New Home…New Garden

It’s one week exactly since we moved into our new home and I think we have done pretty well. I unpacked the very last box last week Thursday. All the curtains are hung and all that’s left to do is to hang a few more pictures which will hopefully be done at the weekend.

On Friday I spent a glorious hour or two in the garden which was so relaxing and therapeutic. I cut the lawns and pottered about as you do. The bird life in this garden is prolific as are the butterflies and bees. It is a real joy.

This gorgeous Mahonia shrub is visible from the conservatory and creates a striking silhouette against the ocean. I have never come across this plant before so of course, I had to do my own little ‘nature study’ on it and found out that it gives great autumn and winter colour with those beautiful spikes of yellow flowers which rise above its holly-like leaves. It can flower right the way through to March, the thought that it will be bringing its bright cheery yellow flowers throughout winter makes me happy 😊

The bumblebees absolutely love it and it is a busy hive of activity from morn to dusk.

The flowers, in turn, produce purple berries – more winter colour!

I’m really excited about this garden and I can feel my green fingers beginning to itch and come back to life after a rather long ‘gardening drought’. The previous owner of our house was an avid gardener and clearly knew what she was doing when establishing a coastal garden which can be a tricky thing.

The seaward garden is filled with some of my favourites; Rosemary, Lavander, Camellias (fabulous early spring colour), purple asters (which the bees and butterflies love too), and a whole lot of really pretty grasses which always add an element of whimsy to a garden.

At the bottom of the garden is a large summer house which has become my eldest daughters art studio. It’s wonderful that she can have a space to store her substantial collection of art and craft supplies.

Now…come around to the back of the house. This is how you access our home, the drive comes off a small lane. The first photograph shows the view of the house from the garden next to the drive. There’s a little fish pond in the circular drive with fish and water lilies which was surprising to see. It’s not a very deep pond and I know that for fish to survive winter their pond needs to be fairly deep so they can swim deeper to avoid frozen water. But, apparently, they have been there for quite a while and have survived quite happily.

Hidden away just outside a bedroom window is a little surprise…

…an iconic British telephone box! Isn’t that so lovely? I love having something so quirky in the garden. I want to clean the glass panes and make a bit of a feature of it. Cut back a shrub that currently obscures it add lots of colourful pots and hanging baskets. I think it will be adorable.

I also have my very own ‘magic apple tree’. Have you read Susan Hill’s ‘The Magic Apple Tree: A Country Year’? It is the most delightful account of a year of her life lived out in the English countryside. She has an apple tree at the end of her garden which she is terribly fond of and would not think of getting rid of. It’s an old, gnarly apple tree as is my own apple tree, mine is covered in lichen. I wonder if hers was whitened by lichen too?

The birds love it and they buzz in and out of the tree all day long, a little robin hops along the moss-covered drive at the foot of the tree looking for little insects to scoop up. I have planted my bird feeder under the apple tree and hung other feeders in its branches. I can see the apple tree from my kitchen window which makes doing the washing up a delight.

Did you catch The ‘Hunters Moon’ on the 3rd? Oh my! It was just beautiful and probably because it was a supermoon (closer to the earth) – 30% brighter and 14% bigger according to astronomers.

I think that it’s known as the ‘Beaver Moon’ in the states, but here in England according to our English Almanac, Novembers full moon is the Hunters Moon, so named (so it’s said) because it would illuminate prey for hunters who were out stalking food.

From our home, the moon didn’t illuminate prey for us but rather the ocean. It was just beautiful seeing the ocean lit up in a silvery, shimmery cloak. Stunning!

We’ve been extremely fortunate with the weather since moving in, every day has been bright and sunny – although chilly. It’s quite unusual for November so we are just enjoying each day as it dawns because I’m pretty sure more seasonal days will be upon us before we know it.

Well lovelies, the sun is setting already and it’s time to make my way around the home lighting candles and the fire and partaking in a little hygge, one of those things I delight in during these late autumn days and through the dark winter months. I’ll love and leave you for today, wishing you all a blessed evening.