How A Tiny Ikea Trolley Became A "Greenhouse" 🌱🌹🌻

Disclaimer:  I'm not being paid to recommend any products or stores, just sharing how lots of sunshine, a box of seeds, and some gardening items from two lovely friends (thank you Sarah & Miriam xx) and a few supplies from my favourite store, lifted the gloom this summer💖

Hi Honeys 

It's day five of Blogtober already!  You see?  This is how time spins past and before you know it, it's Christmas, then new year, then we're running toward spring again (only 166 days till the first day of spring honeys, just in case you were wondering😄)

Today I thought I'd share how a tiny, inexpensive trolley from Ikea helped turn our little entryway at the back door into an indoor "greenhouse".🌱🌹🌿🌻🌱    

You might remember honeys, that I was given the sweetest gift by a lovely friend.  It was a box full of different packets of seeds, mostly herbs and lettuce and spinach and other lovely items.  Another lovely friend got me a watering can and a gorgeous wee trowel (thank you Sarah and Miriam xx)

Well, since we have a large window in our back door that always turns the tiny entryway at the back door into a "sun trap" (sometimes our furbaby Jade goes for a nap on the floor there during summer months💖) I had the idea of fitting some Ikea rails to the door and using the containers that attach to the rails as planters to grow the herbs.  If you missed the post dear ones you can see it here. 

Growing those herbs (our own homegrown basil for home made pizza! Yum!😋) really did help lift the gloom this summer honeys.  I battle depression and it's been pretty tough since I lost my job.  Watering and snipping away at my herbs has really helped me find my smile some days.💝 

During a recent browse on the Ikea website (I don't go outside anymore honeys so online shopping is a lifeline for me) I spotted something and a little cartoon lightbulb💡appeared above my head (not really, but all those cartoons I watched as a wee one... 😄) when I spotted a tiny, narrow trolley I thought it might hold (more) plants in my unofficial "greenhouse" aka the entryway at the back door..

My order was delivered in the biggest box, which worried me to be honest.  My first thought being that the tiny trolley might not be so tiny after all!😲   

 

The tiny mini hallway/entryway at the back door isn't the tardis after all.  It's not even big enough to be called a "hallway"... more like a "ha"😄  Opening the box however, it was mostly packaging really.  When all of the smaller items were taken out of the box, the trolley wasn't so huge after all....

The trays, or shelves, of the unit are taped together with all of the fittings inside...

It took less than 10 minutes to clip it all together.  I even did it myself! If anything proves how easily it all went together, that should do it honeys.  If I can do it, anyone can.😆  

Once it was all together I took it through to the tiny entryway at the back door and it fit perfectly.  It doesn't get in the way of the door opening or closing and it sits perfectly under the organising rail we have on that wall for brooms etc.  Perfect! 

Right now we have spinach, lettuce and rocket growing (in re-purposed ice cream containers) while, nearby, on the hanging herb wall on the back of the door...

We have the three Sunnersta rails from Ikea, still growing our wee herb collection.  This week I'm going to harvest the basil (as you can see above it's just growing wild at this point.) Since growing herbs is new to me I've no idea what's normal but the cress was fine for a while but now it's gone odd.😄 

On the top rail, we have: 

1. Spring onions - also known as scallions to our USA cousins and as sybies (pronounced "sigh-bees") in Scotland  

2. Potatoes I think... I should explain.  I planted a rose cutting, pushed into a tiny potato.  I've done it so many times before.  It helps the cutting to grow strong.  Well this time it didn't!  My rose cutting died and what I assumed was potato took seed instead.  As it turns out, it did!  They're now planted outside in a much bigger pot and that container is now washed, empty and waiting for me to plant the parsley seeds we have. 

3. Packets of seeds - This is where I've been storing the packets of seeds Sarah got for me.💖Next to plant are the parsley ones.

On the second rail, we have:

1. Apple seeds.  I have no idea if they'll grow but decided to try to plant some apple seeds when we made apple crumble last weekend.🍎

2. Basil.  This grows so fast honeys.  It's fabulous to be able to cook pasta sauces and home made pizza and to be able to use fresh, home grown basil in them.  This week I think I might harvest a lot of it (it grows back quickly) and chop it, freeze in olive oil and place the olive oil/basil cubes into a container in the freezer.  All handy to use when cooking.  

3.  Empty container, it usually holds a small pair of scissors that I use to snip what I need from the herbs when cooking.

On the third, and final, rail, we have:  

1. Chives.  The chives didn't grow as well as the basil did.  I wonder why?  Still, it did grow and I'll definitely try again.  I wonder if chives need a certain soil to grow in? Or more sun?  Or less sun?  I'll have to try to find out. 

