Sunday 21 March 2010

During the last week...

Hello everyone. What have I been doing? I can’t believe I haven’t posted since 28th February!

So far, March has been quite busy with family celebrations and, because the weather is now much more spring like, I have been getting on with some gardening. Today my brother and I planted a native hedge. I wanted to keep the species native as they are much better at attracting birds and insects. Apparently, you can tell how ancient an English hedge is by counting the number of species growing in it. If you count 100 years for every species you find and then you will know roughly how old the hedge is. We planted hawthorn, holly and berberis.




The hawthorn looks like a load of dead twigs at the moment but later in the spring it should have some very pretty blossom on it like the photo below.


It was the 75th Birthday of my sister-in-law's father on Saturday so we had a little party. First of all we had a very nice meal at the Mytton and Mermaid, a restaurant just outside Shrewsbury and then went back to my sister-in-laws place for cake.


My dinner. Lobster and crab linquini with asparagus went down very well!


Ian about to blow out the candles with the help of Katherine and Rufus. Happy Birthday Ian.


Rufus had a lot of fun with the balloons which we’d brought back from the restaurant.



Last weekend at my place, we had a Mother’s Day tea. I made a lemon cake and covered it in chocolate eggs!


My easter/mother's day cake!


The table set for tea.


I am pleased to see that there are a few more things coming out in the garden now that the weather is getting milder.


These little violets come out before anything else and are so pretty in the borders.



The crocus are also looking really good at the moment but still no daffodils out. They are so late this year.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week.
Susie

17 comments:

  1. Hi Susie! It's always nice to hear from you! i don't know where to start with my comments, as there are too many pretty things in your post! Just today I was admiring the violets in my garden too!
    Have a good week! xxxx

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  2. Looks like spring has sprung over on your side of our planet! We are now snowless, but it is very cool today and I HEARD a weather report that predicted some snow tomorrow - - - I think I'll choose to ignore THAT report!

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  3. You look like you had every reason not to be blogging. Family parties are so important. Your tea table looks scrummy, I feel really hungry now.
    Lovely piccies as usual
    Jenny x

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  4. Lovely post with many lovely things. I love the crocus flower.It's so beautiful and I have never seen it in my whole life before. Your blog is always such a joy to visit, Susie.

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  5. Hi Susie! It's so good to hear from you! I totally understand how busy you get once you can play in the garden. It was so warm this past week, that the last thing on my mind was blogging. I brought a bag of garbage out to the can, and didn't come back in for an hour because I got distracted looking at everything that was popping up in the garden. My husband thought I had gotten lost!
    Your cake looks so yummy and festive, and I love those polka dot cups and saucers. You sure know how to set a lovely table!
    Happy Spring!
    Carol

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  6. Glad you've been having such a lovely time while you've been away from blogland.
    Ooh,that lobster looks delicious!

    Bellaboo :o)

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  7. Hello Susie, good to hear from you! I could just sit in your kitchen with a piece of cake....it looks so inviting! xxx

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  8. Hi,Susie
    I've benn wanting for your English garden or family report!! glad to hear of you. You are obviously having our cakes looks very nice.
    Bloon decorative birthday party looks fun!

    have a great weekeend

    PS:Sakura here is blooming.wow!!

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  9. I'm just popping over from Winnibrigs,Lovely blog you have! I also just planted a hedge. (Ligustrum, because it's native in the Netherlands) I also have a row of "dead branches"

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  10. Your table looks so pretty and very inviting. xxx

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  11. Good to see you back, Susie - it looks from your photos as if you have been enjoying yourself lately - the lemon cake with easter eggs looks lovely:)

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  12. pretty photos! cake looks scrummy!

    xxx

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  13. Great to see your blog again!! The food all looks wonderful, and the flowers are beautiful!!

    Sharon xx

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  14. Hi Susie! What a lovely post. So much to comment about. I love Hawthorns. We had one in our garden when I was a young girl. It was always so pretty when it was full of little flowers. Next your dinner looks just scrumptious. What a wonderful birthday dinner! Your Easter/Mother's Day cake is so sweet and yummy looking. I am anxious to see your new hedge. We had hedges too when I was young. I used to sit in the little hollow between them and have happy day dreams. Glad you are back and I will back to visit you often!!

    Love,
    Susan and Bentley
    xxoo

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  15. Hi Susie,looks like you have been having a lovely time,nothing quite like family celebrations,your meal looked delicious.What a fab Mother's Day cake you made,I do love teas!Also love the flowers of all colours coming through,cheers everything up doesn't it.Welcome back,becky xxx

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  16. seems you have bee busy! I love the cake..how adorable..and the photos of the flowers...well you know I love those!

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  17. love your photographs and the cake looks wonderful!

    xxx

    sumea

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