Enjoying the spring weather in The View from the Terrace

Spring has returned and we are having another heat wave. I have been in the garden pruning the fuchsia and forsythia and making a start on the weeds which suddenly appeared and then grew furiously while we were away. When we returned last week our magnolia was in full bloom and is looking gorgeous against the cloudless sky.

We planted a cherry tree just over 3 weeks ago and, 2 days ago, I discovered that is has a bloom on it! I hadn’t expected it to bloom at all this year, it is only about 3 feet high.

When we cut down the spruce last year it revealed a boring strip of wall and fence. I didn’t know what to do with it as it faces north east and only gets an hour or two of sun each day but I read that pansies are quite happy in heavy shade so I bought some and potted them up. They look very pretty and cost less than £5.

They will look even better when we have tackled the weeds and have managed to tie up the branch of next door’s spruce that Storm Eleanor brought down in January!

Yesterday we went to a steam rally in Monmouth. We love these events and I was delighted to hear of another one. The posters promised several steam engines and I was expecting the big ones that we see in Abergavenny each year. We were a bit disappointed to discover they were this size!

We still had a good afternoon. There were 2 fair organs playing in unison, one playing drums and base and the other the melody. I have never seen that before. There were also classic cars.

Hubby found a motor bike and side car like the one he owned as a teenager. He never tires of telling us the story of how he didn’t know there was a special technique of turning corners in them and when he tried the side car tried to carry straight on and he almost came off the bike.

There were the usual array of trade stands. We found a new spray gun for the hosepipe I water the flowers with for only £2.50, almost a third of what is was in the shops, and a ceramic mixing bowl to replace one that got broken, we had been using a plastic one until someone left it on top of the cooker and someone else tuned a jet on! I was a bit concerned about this stallholder. I think he must have been waiting a very long time for a customer.

It was an enjoyable spring outing. The drive there and back with all of the blossom out and country roads lined with woods filled with bluebells would have been worth going for by itself. Now it is back to the garden to tackle our overgrown shrubs and weeds.