Some flowers

These great sunflowers with their shaggy manes prowl around near the bore shed. They don't bite but maybe its better not to get too close...

Nearby, chicory flowers like under-the-sea plants are washed by the tide... Bees swim down to find them and carry the pollen back to their cosy hives where they can dry their wings and warm their six feet by the fire.

This morning our oats looked a bit boring so we went for a breakfast fruit scavenge around the garden. We picked a few handfuls of blue-purple plums and some berries from the thornless bramble. We wandered across to the fig trees.

The figs which I had bagged in paper  in order to protect them from the birds (I'll post on this later) were soft and the skin had turned lighter green. So here goes! Breakfast fruit basket!!

tonight's dinner hamper

Flying dragon

We found a collection of giant bones on the island. Was it a whale's graveyard or the remnants of a lost prehistoric creature? Rebuilding the skeleton revealed a flying dragon, complete with bat-like wings and rakish claws, a double tusk and prominent blunt horns. 

Did it crawl out of the sea, live here once or land and stay forever in transit from another place? We had our theories but really, its all speculation.

Peach Soda

Papi was very happy; looking all shiny and dust free after his waterblasting this morning. He even has his rudders back on, ready for painting.  It is hot already and I ended up covered in dust and thinking what'd be great is a cold and refreshing drink. So I just took two frozen peach-juice blocks and watched them fizz in the soda water! 

I was right! 

Totally refreshing and delicious!

Mint and lavender tea, as instructed by the tea connoisseur and wandering minstrel.

When I came home the mint and lavender was all dry and crispy so I cut up all the mint and stripped the  flowers from the lavender stems.  It was such a pleasant task with the wonderful aromas mingling in the air. I chopped the mint coarsely as instructed by the tea connoisseur and wandering minstrel.

Lavender castle

The fresh mint and lavender had taken up so much space to dry then it all fitted in this little golden box.

Tea box

Foghorn defends the Saffron patch from Turkey attack

I was sleeping in the afternoon and woke suddenly. We were under attack! The neighbour's Turkey was attacking Foghorn in the saffron beds! He's about 4 times the size of Foghorn! But Foghorn fought back bravely and pecked him on the back of the neck. Well he got locked in the bird cage, that mean old Rooster-attacking Turkey.  I took him back next door later in the day and he still looked pretty stunned from Foghorn's excellent defence of the saffron beds.

Foghorn Leghorn, King of the new Saffron Patch

Meet Foghorn Leghorn, uncontested King of the new saffron patch. I was up early digging manure and shot rocket into the sandy soil and making deep trenches to fill with grass clippings in preparing the new saffron beds and all the Leghorns wanted a part of it. 

Foghorn Leghorn in saffron patch

I've been waiting for the saffron to come for half a year and finally it  arrived in the post, all soft and brown and silky. I've read that saffron doesn't like to be out of the soil for too long and needs to go in a well composted trench. I'm leaving paths in the bed for access from all sides without compressing the soil. Question is, how am I going to keep these chickens who seem from digging up the saffron...

Bee boxes

The bee boxes are built and painted and waiting until I find a swarm to make them its home. Q says that there should be one around at the moment, as if they pop up all the time. In any case, if one does I'll be ready to drop it into my newly painted bee box and still have a spare for the next swarm. I think they'll live in the walnut orchard down by the old willow tree which we poisoned last winter. 

We used some shiny white marine paint which I have been putting on Papi during his rebuild.  The bee box kit came with no instructions and there's a couple of pieces which I'm not quite sure where they go...Maybe I need another trip to the shop to see how it all fits together.