Felting Workshops

Two more successful Felt workshops this week.


Thanks to Harriet, Jennifer, Eileen & Sheila for some great craic and fantastic creative energy!

35 Year Old Lupin

After clearing much of the front garden over winter, a single lupin leaf appeared in the spring.

purple on purple

 It has blossomed into this magnificent specimen. We have not put any lupins in here, so chances are it's a dormant legacy from when the garden was in it's heyday, 35 years ago!

Tropaeolum speciosum sometimes known as the 'flame flower' lives up to it's name

Here's a reminder of the garden in the 1970's :

Clouds Over the Western Mournes

Carlingford Oyster Festival

If you want a really good time - and brilliant oysters, get yourself down to the "gastronomic paradise of medieval Carlingford" tomorrow 14th August for the Oyster Festival

http://www.carlingford.ie/images/stories/PDF/oyster-festival1.pdf




Turnip House  be there at the craft fair on Tholsel Street (we're also open at home)

Flowers and Fruit

Had a fantastic day on Tuesday! 


Claire brought us our first eating apple tree, and armed with bucket loads of enthusiasm, helped us create another flowerbed and (at last!) start on the fruit garden.

March 2011 - stones and nettles!

Stage 1 complete! the flowerbed is made. All the stones came out of this space

Claire's Tree

The Planting Ceremony

"I'm Happy!"

Our new Fruit Trees against the Mountains

Planted out with 13 Black Hollyhocks and 47 Sunflowers (a bit wee at the moment, but things grow!)

Garden Flowers

We didn't think that the Turnip House Yard would look so colourful this season, but it's coming on great - there is a reason for rain as we've noted before!

crocosmia

flower of the summer - argyranthemum

the flowers open a dark yellow, and gradually fade to white, giving hundreds of creamy tones in the one plant

Charlie on his lawn!

These buddleia (and the lilies) were only planted this April, they now reach the top of the wall

less exciting, but still beautiful

intense pelargonum flowers

another one

the crocosmia flame as the field slips down to the river

Two Evenings in August

August came in hot and steamy - not like in the South East of England still less New England! but by our standards as close to the bayou as Benraw is likely to get!


We have had two perfect evenings - rainbowed skies and cloud-wreathed mountains

great portents 

August opens in style

lowering skies set off the sunshine

the far seat, with hay field beyond

the mountains wreathed in mist

Slieve Bearnagh

cutting the hay in the evening sunshine

Satellite eye on Earth: July 2011 - in pictures | Environment | guardian.co.uk

It's amazing what's up there much of it looking down on us - check out these monthly collections of photographs from space. So intrinsically beautiful, and also informative:

Satellite eye on Earth: July 2011 - in pictures | Environment | guardian.co.uk

In the same stable are the Earth From Above pictures by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Whoops!

In a mad moment (we get more than our fair share of these!) we decided to take the old water tank down today - it is a spectacular blot on the landscape and highly visible from our vantage point in the mobile home!

in all it's glory!

first we have to cut the pipes off

this could be tricky

we're going to try and pull it down, without collapsing the well, or pulling down the gable!

one big heave should do it!

success

look what I did!

roadrunner is under there somewhere

it was quite a thump - must have been half a ton of soil in there

so heavy it crushed this galvanised pipe

beautifully preserved pipework

a Red Kite drops by