2. Cress.  Now this grew fine to begin with but now it seems to be growing odd, trying to grow up the window of the door.  Odd.  Still lovely on boiled egg sandwiches though.😄 

Basically, we've ended up with a sort of mini, indoor "greenhouse" because the herbs have the heat from the kitchen and the sunshine from the back door (or as much sunshine as is possible in Scotland.)

We're running into winter soon though honeys, and into our long (very long) winter days that we get in Scotland.  Days with less than 6 hours daylight.  I don't cope at all well with the long, dark days honeys.  It's awful. I'd be happy to hibernate actually🛌😴💤 but unfortunately, I can't.  So, I'll carry on counting down to spring (only 166 days😊) to the (hopefully) sunnier days when I can start planting and snipping and pottering away in my mini "greenhouse" again.🌱🌻🌹🌷

What's been making you smile dear ones?  Do you grow your own herbs?  Any tips or hints? What should I grow next?  I have parsley, rosemary, mint, dill, thyme and coriander seeds left in my wee collection.💖     

Till next time then honeys, thank you for keeping me company.  It means more than I can say💖 hugs always, xx

6 New Products From Ikea I Love And A New Use For An Old Favourite...

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to recommend any products or shops, just wanted to share my latest smiles from my favourite place😊  

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today?   It's been such a beautiful sunny day here, just a tiny bit cooler, at 16C, than it has been but it felt perfect.  Far better than the mini heatwaves we've been having recently, although I know I'll miss them (a lot) when winter arrives.  It'll be here in no time, unfortunately and my heart sinks at the thought of it.   Never mind, dear ones, only 201 days till spring 😄🌻🌹

For todays post then, I thought I'd share some of our latest Ikea finds, some of their newer products and how we're using them.

Six products and me waffling about them....  Might be wise to go grab a cuppa (and maybe a couple of cookies🍪😊) and I'll meet you back here after the page break?  See you in a bit...

Rosie And The Hanging Herb Garden...

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote any products, just sharing my latest little project that's  making me smile x

Hello Honeys,

Today has been laundry day and you know me, any day with laundry in it is a good day 😊 I've always loved doing laundry.  Some of my earliest, happiest memories have laundry in them.  Sitting at the table in my Grammy's kitchen, with milk and biscuits or maybe some hot chocolate in winter time with lovely, warm, buttery toast.  While I was at the table, munching happily on my toast (or biscuits) Grammy would tell me about her childhood, her school days. All the while she'd be doing her laundry at her sink.  

No washing machines back then honeys. Grammy had two huge (to me, but I was only little) Belfast sinks, side by side.  One sink was very deep and the other one more shallow. Standing between the two sinks was a huge "wringer" that Grammy fed freshly washed clothes and bedding and towels through to squeeze the water out. To wash she had her "wash board."  Looking back, it must have been back breaking work but Grammy always smiled and sometimes she sang💖 

Laundry has become a bit more of a challenge recently, but every time my spine yells when I bend to take things out of the washing machine and move them into the dryer, I think of my beloved Grammy and how she'd work though her laundry, chatting and smiling and singing💗  I miss her every single day, but some days it knocks the wind out of me honeys.  Sorry, being too serious x  

While I wait for the dryer to finish running and the other load of washing to complete it's cycle, I thought I'd share some pics of my latest little project, as I promised yesterday💝 

I've wanted to grow some favourite herbs at home for so long honeys. Nothing huge. I'd just love to be able to add tasty, fresh herbs to our meals instead of reaching for the jars on our spice rails.  We did try once before and had some success actually, but that was such a while ago so, time to try again. 

A dear friend, Sarah (thank you honey x) bought me a beautiful box with lots of packets of seeds inside.  So, wanting to try growing them, I was thinking about where I could sit them to have the best chance of any available sunshine.  We do live in Scotland honeys.  You'd have more chance of finding a UFO, complete with Martian crew members wearing we love Mars t shirts, as find a sunny day here most of the time 😊  We do appreciate (rare) sunny days when they appear though 😄  

Of course my first thought was to put the planters on the kitchen window ledges, but then where would I put all of the cookie jars?  We do have quite a few.... another collection to downsize... someday 😊  

Inspiration...

Then, it happened!  I had an idea!  I remembered the spare rails, and their matching containers, we had upstairs. There are so, so many uses for those hanging rails from Ikea.  We have them dotted around all over the house.  

We haven't ever replaced the doors in this house.  Neither of us really like those plastic doors everyone seems to have now, so these solid wood doors are fine for us.  Well, the back door that leads out into the garden, via the kitchen, has a long, narrow window set into it and it's a sun trap-on days we see the sun. I mentioned my idea of a hanging herb garden to Hubby, using the spare Ikea rails and this happened...

I'm so, so happy with this project honeys! It's not in the way, the seeds are clearly getting enough sunshine (even in Scotland 😊) and how fabulous to be able to (hopefully) have lots of lovely fresh herbs on hand to inspire dinner choices.

