I have my own personal rain cloud

It has been another week of constant rain but  Friday was the  the worst. It was windy and threw down horizontally at times all day. I was asked to dig up some new potatoes and the hole I was digging was filling up with water faster than I could pick out the spuds. The potatoes were quite a good size, amazingly - probably the only thing that is growing well this year.On the way home as soon as I started climbing the hill out of Wincanton I could see the road was getting gradually drier. Sherborne had had the odd light shower but mostly had a good day. The weather forecast that evening showed nothing but a clear sky so how come I got soaked all day? Very strange.
I have been putting my new hedge trimmer to use this week - at Mere I was able to trim all that was needed from a short ladder - but boy is that tiring work.The garden looked great for the garden party they had last Sunday - it went very well by all accounts - I had loads of compliments.
At Milborne Port the garden is looking superb but the wet weather is playing havoc with the roses which is a shame as the winter pruning has spaced them out well and the bud formation was nice and even.The pots have come on well even though I have had to practically coat them in slug pellets. I sowed a nice thick row of wallflowers ready for the winter pots.
The wet weather has put me off doing any gardening at home but on Friday my main job was renovating a garden of the cottage the people at Wincanton bought next to their own to rent out. It had been empty for some time and the house has undergone a major refit.The garden was an overgrown jungle but once I had cleared all the brambles and nettles there were loads of unusual plants particularly alpines.Apparently the house had been owned by a man who had worked for the Forestry Commission for years and had collected plants on his travels.On Monday I am going up there armed with pots and compost ( I have permission) and will also take as many cuttings as I can. I am very interested in the alpine pinks which look absolutely fabulous and will look great in our garden!There are also loads of alpine sedums which will knit in the slope near the garage.

Typical Summer?

The lasy two weeks have been pretty awful - not only rain but high winds that have caused a fair bit of damage.Thank goodness I am a stickler for staking everything.It has also been cold which means things like carrots and peas have just sat there and sulked.
At Mere it has been very busy getting the garden in shape for a garden party today for which,mercifully, the weather looks good.It meant that I was cutting hedges last week in high winds and rain - not easy and even a bit scary at times.I must say the garden looks pretty good now though being on a chalky substrate it dried out very quickly.

At Milborne Port I have been waging war with slugs - all my early dahlias which are now flowering have been beseiged with the blighters and quite a few of the self seeded nicotianas have disappeared. Luckily I am growing on more in the greenhouse for planting out as soon as they are big enough.They will replace the tulips and wallflowers that have been such a huge success this spring.

Jubilee Weekend

With the arrival of the long weekend I thought I would get a nice rest - no chance.B&Q took a battering as we got a kitchen unit to fit in the garage some curtain poles and then we went to Wincanton to buy a plate rack and another shelving system to finish off the kitchen. We stopped for a quick coffee ( and for me to put up the plate rack ) and then went into Sherborne for the carnival and Dorset Arts Week we ended up buying a painting from a delightful artist www.katechidley.com which we cannot decide whether to hang in the bathroom or the bedroom.
My main projects were installing the new rainwater butts which I have done and installing the new arbour which I hope to make a start on today.
Considering we have barely started on the garden I think it looks very full of colour.

The trouble with all this work is that there are too many distractions, during the week we were watching helicopters from nearby Yeovilton rehearsing for the Jubilee flypast ,hot air balloons and various carnivals.This afternoon we are going for a picnic at Pageant gardens to listen to local bands and look at more venues for the Arts Week.