Not for us the monotony of the shopping mall and the carousel of consumerism, oh no…when we want to have a good time we make scarecrows!

Scaresheep in fact!

We had a family day out, a brief respite before work starts on the big build, and visited the Muston village Scarecrow festival.
This has been running for a few years now and lots of villagers get involved. I’m amazed by the effort that goes in and by the new ideas people come up year on year. We had a great time scarecrowspotting!

Citygirl was with us and I could tell she wasnt sure and her expectations werent high, but that was before she saw this!

The ScareSnowman!

The Village Green came complete with its own Morris Dancers…

and resident band, (i’m glad to see the moles that were digging up my lawn have found gainful employment!)

I even got to meet my heroes Tom and Barbara from The Good Life (although BH insists I’m more of a Margot – cheek!)

I think we might be in danger of converting Citygirl to country fun, particularly after she found these lovelies!

I’m joining “White Wednesday” for the first time!

If you haven’t done it yet it’s time to start feeding your Tomatoes in order to give them that lovely deep Tomatoey taste. A high-potash feed is what you need and there are several options you can go for.

An off-the-shelf fertilizer like Tomorite, an organic Tomato fertilizer, Comfrey tea or you can even use seaweed fertilizer too.

I’m using Tomorite at the moment but I might give a more organic product a go, just to make me feel better. Either way your Tomatoes need a bit of extra help at this stage of their growth.

Things happen here in the garden at that time of day you know… I mean magical things; things rather undetected or invisible during any other time of the day. I could stay lost in this moment forever…

Fancy shoes, petticoats, long skirts and blouses with puffy sleeves—nothing can stop me from the blissful contact with Nature at dusk, not even mud… So every evening when the sun starts its slow descent, right before it disappears beyond the horizon, I go out for a stroll in the garden…

It is at dusk when one can see what’s happening, I mean really happening in the garden. You’d have to tune to Nature, then tiptoe through the mysterious ivy path down to fairy lane…

And stand very still on the tip of your toes to observe what’s going on in Petunia Valley…

Not a single soul, no sound disturbs the hollow chime of the dripping water of fountains in Petunia Valley… not yet!

But then… there they are! You hear your heart go thump thump thump. Excitement tickles the air… and tickles your nose! At the feet of the elephant ears by the birdbath and beyond, there you would find them!

Those inhabitants of the garden! Each corner, each crevice comes alive with the frolicking of little creatures and night dwellers singing and dancing…

A sound of trumpet is hear; a shout, a cry and a proclamation of what’s to come. Then the Great Owl emerges from behind a thicket of trees and the garden turns silent again…

The tufts of feathers atop his head shines with a magical light… the sight of the garden’s Great Spirit emerging with no warning and passing so closely is etched forever in my mind… there is golden-white light all around him, and his presence is so powerful it dims every other voice and noise and everything else in his path…

You can see the flowers dancing to the exotic rhythms of the tambores. The spider lilies, the “ballerinas of the garden”, wake up during those happy dusk celebrations. Fragrant, exotic pure-white flowers appear and bloom all night through the following morning. In midsummer, beautiful, intricate, spidery flowers would dance under the moon naked as summer geraniums and delphiniums applaud and sing and dance along with the tall roses and the gladiolus…

Ah yes, it’s mystery at its best, it’s enchantment… it’s the underworld aglow at your very feet! But the best part of it all is always the pivotal moment when the night fairies make their entrance…

They are a perennial favorite, no garden parade would be complete without inclusion of the fairies… night time sparkles and spells are mumbled whenever they come into sight…

If you pay close attention, you will also see the feared inhabitants of the garden engage in dangerous and deadly flying trapeze acts way above the canopy of the garden, where a performer would grab the trapeze bar and jump off a high platform… the good thing about all this, is that nobody dies in these treacherous games, because magic, and not gravity, creates the swing…

Is magic I tell you, it’s the enchanted hour… every day there are certain moments than can multiply the enjoyment, value and balance of your life much more than others. These are the magic moments you don’t want to miss… I certainly don’t want to miss a thing in the garden at dusk! It truly becomes an enchanted paradise. Like Anne Shirley would say: “You couldn’t enjoy its loveliness more if you had ropes of diamonds”. I just love the enchantment and inspiration of summer evenings… can you feel it too?

Well, my sweet dear friends, night is upon us, and it is time for me to go inside… The garden dwellers understand too I must go… and so the music ceases, and with a soft, rustling sound the elves spread their shining wings and flight silently over the sleeping earth… the flowers close their bright eyes and the little winds get very still, for the feast is over… the magic has ended until the following evening, at dusk…

Almost every single day of our life is filled with moments that are magical… gems, I would say. These are the moments worth capturing… worth dwelling on, worth celebrating. Way too often we miss those moments when they are happening. By dwelling a bit on those moments, when they occur, you can capture that magic and add it to your life!

If you do, expect the unexpected!

Then please come back and tell me what you saw!

I’d love to hear all about it!

The best time of the day to water plants is in evening or early morning. This is mainly because the watering will be more efficient. Away from glare of sun, the water has time to seep into soil before evaporating. The main thing is getting the right amount of water to the plant, the time of watering won’t really affect growth. Though in greenhouses, watering in day, can help keep temperature down (dampening effect)

Other Tips for Watering Plants

• The most critical Time for watering is:

• 1. When in flower
  2. When  fruits have started to form
  3. When newly transplanted
• When you water, make sure it seeps down to roots and not just first inch of soil, otherwise roots will grow upwards not downwards. It is sometimes better to water a lot every week, than frequently and often.
• Try mulching after a good water. Mulch is something that preserves moisture of soil.
• Different Plants have much different needs for watering.

Related

• 7 Tips for saving water in garden
• How to water Plants
• Watering systems for garden

Beverly, at How Sweet the Sound is celebrating another “Pink Saturday”, and I’m joining in. I love playing with shades of pink… How about you, what’s your favorite color?

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

And don’t forget to come back on Monday for another

“SHOW OFF YOUR COTTAGE MONDAY”!

I had to pull my Elephant Garlic because it was trying to flower. I’ve showed it here next to some Carrots I pulled at the same time so you can see how big it is. They’re about 8 or 9cm across.

I must confess myself a bit disappointed with the Elephant Garlic. It’s not as big as I thought it would be and also doesn’t seem to have split into bulbs quite as nicely as you see in the photos. Oh well – it’s still edible, I’m sure.

Next year I might switch back to my usual Garlic. You get more heads for the garden space and in a tiny plot you gotta use the space wisely. Is anyone else growing Elephant Garlic? Did you have success?

enter here…

…and rest

And may the sweet serenity of growing things,
and the heavenly peace, be mirrored in the soul.

If this is your first time here, welcome to our garden –

A place of creativity,

Healing,

and growth.

…and to you, my faithful readers, thank you for blessing my days with your smiles and by continuing coming to the house in the roses day after day.

Ps: I’m linking this post to “Outdoor Wednesday”