Wednesday 2 April 2008

Winning Again

Look what arrived in the post today



One of the prizes from a Giveaway hosted by Cindy of In A Garden
A book on pressing flowers and a very informative book on
fragrant herbs
plus a watercolour painting, done by Cindy, of a basket of roses
Thank you Cindy
The painting will be on the wall somewhere near to my computer
reminding me of Cindy every day

Not much colour in my garden today but everything is
'budding up'



The Hyacinths are gorgious with lots more to open up




We are laying a new path
The old path was arranged around a large Weeping Willow tree that we had in our garden at the time. This tree eventually had to go because we had some subsidence at the back of the house.
We had to cut it back a quarter at a time over a period of four years so as to not affect the water table too drastically
There is apparently a stream somewhere underground so without this tree areas of our garden are under water during much of the winter
It is heavy clay so as soon as the ground dries out and it gets hot it begins to crack
The plus side is that the clay is brilliant for the roses
As for the path it is not so easy to step onto the small stones when they are covered in water and
they were never really close together enough for comfort when everything was wet
With possible snow, hail and sleet forecast for the weekend we had better get it finished


22 comments:

Paula said...

What a lovely gift. The watercolor is fabulous. You are a lucky lady!
I just love spring, all the new growth, its my favorite time in the garden. The stone path looks like it will be nice. We have sandy soil where I live, it doesn't hold the water very well,

Aqeela said...

Well Barbara, that is the first time ive seen white hyasynths! They are beautiful.
Im so sorry that i didnt reply to your email, i did get it, and i checked the link and googled some more and spent ages researching. After all that i forgot to come back to your email and reply to say thankyou. I appreciate your time, its a really interesting subject and i hope to be looking into it more.
Lindsay
x

Teresa said...

Both books look lovely. I personally would like to curl up with the one about Fragrant Herbs. The painting is so pretty. Congratulations!!

Linda said...

Lucky you, that was a nice surprise in the mail today.
I have a hyacinth in bloom too, except mine is in a pot indoors.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

It's always fun to win such charming presents!

I love that first photo of your garden - it looks so pretty, even without all the soon-to-be color!

I see you enjoy feeding the birds too. Do you also get squirrels?

Sara

Rebecca said...

Barbara, that's a very lovely gift. Here in Kentucky my jonquils are blooming ,lilacs loaded with buds, and the tulips are coming up but have yet to open. We're in for a bit of rain so I'd say more life will be springing forth in no time. The path looks like it will be a nice one as well...Happy Gardening!

a woman who is said...

I am so glad you are enjoying the treats. Thanks for your encouragement for Jenna. She mentioned this morning that you had left a comment on her blog. I think she is going west from here? She is traveling from WA State, south to L.A. and west to Hong Kong, and from there to Perth. It was a more direct route for her from the west coast.
I can't wait to see your new path done.

Vee said...

Your gifts are delightful! It's always fun to get that kind of mail.

The garden is beautiful and I can't believe that you may get snow and sleet this late in your season. Hope that the plants are hardy.

It was interesting to read about the effect that the willow has on the water table and how you're dealing with it.

Willow said...

What a beautiful gift! Lucky you!

Your garden is starting to look lovely. I love white hyacinths.

I'll be interested to see your path when it is finished.

Kelly said...

Congratulations what a great gift! Your garden is... as always looking just wonderful!

Kelly

Linds said...

You have winning ways, Barbara! What a lovely gift! I think the squirrels ate my hyacinths. There are none in the garden. Not to mention two thirds of my tulips. Snow? We are getting snow?? And I am the one who cheerfully told Jeana not to bother to bring heavy coats for their 7 week stay in the UK. Oops. I may need to hide....

Needled Mom said...

Congratulations on your spectacular win.

Your Hyacinths are just gorgeous. I hope they smell just as good as they look.

Sorry about the loss of your tree. We, too, have that clay soil.

Dorothy said...

Oh my Barbara...I do love the Hyasynths...the anticipation of your garden bursting forth in bloom is very exciting...too bad about the Willow tree.....the weather on the way, is regretful, but mother nature will have her way now...Dee Dee

Dorothy said...

I see I've mispelled the lovely Hyacinth....you can see we don't grow them here in the tropics...
:) Dee Dee

Susan said...

Congrats on your newest win. I like the larger stepping stones.
Susan

Sue Seibert said...

What wonderful gifts! Cindy is a wonderful artist, and a very generous giver, as well. I love your garden, BTW! And I always love your phots!

~~Deby said...

Congratulations on another win..hooray for you..
I LOVE hyacinths and can almost smell them through my laptop...your garden looks so lovely.
Deby

Vee said...

Barbara, I have an award for you...no strings attached!

Susan Skitt said...

What a nice prize for you! And your garden is simply lovely. It looks like something out of a magazine!

Susie said...

What a nice gift to receive in the mail! Your hyacinths are lovely. I have some deep purple ones and the fragrance is delicious!!
xo

Merisi said...

Congratulations, Barbara!
I hope the weekend weather will be kind to your precious spring blooms.

Barbara said...

I hope you could finish your path by now. Hyacinths are wonderful with their fragrance. I like to have them around the terrace. At the moment mine are opening their blooms.
Have a nice weekend, Barbara.