In our guest room upstairs we store (very tidily) our collection of baskets, bins and anything else that helps with home organisation. Hubby calls it our "home Ikea" ❤  As we've downsized our home this past couple of years, donated things we no longer use or need, it's left us with so many empty organisers! We've even donated lots of those too. Now, that's something they don't talk about in all of those countless home organisation books I've read (and those books, of course, add to our clutter!)  

Back to those rails then honeys 😊 I actually went back upstairs today, to our "home Ikea" and brought another rail, and two more containers downstairs with me.    I think I'll ask Hubby to add the extra rail between the two rails on the door already...   

As you can see honeys, there's plenty of room for an extra rail...

   

Can you see the difference in the photo above? It was taken only a few days after the other photo, taken when the herbs were originally placed by the window on the back door.  

The spring onions, or scallions to our cousins across the pond (they're called sybies - pronounced "sigh-bees" here in Scotland) well, they were already growing so well on the kitchen window ledge, but look what's happened at the back door...

 

The spring onions have taken off honeys! They've grown so much in only a few days! Oh, and before I forget, you might notice I've added a third container to this top rail.  It isn't in the sun, so isn't used to try to grow herbs, but instead I put it there to act as a storage place for Hubby. So far, he has a small torch there (we also have two others by the front door in case of power cuts) and the keys for his sheds outside where he keeps his lawnmower and other garden tools. I'm sure we have a pack of the hooks for these rails, I'll have to find them and add one for his shed keys.   

As you can see, there's not much happening with the chives yet, but it's only been a few days and I'm sure they'll catch up. 

Moving to the other two containers,on the lower rail, there is a bit of a shock...

 

Look how quickly that cress is growing!  

Again, as with the chives, not a lot happening with the basil, but as I said, it's only been a few days, almost a week?  So, I live in hope to have some lovely, home grown basil to add to my pasta dishes 😋

Another great thing about this project is how inexpensive it was as well.  Free really, since we had a couple of spare rails, and containers, upstairs. Even if I'd had to go buy them though it wouldn't have been an expensive project.  When we bought these little rails, they were around £1 each and the containers cost 50p each.  I'm not sure how much they are now, but the range is called Sunnersta (and I still miss my much loved Bygel rails.)  

Do you grow herbs honeys?  Do you have any hints or tips you'd like to share?  Thank you for keeping me company today, it means more than I can say 💖  Till next time dear ones, stay safe, hugs always x 

 

Blogtober Day 10: How to help garden birds with 2 ingredient DIY fat shapes

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote any products or sites, just sharing how to help garden birds survive the chillier weather. 

Hi Honeys, 

I had the best time yesterday in the kitchen. I know I've been wittering on about it all week but it really has gotten cold. I'm automatically reaching for a cardigan in the mornings, the central heating is on and Hubby made me laugh by saying he can tell it's getting cold because I have my slippers on 💖 

He's right of course, dear ones. I really am trying to change and to wear them all the time (I'm diabetic and this does of course mean that self care, including care of our feet, becomes important) but for as long as I can remember I haven't been able to bear anything on my feet!  

If I've been outside (although I'm starting to forget what outside ever felt like) the very first thing I do when I get home is to kick my shoes off 😊  I was born to run along a beach with sand between my wee toes honeys 😄 

Stop waffling Rosie! Yes. Quite right.  What was I saying?  Oh yes! Yesterday.  I had such fun in the kitchen making some fat shapes for our beautiful little garden guests yesterday.  It was the most fun I've had in ages and look what happened... 

As winter starts to arrive, and temperatures begin to drop, it becomes so much harder for garden birds to find food.  A fabulous way to help them get through the colder months is, of course, to put out feeders but in order to survive winter's cold nights garden birds will need extra nourishment too. 

Luckily, there is a really easy way to make sure they can find the nourishment they need honeys, and that brings us back to why I found myself in the kitchen yesterday 😊 

We've always bought fat balls/shapes to hang in our garden.  Even during spring, when perhaps food isn't so difficult to find, there will be lots of feathery babies around 😍 

DIY fat shapes are so incredibly easy (and fun!) to make and they only have two ingredients...

The best thing is that they don't cost all that much to make (and did I say fun?) and the perfect activity for tiny humans to help with too.  As you can see honeys, all that's needed is a bag of wild bird food and some lard or beef suet.  

The 1 kilo (or 2.2 lbs) bag of wild bird food I used only cost £1 and the two blocks of lard were 50p each.  So, an investment of around £2 means an afternoon of fun in the kitchen, a healthy food supply for garden guests and the happiness of watching them visit too 💗    

How to make DIY fat shapes...

1. First we gently heat the lard in a pan on a low heat.  I can't stress this enough, never, ever walk away and leave a pan of lard/oil on a heat source!  It has to be watched constantly and never warm it on a high heat either honeys.  If you have children at home, please use the hobs at the back of the stove, furthest away from where they could reach, to keep them safe.  

