Garden.. progress

 Bit by bit....with a break to meet friends for a cuppa....should have checked when their ride would be finished....so just had the cuppa.

The garden is crying out for "summer"....I had thought that the squash plants would be well on their way and ready to go out.....

The tomatoes are getting taller...but are rather skinny...

But the paths are just about clear. The grass on the sides needs another cut to be short enough for the mower...but it is ok for now.

The flowers are blooming in the garden...high time I weeded the pots where the roses are growing!!

Walkies

 

Unfortunately the pub was closed on Mondays....so a walk back for a garden centre late lunch!

Evening walk

crab apples... surprisingly there doesn't seem to have been a June drop...I think they may be still small as we haven't had that much rainfall...

And high up in the trees are...

Pears...it will be a short window when they will be just right to juice...fingers crossed!!

 And we could just see Arran. Today we have had gusty winds again...we had planned a bike ride, but wind and showers again wrote that off.

After our walk I started harvesting gooseberries, black and red currants and Alpine strawberries... Without netting the birds would have already cleared the lot!!

Spring Saunter

 

Today was one of those breathtaking, chilly breeze but hot sun days, so we had a wander late afternoon. Himself isn't up to a proper energetic walk yet!

Wild cherries, or Geans.. hope we can get to some before the birds in a couple of months!

Like the river, the pond is low on water.

Woodland...and hedgerow

apple

sloe, or blackthorn

pear

and again pear

Living in hope!!

Foraging, preserving

 We had a day out foraging today, not far away from home, and by the Clyde.

A quarter mile walk, along the cycle route again then Pirate saw a path into a harvested field....and we were there for a couple of hours picking blackberries/brambles, elderberries and sloes.

Deposit those in the car, then we walked a mile up to the local Co-op shop to buy lunch. Lunch in the car after walking back as it turned chilly for a while. 

A walk in the other direction took us along the Lang Scots Mile a little, then down onto what was beach and dunes and now has been colonised by all sorts of plants and trees.

There we found rosehips and apples!

A small detour on the way home up to the trig point on Brown Carrick hill..and unfortunately the trig point itself has been stolen. But the views are still good, including looking over to Ardrossan where we were two days ago!!

Plenty of preserving to do, including plum jam for our neighbour who supplies us with eggs and tomatoes!