy them as flowering plants..
The new raised bed for edibles
2 The front garden is full of colour and is lovely as you approach the house……….
Colourful patch in the front garden
3 ………… and the best thing is that it all smells divine too. The Wallflowers are really strong, the Bluebells have a quite heady scent when all together and the Clematis Montana Elizabeth smells a bit vanillary. I wish you could share in the sensory delight!
Clematis Montana Elizabeth
1 This morning I arranged all the knitting we have done so far for Wool Against Weapons, into a big Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo in the front garden. We still have more pieces to add so the final one will be even bigger and better!
CND logo in pink wool
2 I visited our neighbour and her sister at their patch at the local allotments this afternoon. There is a lovely Welcome sign and theirs must be the best Garden Shed in the business!
Welcome to Plot 7
The best garden shed ever
3 Later, S brought us some newly dug potatoes which were just delicious and tasted like potatoes used to taste when we were little!
1 Catching up with friends over a shared lunch was such a pleasure. We had a delicious salad from their garden and beautiful little filo pastry parcels filled with home grown spinach and kale with feta and we took Foccacia warm from the oven.
2 Dessert was homemade chocolates which were amazing.
Handmade chocolates
3 The beautifully gentle Kaia led us on a walk to see the pond.
By the pond
1 Bright orange carrots with their frothy, green foliage always look so lovely on the Greengrocer’s stall.
Freshly picked carrots
2 On this beautifully warm Autumn day, we took our lunch to a little park we are fond of in Truro. We hadn’t been for some time and were delighted to discover a real treat. The Friends of Furniss Island had been busy planting a vegetable patch for the use of anyone who would like to harvest a few beans or courgettes or herbs or, as in our case, some baby tomatoes which we ate straight from the vine with our sandwiches! What a beautiful and generous idea.
3 Another discovery today was a new wool shop! Oh, joy! Just look at this delightful sign all knitted up and such a range of wonderful wools to choose from. I have several projects underway at the moment but will be back!
Truro Wool shop sign – who could resist?
Inside the wool shop
1 This tunnel of gourds is amazing! Thanks to Modern Pioneer for the photo.
A Tunnel of Gourds from Modern Pioneer
2 The Jay hung around long enough for a photo this morning. They are usually so skittish that photos are impossible.
A British Blue Jay
3 In Exeter again today, we saw ‘The House That Moved’. Dating from the 14th Century, it was about to be knocked down to make way for a road in 1961 but someone had the bright idea of moving it so that’s what was done. Read all about it here and see more fascinating photos of the move about 90 meters up a hill.
The House That Moved
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