Please keep children away from the stove and away from the lard while it's heating.

2. When the lard has melted, then immediately turn off the heat.  Allow the lard to cool a little for a few minutes to make it safer to work with, then very carefully, add the bird seed to the lard and stir through. 

3. The ratio of bird seed to lard should be around 1 part lard to 2 parts bird seed.  When the lard and seed are combined, just spoon the mixture into moulds and allow to set.  I put ours into the bottom of the fridge. 

4. To mould our fat shapes I headed to the cupboard where we store our bake ware.  Over the past couple of years we've been swapping over to silicone bake ware and I knew they'd make the perfect moulds for the fat shapes. As you can see honeys, they worked great...        

I used (as you can see) waffle moulds (in red) a muffin tray (in blue) and one of our much loved doughnut moulds which we use to bake our healthy doughnuts.  

I think they turned out great, what do you think honeys?

I used around two thirds of the bird seed and both blocks of lard which were 250g each (or around 8 oz, that would be 2 cups for our cousins across the pond - hi honeys.)  This filled one large doughnut mould, one muffin mould and almost two of the waffle moulds (filled one mould completely and then filled 4 sections of the other waffle mould.) 

I've put all six of the muffin shapes into a container to hang in the garden, along with one of the waffle shapes too.  I also added two lolly sticks from my craft box as perches.  The other shapes have been put into an airtight container and placed in the bottom of the fridge. 

All of the shapes will actually fit into the holder but I think I'll hang the doughnut shapes in our tiny apple tree (where the feeders are) using bright, pretty ribbons so that our tiny feathery friends see them 💖 

Links

The RSPB has an excellent page (which you can find here) on what to feed your tiny guests. 

Another great page from the RSPB (which you can find here) on growing sunflowers in your garden and why they make a great food source. 

There is a great page from the Wildlife Trusts on how to attract birds to your garden all year long (which you can find here.) 

It won't be too long till it's time for the Big Garden Bird Watch again, run by the RSPB. It runs every January and encourages everyone to take note of which birds visit their garden and to then keep a diary. This information is used to determine which birds are doing well and which are decreasing in number.  (You can read more about it here.)   

Over to you honeys, do you love to watch the birds as much as I do?  They so desperately need help and with our wildlife increasingly in danger due to loss of habitats, maybe sharing a little care (and food) is the least we can do 💕 

I hope you're having the best weekend dear ones, till next time, stay warm and safe, hugs always xx

Garden Smiles: Apples, Garden Guests & Those Bee Bombs Begin To Grow 🐝

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote Bee Bombs or any other products in this post. I'm just sharing a few little smiles spotted in the garden 😊


Hi Honeys,
How are you today?  Still warm here and we had the most torrential rain all through last night.  Great for the garden but not so great for anyone's arthritis.

I'm currently in the grip of an arthritis flare. If you're battling a chronic illness too during the current lock-down, please be kind to yourself honeys.  Try to rest, allow yourself the time and space to re-charge energy stores and to feel better.  Easier said than done, I know. Please try 💗

On to today's little smile then 😊  Do you remember the adorable little package of Bee Bombs I planted recently?  I knew, from the information on the pretty card supplied with the Bee Bombs, that I might have to be patient in my wait for the burst of colours I'm hoping to see in their planter.

At their website the makers said the wildflowers that make up the bee bombs are very hardy but can be "slow growers."  Well, imagine my surprise when I noticed lots of little shoots appearing already...

Even seeing these little shoots in a photograph makes me feel better. The first half of this year has been so full of uncertainty for all of us. It's been more than anything consumed by covid-19.  I lost a very dear work friend to this awful virus and I'm still trying to cope with this loss. I've always been a great believer in counting my blessings but these past months, every single day I'm just so thankful for the people who are, and have ever been, a part of my life.

I'm praying that this virus will go away without taking anyone else and I think we'll all be counting our blessings so much more after it's gone.

Apple Blossom gives way to apples 🍏 

In our tiny garden, the birds carry on singing, the bees carry on buzzing around the lavender and the apple blossom gives way to perfect Bramley apples on our little apple tree. 

All of the beautiful sunshine we've been blessed with recently, along with the equally beautiful Scottish rain of course, have been perfect for the apples as you can see...
 

With all of the worry and stress in the world dear ones, the garden just carries on doing exactly what it's always done.

The grass keeps growing, the blueberries (planted as a food source for our precious, feathery garden guests) and the apples have all appeared and Jade is still trying to make friends with the little squirrel who visits every day. 💖

In the autumn, there will be another harvest of lovely apples and I'll set about making yummy apple crumbles or apple turnovers which, I'm praying will be in a post covid world that will let me share these yummy baked goods with our neighbours, just as I did last year.

