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Seeds to Sow Now!

30/5/2023

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Vegetables:
Beans (all types)
Beetroot
Chinese Cabbage (Pak Choi)
Carrot
Cauliflower
Chard (Swiss Chard)
Cucumber
Kohl Rabi
Lettuce
Peas
Pumpkin
Radish
Rocket (Arugula)
Spinach
Spring Onion
Swede
Flowers:
Candytuft
Canterbury Bells
Carnation
Catmint
Clarkia
Cleome
Coleus
Cornflower
Cosmos
Delphinium
Digitalis
Forget Me Not
Fox Glove
Larkspur
Limnanthes (Poached Egg)
Linaria

​EXCELLENT COMPANION PLANTS:

​Dwarf Marigolds make good edging plants that may deter rabbits and some varieties are known for their ability to starve out root-knot nematodes when planted the year before and macerated and then ploughed into the soil where the chemicals that affect the nematodes are then released.  Nasturtiums sprawl out over the ground, so they suppress weeds and shade the soil when grown near tall plants like sweet corn, tomatoes or sunflowers.  Zinnia are tall, single-flowered varieties which attract butterflies look nice grown with dill, fennel and cosmos. Bergamot, Hyssop, Catnip, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Marjoram (Oregano), Mint, Salvia, Savoury, Thyme… are all part of the Lamiaceae family and have a flower structure that can be accessed by a wide range of insects, including small bees. Insects need only a short tongue to reach the nectar and pollen hidden inside the two-lipped blossoms. 

Feverfew repels insects of all nature, so it is a good plant to grow near entryways – and anywhere really!


Opposite:  Our Adoptive Cat[mint] - Colin!
​Lupin
Mirabilis
Nasturtium
Nemesia
Nicotiana
Nigella (Love In A Mist)
Pansy
Pansy
Poppy
Salvia
Stocks
Sunflowers
Viola
Wallflower
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CHARINGWORTH COURT, Winchcombe

28/5/2023

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Part of the NGS Open Garden Scheme and open to the public on certain weekends during spring and summer 2023. 

Artistically and lovingly created 1½ acre garden surrounding a restored Georgian / Tudor house.  Relaxed country style with Japanese influences, large pond, sculpture and walled vegetable/flower garden, created over 25 years from a blank canvas. Mature copper beech trees, Cedar of Lebanon and Wellingtonia”.

​Heritage Category: Grade: II Listed Building.  Large, detached house. c.1820 but with 16th / 17th century rear wing and 19th and 20th century alterations and additions.​
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Motoring...

14/5/2023

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Prescott Speed Hill Climb is apparently the place to be for motorsport in the Cotswolds and is just a few miles from Winchcombe.  As such, then, it is embarrassing that it took the imminent arrival of friends visiting from Germany for Paul and I to organise tickets to eventually attend an event there! 

See:  Prescott Speed Hill Climb 

Prescott Hill Climb is the home of the Bugatti Owners Club and was established in 1938 –“the Bugatti Owner’s Club was already running hill climbs on various dusty loose-surfaced courses in the south of England since 1931. It was about 1936 when it was agreed that the Club really needed to have its own course.”  Prescott was the first purpose-built speed event venue to come on stream since the sport on public roads was outlawed some fourteen years before.

Classics at Prescott, Sun, 15 May:  Classic Car enthusiasts displayed their vehicles in ”the Orchard” and “Paddocks” and, in addition, there was also the opportunity for these drivers to take part in a “gentle Cavalcade …. up the Hill allowing the public to see the display of Classic Cars in motion”.

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Wild Gardening (1)

7/5/2023

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And in reality, there are lots of weeds in my garden too!  
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Kings, Crowns and Degrees of Separation

6/5/2023

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The children at school created portrait bunting for their Coronation Picnic
Hopefully you will find this amusing as well as topical.  Today is the Coronation of King Charles III - not that anyone in the world could avoid this momentous events - and unsurprisingly the school where I work has been preparing with great excitement for a few weeks. 

However, a week ago we received the dreaded OFSTED phone call and hysteria kicked in and the dust was cloud-like!

As part of the tick-box process the Governors are invited to attend, and some interviewed, by the inspectors.  As I am also Clerk to the Governors, I received the following response to this request which just made me smile!

"I am so sorry to miss this. I have to be at the Palace tomorrow afternoon to swear in the new Lord Chancellor."

See
:  List of Business
That 's Buckingham Palace he is referring to - because one of 'my' governors is Clerk to the Privy Council and is a big-cheese with all of the comings and goings of royalty and parliamentary protocol.  He is the person who officially announced, to the world, the new King when Queen Elizabeth passed away - before Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt read the official  wording.

Have a look at:  Cabinet Office
He is the most unassuming man and must find my questions and  enthusiasm quite irritating!  However, I did find out that today he has to be part of the proceedings from 7.30am and cannot leave until 1.30pm and "that's a long time to wait if you need to go for a wee".  He only has to wear a morning suit and not all the regalia (cloaks and funny hats and suchlike) but does have to wear his gong" (the Order or Medal of CVO - Commander of the Victoria Order).

Suffice to say, I think I was more excited about it than he was!  
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