Other People's Gardens - September 2018

Now, the fact I only have one photo for this post does not mean I didn't do any gardening for other people in September, it just means that the garden owners were present so I couldn't sneak any photos of their gardens!

And this garden is nothing to do with me, or any of my customers - this is just a lovely garden I walk past on the way to and from work!

Gardening is going really well for others at the moment and, in fact, one of my customers told me that I am definitely more confident in their garden than when I started working for her eighteen months, which is good to hear.  And if I was rubbish, I'm fairly sure she'd have sacked me by now!

Seeds and Stuff - September 2018

It's been such an unseasonal year so everything's going mad in the garden - Cercis siliquastrum has flowers on the wood in spring, then the leaves come and are a lovely lime green colour, becoming red in the autumn when the seed pods appear and turn purple, and then everything dies back for the winter.  At one point in September, the Cercis had flowers, leaves AND seedpods all at the same time - it's madness!

These flowers and leaves should not be on the tree at the same time!

I really do need to move this fuchsia over the winter - it's so low growing and lays on the ground which means I don't get to see it unless I'm actively wandering around the garden.   On my list of jobs to do.

The honeysuckle has been flowering again too.

And I'm not sure this Pelargonium 'Apple Blossom' should be flowering this late either?  Who knows?!

This old boy is gorgeous in the garden any time of year!

Odds and Sods - September 2018

I went on holiday mid September for four weeks so pretty much all of September (and the preceding months too) was taken up in planning for the holiday, packing and laundry.   Also, because I was trying to save up all my money for holiday spends, I spent a lot of time at home, rather than going out.   I did a LOT of knitting!

(I've done a lot more since and managed to finish five or six Christmas presents while on holiday!)

I did try and do some walking in advance of the holiday - especially as I had new boots to wear in and had probably left it a bit too late!

The autumn colours were starting to kick in before I left - although the weather has been strange over the past month - in fact, yesterday, it got up to 26 degrees - I haven't needed to turn my heating on yet which is a good thing.

I had a bit of a tidy up in the spare room and have set up a sewing space - still a work in progress at the moment, but here's a sneak peak.

This old boy has done me proud on holiday - we walked almost ninety miles of Cumbria Coast Path - about half of what we needed to.  But we did probably as many miles again on Lake District walks and staying locally to our base at Grange over Sands.  I couldn't ask for a better companion or best friend.

Made or Grown - September 2018

Hopeless, absolutely hopeless!  It might have been better if I hadn't gone on holiday, but giving that up was never going to happen!   I went away the second weekend in September, otherwise I might have made more progress, but, as it was, I've just been wearing walking clothes and eating carbs!

2 September 2018 - I did dig up some of my spuds before my holiday and also my first courgette was ready - here they are with sausages for my tea.

9 September 2018 - my Physalis peruviana hasn't given me much fruit, but some, and it's just so beautifully sweet, a proper treat.  I really must email and thank Roger from college who provided me with the plants for these - I'm definitely going to grow these again.

13 September 2018 - the temperature got a bit fresher in September, so I'm back to cardis - this one over my dress which I still haven't ironed!