Friday, August 01, 2008

Nature and Nurture


This Summer has proved to be wonderful for fruit growing and our apple trees are laden with fruit.

Our strawberries have all-but taken over the garden, and it looks as if our Autumn raspberry canes will be supplying us with an early bumper crop.


There has been a delightful wonder of nature in our garden - I recently showed you photos of the many flowers in our garden and mused that I will probably plant a pale pink hollyhock next year. Well, one has appeared in amongst the darker pink flowers - isn't it pretty?

I shall have to wish for a few more things..!


Although we've had some rather 'up and down' weather when the sun comes out and the clouds disappear it is perfect, with beautiful blue skies and balmy breezes. This year's hanging baskets are a subtle blue and yellow theme, complementing the wisteria foliage.

As well as sporting bags with the Union Jack we're also flying the flag over the porch! The glare of the sun has given it quite a glow, so it's really standing out in this photo!!

Some weeks ago, every time I walked down the garden, I heard a high pitched screeching very close by. We have a resident buzzard nearby and I wondered if it was the sound of its young. The noise persisted and after a few days we discovered the source of it. A baby hedgehog had fallen into an old post hole in my neighbour's garden! The little urchin was gently lifted out, given a plate of cat food and then we put him in a quiet place at the bottom of the garden. Yesterday, I stepped out of the studio and very nearly trod on that very same hedgehog!

He was foraging for food and very frantic in his search! We fetched some cat food and water and he tucked in greedily.

He was so friendly and kept running towards us (he kept trying to nip Mike's toes - wonder what he thought they were!) He was hard to catch on camera - as soon as we pointed it at him, he came running towards it! We popped him on the scales (removing the vintage stock first I should add!) and weighed and measured him. He was just 150mm long and weighed only 160 grams. Knowing he shouldn't have been out in the day, we contacted a local wildlife animal shelter called Oak and Furrow. They have taken him to their shelter where he will enjoy a stay for a few months, whilst they feed him up. When he is at a suitable weight he will be coming back to Pottery Cottage where he can hibernate for the winter. He may even bring a few friends with him - let's hope so, they'd be made very welcome!

The sun and rain have taken care of the prolific flora in the garden this summer, which is just as well because we have been very busy with the website and haven't had too much time to tend it! We updated the website earlier this week - here is a selection of the new stock. Some of these items have now sold but there's still plenty of pretty items to choose from!
A pretty meadow flowers eiderdown...

... and one of two rose-smothered French quilts!

A bizzie lizzie chintz plate...

...a charming French fabric covered box...

...and this huge, handmade runner - just gorgeous!

This weekend will be filled with a visit to an annual car boot sale in the grounds of a local National Trust house, a spot of pick-your-own for some lovely fresh fruit, and some pottering in the garden - weather permitting of course! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

13 comments:

  1. Hi Clare, well your "crops" are definiiely doing better than ours. Our strawberry plants are wonderful but they are providing no fruit! I do love the hollyhock too, one of most favorite flowers. Your doorway is divine! There must be some years of growth there. I saw the runner on your website and fell in love with it, it is a beauty, what a wonderful find!

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  2. Nawww, what a little cutie that hedghog is!
    And they're great to have as residents in your garden as they love eating slugs!
    This company sells hedgehog houses as well as food to encourage them to stay in your garden
    http://www.birdfood.co.uk/product_details.php?area_id=2&group_id=19&nav_id=28&prd_id=130
    (PS - I'm having a fab blog giveaway - I hope you can drop by!)

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  3. Those hollyhocks are beautiful. Love the quilts, too. Can there be anything more lovely then quilts and gardens?

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  4. Your garden looks really lovely.
    Those pink hollyhocks remind me so much of the children's flower seeds they sold when I was a child. The seed packets always had wonderful drawings on them of hollyhocks, delphiniums and foxgloves and when you planted them you never know quite what you would end up with, but it did not matter.

    Your fabric creations are very beautiful!

    Gillian

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  5. I just love your front porch..it is beautiful..along with the rest of your post!;-)

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  6. Your garden is looking beautiful. We have been busy picking apples this weekend and baking cakes with them. I haven't seen a hedgehog in years, when I was a child our garden was full of them
    Kimxx
    Hope you're having agood weekend

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  7. I love all your photos! Our baby apple tree that we planted last year has a dozen apples so we are looking forward to eating those! The new stock looks lovely - will pop over to your shop for a browse.

    Jayne

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  8. Great pix, and love the little hedgehog story.

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  9. Oh sweet, your hedgehog is adorable. We use to have one, but he seems to be gone this year. I love the eiderdown, it's beautiful, and perect for curling up with on a rainy day. The light hollyhock is such a soft colour... your blog is full of beautiful things!

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  10. oh the hedgehog is so cute! THey sell for pets here in the us!

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  11. Your porch is looking beautiful, and your baby hedgehog is so cute. I hope he is soon well enough to come back to potter in your garden. Lovely additions to your website too.
    Cathy X

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  12. Oh my goodness...hedgehogs and eiderdowns...love!

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  13. hi clare!
    just found your blog via blogger. your blog is so inspiring! i love your work. It's art!
    Best regards,
    Virginia

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