There has been a lot of “making and doing” the last week. Lachlan has elevated the pizza manufacture to new heights and with the veg garden kicking into full swing, we had our own courgettes and spinach in this week’s two “specials” (courgette and lemon and Fiorentina). I have been beavering away with the rose oil. My batch has been through 3 macerations and is now going to live in a cool cupboard for the fourth. I don’t know how well it will work but squashing the oil out of the petals every day has my hands in unusually good condition for this part of the gardening year. It is a very slittery job, and all the more enjoyable for that. I have added a jar of lavender oil – it’s not like we have a shortage. The pot pourri is also coming along nicely. It is interesting to watch the colour change as the flowers dry. The roses end up rather like those vegetable crisps and smell of sweet tea. The lavender fades from bright blue to denim but keeps its smell much better. Flowers are also working their way into the kitchen. We had rose and lavender biscuits yesterday which were a hit (recipe loaded on the recipe blog accessible from the home page). I am now moving onto herbs as it is time to cut back the thyme and sage……….
The garden is becoming fairly wild. Self sown daucus is appearing everywhere. Along the edges of the bottom border the marjoram is coming into flower. I should trim it back as every year I end up with a squillion baby plants in places they should definitely not be – but I love the pinky purple flowers so I am resigned to the weeding. If anyone wants some do shout. One of the annuals I planted last year and which didn’t flower has finally appeared. This two year rather than one development is not that unusual – I blame the heavy soil – but it does rather make border planning a lottery. The sneaky greenhouse snails continue to devour my lupin seedlings and evade capture. Next year I am pelleting.
Lyra has distinctly enjoyed all the baking – that dog has a distinctly sweet tooth. We also had a rather unexpected visitor yesterday. In the afternoon I found a rather confused house martin on the carpet. My first thought was that the cats must have brought it in but it seemed in one piece (and still had its head) so I picked it up, took it downstairs and let it go. It flew off perfectly so Pingu and Dobby are now absolved from blame. I had left the window open for an hour in the morning so I guess it must just have flown in.
Live from Ruthven 