Till then, I'll watch the garden grow, the bees buzz happily around the lavender at the back door, watch our beautiful feathery garden guests every day from the kitchen window and keep on praying that the world goes back to whatever normal is going to be, sooner rather than later.

Till next time, please stay safe and well dear ones. Sending love and hugs always xx

Bee Bombs: Planting A Habitat For Our Buzzy Friends 🐝

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote or share any products.  I was introduced to these wonderful little seed "bombs" by a dear Twitter friend and just had to try them. Anything to help our buzzy friends 🐝

Hi Honeys,
How are you today?  How's your week been?  We have rain today, which no doubt will be welcomed not only by the garden, but by our garden's many tiny visitors too.💖

Yesterday afternoon, while it was still sunny and warm, our furbaby Jade & I spent a happy half hour or so on the patio.  We re-filled the feeders for our feathered visitors and also left some nuts for our terribly timid squirrel guest.

While outside, I also decided to plant the "Bee Bombs" which had arrived yesterday morning.🐝

For some time now honeys, I've been trying to do whatever I can to make our garden into a tiny oasis for the assorted wildlife who visit. 

One of the first things we did, during our first spring after we moved into this house, was to plant an apple tree.  The apple tree is very well established now and every day it's full of movement and noise.  The tree is where the bird feeders are I adore looking out the kitchen window watching all of the birds flying in and out, sitting on the branches, sometimes eating and sometimes just singing💖

Being an apple tree, we're also blessed to have lots of lovely Bramley apples each year to bake with too 🍏  In addition to the apple tree, we also planted a blueberry shrub which has now grown so much it's taken over one part of the garden.  We planted the blueberry shrub as a food source for our many tiny birds and I love seeing them fluttering around it's branches and hopping in and out of the shrub and across the lawn.

I'm really excited about the latest addition to our garden honeys, but I'll tell all in a few minutes or so.  Why not go grab a cuppa, and maybe a cookie (or two) and meet me back here after the page break?  See you in a few minutes...

Changes In The Garden And The Easiest, Most Delicious Apple Crumble Recipe Ever...

Hello Honeys,
How are you today?  All well I hope💖  I've spent the past week or so happily shuffling outside very early every morning, at around 5am, armed with bird seed, peanuts and suet balls.  Why so early I hear you ask, well that's when I'm usually awakened by the insistent cheeping and singing of our baby feathered guests 🐦   We have baby birds honeys and oh my are they noisy in the morning!

They are hungry after all and how else are they going to tell me 😃  I'm having such a great time, standing at the kitchen sink and watching them fly in and out of the blueberry shrub and bobbing about on the lawn and patio 🐤💗

Well, while outside in the garden feeding our tiny songbirds I noticed that the apples on our little apple tree had started to appear... 

This is going to be a long post, with lots of photos too, so why not go grab a cuppa and maybe a cookie or two, and meet me back here in a few minutes... oh, and there will be baking involved so maybe grab an apron to put on while making your cuppa, see you in a few minutes...

An Early Harvest For Beautiful Scottish Bramley Apples And How To Store Your Apples Once Gathered...

Hi Honeys
It's harvest time at Rosie's cottage 😊 The extreme summer weather this year, I mean over six weeks of near constant sunshine and above 20C temperatures, for us Scots that's pretty extreme 😊  has been such a blessing! Not just for us but for our precious garden too.

I went into the back garden yesterday and the branches of our little apple tree were literally sagging with the weight of the apples on them!  We've been so blessed honeys 🍎

We planted our little tree in the back garden in Spring of 2007 so it's around 11 years old and it's been a journey watching it grow.  The first apple, a single, perfect apple, appeared in 2014, and each year I've been so excited checking to see if our (still very young) tree would have apples that year.

In 2015 there were three apples and I was so happy 😊  The following year was the first time I was able to make mini apple crumbles using our home grown apples and there are no words for how much it made me smile honeys 😊

Well, this year the tiny apple tree has outdone itself dear ones and in fact Hubby had his own Sir Isaac Newton moment when an apple decided to resoundingly clock him on the head 😍

After that, it was obvious that our extremely hot, humid summer had brought harvest time forward and it was time to collect those apples before they either end up scattered all across the garden by the wind or Hubby (bless him!) our furbaby Jade or myself are taken out by another apple incident!

Let's have a look shall we?

Fun In The Garden Part Three: Being Blessed By Our Garden...

Hi Honeys
I hope you've had a fabulous weekend.  It's been a little strange here to say the least.  After over three weeks of solidly (very) warm, sunny days... right up until Thursday when we had a lovely rain shower that lasted around 10 minutes or so and saw Jade and I in the garden loving the soft sprinkle of rain. Well, late on Saturday afternoon we were hit by the most incredible rain storm!

