More hours please.

I'm sure one day I will catch myself coming back, where does time go? It's a week since my last post yet it seems only a few hours ago.

In this time the rockery has been re-made, all the dreaded mares tail and silver weed removed and the rockery replanted,

the plants will now need sometime to re-establish, but even so, it looks much better. We did have a water feature when we first did the pond but we found that it did  not work satisfactorily, and  the water level in the pound could not be maintained, so we have abandoned the original set up and ordered a solar powered pump which operates a small fountain.

A work in progress.

I ordered it on Sunday and it was delivered today,( well done Amazon) the OH is now installing it, but needless to say the sun has now gone and we are back to rainy weather, so until we have four hours of sunshine to power the solar, the feature will not operate.
Three Doctors appointments have taken up another three hours of our time, and I now have to use the nebuliser four times a day which means another two hours per day wasted.

Ragwort. It might be a noxious weed, but it's still pretty.

However, there is always time to enjoy the lovely countryside around us and the late summer wild flowers which makes the countryside so colourful.

Greater willow herb.

So many wild flowers are worthy of a place in the garden,

Rosebay willow herb can be controlled by not allowing it to set seed, but it makes a colourful addition to the garden,

Purple loosestrife it a great addition near the pond, it would also look lovely in a flower bed but as our soil is very free draining I'm not too sure how well it would survive,

even bush vetch could be used scrambling in a hedge, it gives a lovely burst of colour as well as fixing nitrogen, and of course,

Honeysuckle, there are so many cultivars but I still think that the wild one takes a lot of beating.

Meanwhile the onions have now been

tied and stringed, the larger ones will be processed  and the de-hydrated mainly because the larger ones are too big for our use for one day, and it's never a good idea to save a cut onion, so dehydration seems the way to go.

Once again the garlic is a silly size, it seems year on year the  bulbs gain an ounce, I know last year the average size was 4.3 oz.

this year the average is 5.4oz. Weeds are growing a pace, I swear that as soon as one is pulled another two grow to take it's place.
 We are also back to making yoghurt, the Dr. had put me on a high dose of antibiotics, of which my stomach does not approve,  my body say's I need yoghurt, so the incubator has been brought out to make it. We have not hatched any eggs this year, there has just not been sufficient time, but at least the incubator has other uses. It's eight years plus since I had to take antibiotics, lets hope it's another eight years before I take them again.

The second peach tree fruits are still not quite ripe, this might be because both tunnel doors have been left open to avoid too much humidity which would affect the tomatoes, however the size of the peaches is astounding, they are double that of the other trees even though they are the same variety. I' looking forward to trying them to see if the flavour is any different.

The flower gardens are now moving towards the late summer flowers,

phlox

and the perpetual Sweet peas  are flowering and great excitement for me,

the  Acanthus  (Bear's Breeches) has given us it's first flower, it has taken three years to establish, but worth the wait,

Gladioli are just starting to flower, and the Dahlias are in full flower, giving lots of cut flowers for the house,

Clematis are also giving a second flowering, there is also another flower which has thrived against a fence, unfortunately I have no idea what it is other than it must be a member of the legume family, it is very pretty, but without knowing what it is I can't split it or take cuttings. I will have to ask our plant expert Saffron when we see her at the weekend, and at last the Chinese lantern plant

( Physalis alkekengi) has given me some colour, again this has taken a couple of years to get going, it is in the new tunnel.
We have also had a lovely trip into Connemara.

A babbling brook in Connemara. 

Fantastic scenery.

Up hills and down dales.

One of the many lakes.

The Fjord at Leenane.

Leenane which is in fact in Co. Galway. We have been there before but only remembered it when we got there! One of those senior moments I guess. It is a lovely place to spend a few hours, it has several restaurants and craft shops, the last time we went we had taken a picnic with us, but this time we decided we would have a lunch out, we opted for the Blackberry Café, this turned out to definitely be a good choice for me, there was so much seafood to choose from. The staff were great, and it was no problem to get me and the wheel chair in despite there being no disabled ramps.

I chose the fresh Calamari cooked in breadcrumbs and can truthfully say it was the best I had ever had even though we had lived in Spain for eight years.

Simon went for the seafood chowder, with fresh soda bread.

Yet another Irish craft beer, it was very good.

Leenane village is the place where 'The Field' was filmed although we had not realised that until a friend told me today. We did not go into the craft shops, which was probally a very good thing, but, maybe next time?

It might be newly built but it still looks a dream cottage.