Our New Life in the Country: Brambles, brambles, brambles

Thursday, 9 April 2009

Brambles, brambles, brambles

They're everywhere, these pesky brambles.

Every day we sally forth armed with secateurs, rakes and wheelbarrows and stumble back to the house a couple of hours later torn to shreds and dreading that first immersion in the bath when every little scratch and cut lets you know EXACTLY where it is ...ouch!!

But things are looking better, each and every barrow load of bramble, weed and dead wood leaves the pondside that little bit clearer and we are starting to see a real difference.

Today, however, I feel it is an indoor day, the skies are grey and the first spatters of rain are hitting the windows. Luckily, I have lots to do, I am preparing for this months Great Haseley Farmers Market in the village hall. Lots of lavender loveliness and a few Easter treats too.

I've been busy this week in every spare moment doing my annual stock take for Lavenders Blue, how did I get SO much. The only saving grace is the delicious aroma as I count the bags of pot pourri and lavender heads ... mmm ... lovely.

Our lovely little wood at the back of the house bursting with blossom.

Sue xx

6 comments:

Helen9 April 2009 at 17:06
I love the fact that I usually learn the meaning of a 'new' word when I read your posts ... in this case secateurs! Thank you for expanding my vocabulary!
ReplyDelete
Replies
landcuckoo9 April 2009 at 19:40
Darn brambles, they are lethal! We used my Uncles technique of injecting them with weedkiller but it was a long wait and I am not that patient!
Off to have a look at your website, trying to catch up on the past few weeks, feels like i've been away for sooo long!
Take care and have lovely long weekend
Sarah x
ReplyDelete
Replies
Gill - That British Woman9 April 2009 at 23:40
we are moving to the country at the end of the month, and I was thinking of planting brambles along the fence line, now I am having second thoughts!!!

Gill in Canada
ReplyDelete
Replies
Sue10 April 2009 at 10:41
Hi Gill,

We are actually leaving in a select few of the brambles to grow in the places WE want them too. You can't turn down the thought of virtually free bramble jelly at the end of the season.

Ours are SO bad because they have not been trimmed back for over 3 years. If kept under control they could be really quite an asset.

Sue xx
ReplyDelete
Replies
Simon10 April 2009 at 13:29
Hi Mum,
Looking good, them raised beds look better than the ones at 36 HDC. lol.
Simon.xx
P.S the music is a good addition to the blog ;)
ReplyDelete
Replies
Sue10 April 2009 at 14:10
Ha ha, slightly bigger eh!!

Mum xx
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Comments are now turned off for this old blog of mine. Thank you for reading the posts, I hope you enjoyed them. xx

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

This was my Blog, just me writing about our day to day life learning all about and then living the smallholding life. First we started on a farm in Oxfordshire, then we moved to a smaller place in Berkshire (both in England) and then we found a place of our very own at the bottom of a hillside in North Wales. Along for the ride were all our various animals, and we ended up with just our dogs, Suky and Mavis, our cat Ginger .... who secretly thinks he's one of the canine gang, a sheep called Ethel who wandered in off the road and stayed... and a roving band of egg laying chickens that live cheek by jowl with the local wildlife.

We grow our own fruit and vegetables, selling surplus plants and edibles at the gate. We sell the eggs the chickens lay, we reuse, recycle and rethink ... and life ticks over at a pace that suits us.

It was simply the wild and wacky ramblings of a 50 something townie turned country girl called Sue, who lost her heart to a sailor and started a new life in the country .... many years ago. On a path that took us from Cumbria to Oxfordshire, to Berkshire and then we found our home at the bottom of a wet and windy Welsh hillside by a busy main road.

Pull up a chair, grab a coffee and relax into a world of dogs, cats, chickens, polytunnels and veggies with the occasional grass munching sheep thrown in for good measure.

Sue xx

Disclaimer

Our New Life in the Country is my blog.

I use it to chart the day by day, week by week, year by year goings on in mine and Lovely Hubby's life. In it I also express my views and opinions, and say what I do and occasionally how I do it. I am hoping that this will prove to be a useful reminder for myself of how we did things, as we continue in our learning process.

If you chose to follow my practices it is assumed that you will do so with care and consideration, and question where necessary any methods or techniques I use to your own satisfaction and match them to your own circumstances.

The pictures in each blog post are taken by me unless otherwise credited, and as such should not be borrowed and used elsewhere without my consent.