It was torrential and went on for around forty minutes or so, managing to flood my workplace and to include hail stones too!  On a day when the temperature was around 18C we had hailstones 😲  It was a shock to the system dear ones but as soggy as everyone, and everything, got.... well I think the gardens must all have breathed a huge sigh of relief to be finally seeing a proper end to the mini drought it's been enduring.   

Speaking of the garden, just wait till you see what's been happening out there!  Almost (wee shower and then torrential rain storm aside) four weeks of (mostly) unbroken sunshine here in Scotland.... unheard of! 😊  All of that gorgeous sunshine has worked wonders dear ones, it's truly beautiful out there and I'm so grateful that we've been so blessed and can't stop going outside to just stare 😊

As grateful as I am for the beautiful flowers our garden has blessed us with this year, I'm also grateful for all of those lovely, sun-drenched days we've had this past month.  Sunny days mean laundry days around here and you know how much I adore doing laundry 😊 

I know, I'm odd.  I've been told this.  Usually by people who wonder how I can adore doing laundry so much 😊  I've always adored laundry, it's by far my favourite part of housekeeping.  There's not a single part of it I don't love 😊

Back to today's post then dear ones, wait till you see what's been happening in the garden during this very unusual for us (but we're not complaining!) dry spell. Why not grab a cuppa and maybe a cookie (or two) and meet me back here in a few minutes?

Fun In The Garden Part Two: Re-Building The Garden Fence

Hi Honeys,
Another beautiful day and I spent part of it doing laundry as usual 😊 Carrying on from yesterday's post where I tried to make a start on making our garden a little more bee (and fairy) friendly, I thought I'd share our biggest garden project for a while although, weather permitting, we have a couple of other large projects we'd like to have done outside, such as painting and possibly setting up a new seating area on the patio. 

This was all Hubby's work bless him (great work sweetheart x) my contribution was to bring him lots of cups of tea and things to eat... and every now and again get in his way with my camera 😊  I can't wait to share what he achieved honeys because the difference to our little garden is like day and night.  I keep going outside just to look at it 😊

There are lots of photos in this post so it might be best to fetch a cuppa and maybe a cookie or two, meet you back here in a couple of minutes dear ones...

Fun In The Garden Part One: How To Encourage Bees To Visit Your Garden...

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to recommend any products, just sharing my latest fun filled project in our garden x

Hi Honeys,
How are you today?  All well I hope and able to enjoy the glorious weather we've been having.  Hubby was on hols from work all last week and I had last weekend off too so we spent all week busily working very happily on home projects and given the gorgeous weather, we decided to concentrate on the garden 💮 

Hubby has worked so hard during this holiday bless him, taking down the high garden fence between us and our neighbours (a left over from the previous owners) and re-building a lovely new, much shorter, fence in its place.  I'll share lots of before and after photos in my next post, it looks fabulous and I'm so proud of him he did it all on his own.

I've gone back to de-cluttering cupboards and drawers again and we're building quite a collection of things all ready to be donated.

On Tuesday of last week we went grocery shopping and managed to find a few things to help in two long awaited and very much wished for projects in our garden 😊  Let's take a look shall we honeys?

We've all been hearing this past couple of years how the worlds bee population is shrinking terribly and I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that this is disastrous for humans as well as for our little buzzy friends.  Bees play such a vital role in so much of the food we eat.

Image and lots of useful info found here 

I very often see bees hovering around our much loved roses in our tiny front garden but I wanted to do more to help them so I set about finding out as much as I could about how to encourage them to feel welcome in our garden.

Imagine how pleased I was then honeys to see this marvellous little bee and insect hotel while grocery shopping...   

We spotted it in the gardening aisle in Home Bargains and I was thrilled.  I was even happier to find when we got to the checkout to find it was actually priced at £4.99 (even though it says £12 on the wrapper.)

We took it home and I was so happy with it I asked Hubby later in the week when he took a trip back to our local retail park for some masonry paint to bring me another one back.  Unfortunately Home Bargains didn't have any of the large ones left (although they may well get them back in stock) when he went in but they did have a smaller model...
 

As you can see it's around half the size of the larger bee hotel but as it turns out that makes it perfect for what I have in mind too!

Beginnings And Endings: Farewell To Polyvore And New Rose Shrub Planted!

Hi Honeys,
How are you today?  I've spent most of this week hanging onto the walls to get around our home because of the worst pain in my spine.  You know, I've decided dear ones that I'm fed up of arthritis now.  I'm fed up of not knowing what, if anything, I'll be able to do each day.  I haven't been able to sleep more than an hour or two each night this week and it's all getting to be a little too much is all so just ignore my complaints honeys.  Regular happy-Rosie will be resumed in no time. Even the worst pain can't keep me down for long.  I'm too stubborn 😊   

So, arthritis aside, having longed for and counted down to Spring for months and in spite of having reached almost the middle of April, it's raining here.  Not just a little either.  It's literally "chucking down" outside, which is fine because as the old saying goes "April showers bring May flowers" and I do adore our garden 💮⚘😊

Now usually, when I'm feeling this awful one of the ways I cope is to hide away from the world and distract myself by creating my dream closet on the Polyvore site.  Do you remember my singing the praises of Polyvore honeys?  I even shared some of my sets here and also here.

