In Preop Limbo...

17th June 2018

Birthday week and Granny clearing and sorting our house out!
It's been an eventful and chaotic week in our house and we have sorted a lot of garage sale items. The sale is next week...

Allium

The week of my birthday was not restful but a lot was achieved. I slept a lot because I think the thought of the surgery has hit me for six. Gardening was on the backburner due to other things taking priority, but the kind gifts of family have enabled me to buy some things for the garden and dear friends from far away have treated me to Ardbikie Gin and Gardener's balm for my hands. Somebody is following my blog!
My clearing of a corner for a compost bin was abruptly halted when my husband's car was written off in March... and the cleared stuff had never reached a green bin, but it was collected by the refuse lorry on Thursday. Yay!
A large amount of couch grass beside my rhubarb was cleared and a greenhouse was assembled today! This was my dear husband's attempt to get me growing from seed and saving me a fortune in pregrown plants. My brother gave me an Amazon voucher which has been spent on some of my favourites; blue poppies, chocolate cosmos and seeds and plug plants.
I've watched a lot of the garden shows on TV this year with envy, but our budget and free time is not about that this year.
We will try to enjoy our month until I go for surgery, as yes, I have a preop date the first week of July and Surgery is scheduled for mid-July, a few days before the school suumer holiday. I go to see my consultant on Thursday and I must prepare my question list...

Scottish gardens in September

Dunninald Castle

Our trip to Scotland at the end of the school holidays down south, included this visit to Dunninald Castle and Gardens just outside Montrose on the road to Arbroath. We completed many steps by following the ramble on the map provided by the owners. I had never been to this little castle before and it was a pleasant little sojourn after a morning at Lunan Bay, a beach we have regularly visited and love. If I lived closer to the coast in reality this would be a gardening and beaches blog!
We were surrounded by butterflies in the walled garden and were able to view their impressive cottage-style walled garden. It was filled with an impressive array of sedums and wallflowers as well as walls of apples and plums.
(We also spent some time trying to find Arbikie which has been put on the map by a local Gin producer, Kirstie's Gin. We had tried this at a local music festival and will be looking to stock up once we find a supplier...) Not that I drink a lot, as my three-stone weight loss has a lot down to everything in moderation.