Polyvore was a little like having access to every fashion piece, and household items too since Polyvore wasn't only for fashion fans but also would-be interior designers too.  Did you notice just then I said was honeys? 

It's true.  Polyvore is gone.  Without any notice the site was sold to a clothing supplier and all of our collections, sets, the friends we'd all made there, all of it has disappeared.
 

As you can imagine honeys, there has been quite an outcry of disbelief and unhappiness on social media over the way the closing of the Polyvore site has been handled.  No one knew it was going to happen, there was no email sent out to warn members. 

I checked and up until the day before it happened I still only received the usual marketing email from Polyvore with no mention that the site was being sold and our sanctuary from world overwhelm closed with the loss of everything created over the years.

All is not lost!

Well honeys, they seem to have heard because they've set up a link to request a download of your sets & collections. You can request a download by going here logging in, using the email address you joined with and the password for your polyvore account. 

Important: You only have until May 15th to request a download of your sets & collections!  At this page you can also opt out of your information being passed to the company who have taken over the Polyvore site. 

When you request your data download it will take a day or two to prepare and then when you go back to the above address there will be a link to download a zip file containing all of your sets etc.  

It's beyond sad to lose Polyvore honeys, it was a little oasis of calm for me on less than calm days and I'l miss it terribly but I'm also so grateful to Polyvore for providing this wonderful little platform for all of us for so many years.  It was provided free after all and meant a great deal to those of us who relied on it. Thank you Polyvore, it's been awesome 💖💖💖💖

On then to happier thoughts honeys...

Fresh Snowfall, Feeling Calm & A Happy Furbaby...

Hi Honeys,
We had a fresh fall of snow yesterday and it was so beautiful I wanted to capture it before the never far away rain arrived and washed it all away.

So, I grabbed my camera and out into the garden I went with our furbaby Jade...

I do adore our little garden.  I still miss our gorgeous sycamore trees since the local council cut them all back.  They hid the view of that large ugly metal fence in the lane behind our garden, but more than that honeys they gave our beloved garden the feel of a secluded little space where I could escape the world when life got overwhelming.

In the Spring we're hoping, when the always unpredictable weather allows of course, to create a little seating area.  We were hoping to do it last year but with what must have been one of the wettest years ever it just wasn't possible.

Do you remember the beautiful bench Hubby bought for me a while ago?  Almost two years ago in fact.  It's still in it's box waiting to be assembled and take pride of place in the garden.  I can't believe the weather has been so dreadful for so long.  Maybe this year we'll be surprised by mother nature with an actual summer 😊

As you can see, it has a wrought iron fretwork design of roses on the back rest. I can't wait to see it as the centre piece of our little seating area and to be able to sit out in the garden, watching lots of lovely laundry floating around in the breeze 😊

For now though, we have snow and, as I said, I wanted to capture how beautiful the garden looked before our almost inevitable rainy lead up to Spring begins.  Let's have a look shall we?

Spring Is Coming! Peonies Have Appeared...

Hi Honeys
I'm so happy I could just burst!! Having opened the back door to let our furbaby Jade out into the garden to see if her squirrel friends are about (like the ducks on the canal she loves to visit, she adores the squirrels but they don't ever want to play with her bless them) well standing at the back door I noticed something...

I then wandered over to the huge pot our much loved peonies grow in to see if I was actually seeing what I thought I was seeing and.....

It's true! I did spot tiny, precious shoots fighting their way through the soil looking for sunlight!  This is wonderful honeys! I always judge how close spring is by our beloved peonies appearance each year.

Part of my brain tells me that, according to the calendar at least, we have a little over nine weeks till the clocks roll forward and we welcome Spring, and as much as I look forward every year to losing that hour.... don't judge me honeys.  I'm awake before the birds are every day so an extra hour in bed is just an extra hour for me to wait till anyone else wakes up to keep me company 😊

Well, anyway, as I was saying 😊 as much as I look forward to losing that extra hour (I don't mind the hour itself, more time for me to read or do a puzzle in the morning but it can be lonely) well it takes us closer to spring you see.  I am so not a winter person. Spring is my release from the cold and the long, dark days that seem to drag on forever.

I'm reminded of the wonderful Harry Secombe singing "If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring"  and I wholeheartedly agree 😊  Such a beautiful song with wonderful lyrics 💖

So now that the peonies have begun to grow it'll be no time really until they look their gorgeous self and make me smile every single time I open our back door...
 

What's making you smile today honeys?  Are you looking forward to spring as much as I am?  I've just glanced out of the living room window and the snow is coming down heavily again.  I have to leave for work in around half an hour too, time to get all bundled up warmly 😊

Stay warm and safe dear ones, till next time, huggles always xx

Autumn Smiles In The Garden

Hi Honeys
How are you today?  I'm feeling a bit better and today I thought I'd have a look around the gardens and see what's happening.  I'm glad I did because it's cheered me up no end and I thought I'd share 😊

Earlier this year our precious roses were again the victims of attacks by aphids, tiny little fly like bugs who are also tiny little bringers of devastation to anyone's roses 😞  Our beloved roses do seem to be making a comeback though but I'm getting ahead of myself 😊

Why not grab a coffee, and maybe a cookie, and we'll have a look shall we?

We're lucky enough to have a good sized (though not huge by any means) back garden, mostly laid to lawn other than having our apple tree, an ever growing blueberry bush and even bigger mulberry bush.

The back garden is also home to two huge planters which are home to lavender and to our much loved peonies which bloom every year and always make me smile 😊

The front garden is quite tiny bit it's home to our roses and it's where I'm always happiest...well... of course the back garden is where my washing lines are and if you've read any of this blog at all you'll probably know how much I adore laundry soooooo.... ok, maybe I'm just happiest whenever I'm in the gardens then 😊   In the front garden there are the roses I love so much and in the back garden I get to (weather permitting) peg out laundry 😊

Let's have a look shall we?

A Happy New Home For Our Beautiful Miniature Roses

Hi Honeys
Fourth day in a row of constant rain.  For a wee Rosie who adores laundry as much as I do this is depressing! Winter is very long around here and Summer is short, short, short!  There is only so much potential for pegging our laundry and it's slipping away from me by the day.

I can console myself that, at least, the rain is good for the garden. As promised yesterday I thought I'd share an update on our miniature roses now that they've found their new home 😊

I've so enjoyed watching these tiny roses growing for months now, ever since I was blessed with them as a gift just before Christmas.  Since then they've lived on our kitchen window ledge quite happily being watered and fed.

When the weather finally became warmer they moved, during the day, outside into the back garden to soak up the good Scottish rain, of which there is lots, and the rarer Scottish sunshine 😊  They blossomed wonderfully as you can see...

Having been re-potted once already and very obviously running out of space in their latest pot I decided it might be time to move them again and where better I thought than to one of the much larger planters which sit either side of our front door.

Decision made, a rare sunny day appeared and off into our tiny front garden went Hubby, our furbaby Jade and I and this is what happened...

8 Ways To Keep Houseplants Healthy & Blooming All Year Long

Hi Honeys,
There was a time in my life when plants were simply not safe around me 😊 I've always adored all things living and growing but unfortunately it seems I simply wasn't born with a green thumb.  A fact that weighs very heavily on me since a great deal of the joy in my life stems from our little garden.

"How can my plants go and die on me" I was constantly asking myself, well not constantly but enough to be depressing.  I adore plants! I water them! What am I doing wrong?

Well, as it turns out dear ones, quite a lot.  As with all things in life, we learn through experience and I learned there was a whole lot more to happy houseplants than just wandering over with some water now and again.  

Right now any houseplants we have are temporary... although in a good way 😊  What I mean is that recent houseplants in our home have tended to become outside plants eventually, as in the case of our little miniature roses which will soon be re-homed into a trellis planter by our front door.

I'm no expert honeys, not even a little bit, but I've become much better at keeping plants alive and content for months on end while they wait for the unpredictable Scottish seasons to allow them a chance to survive outside 😊

I thought today I'd share a few of the ways I've learned over the years to keep living green things... well living and green in our home 😊

Finding Smiles In The Garden...

Hi Honeys
I've spent most of this week looking for a reason to smile and maybe find a way to stop crying and I know for sure I'm not alone.  I can't bear to switch on the TV or to read the news.  Something terrible happened in Manchester this week and it's sent a shock wave through the entire country.

When terrible things like this happen, when good people, when innocent children, are hurt and killed deliberately, it's inconceivable.  How can this happen?  First there is shock, then I think our brain tries to make sense of it, but there's no sense to be made honeys.

I've been crying off and on all this week.  I've found myself crying while doing the dishes, while sitting with our furbaby on the sofa, while pegging out laundry on the line, even while doing nothing at all.

As I so often do when I'm finding it difficult to cope I headed out into out garden in search of a smile. I'm not sure it's really helped to be honest honeys but I did take some photos and thought I'd share in the hope that maybe they'd make you smile.



Do you remember those little miniature roses, a gift from a dear friend at Christmas, well they're still blooming...

In the above photo they're sitting in front of our blueberry shrub which is enjoying the recent sunny weather and growing well too.  It looks as if there will be another great crop of blueberries again this year.

The little miniature roses really are growing well, so much so that I've moved them outside into the garden so they can soak up the sunshine...