This is like meeting for coffee and chatting about home issues, isn't it?
Spray for animals? I use a thing called SCAT (I think its mostly citronella but so strong it cauterises one's nose) and spray it on my garden to keep the rabbits away. It also keeps cats and blackbirds away but has no effect at all on my Jack Russell terrier - not surprising.
Weeds? I actually just get down and weed by hand with rubbish tubs, garden gloves and a trowel. It's a form of mindfulness for me and I really do get close and personal with the soil and my plants.
Rosehips? I can only think of two things - jelly and cordial. Both are delicious but I've never made either as I can never find enough hips!
Embracing autumn? Foraging, bringing an autumnal tree branch/es inside. making soups from harvest. Revelling in the colour of the countryside and planning autumn and winter jaunts across our little island. We don't travel in the summer as we have beaches and a boat close by our cottage. I'm a swimmer and there is a flock of three of us - aged women who have been beaching forever and we still want to do it together for as along as we humanly can.
But autumn is also a time for ordering plants from catalogues and planning for the garden, so life's never dull.
Oh thanks so much Prue, for meeting me for coffee today!
I will look for SCAT or its equivalent here. I did make some garlic spray once that I think worked for awhile, but I maybe made it a bit too strong! And I love the smell of garlic!
I do lots of weeding too, for the same reasons as you, and have now mostly rid the gravel of its late summer crop of weeds. I tend to follow the sun around the house to do my weeding in the sun when I can (It is England after all).
My SIL has a recipe for a throat salve using rose hips that she promises to send me - since they are her roses I should probably try that first!
And I love your suggestions for embracing autumn: I've got some nice foliage inside, but haven't started the soups yet: good idea! I dream about becoming someone who swims in the sea, but it hasn't happened regularly yet. I'm still a bit of a 'fraidy cat in cold water. And YES to being outside as much as possible and absorbing all the autumn beauty. Thanks so very much for all your suggestions!
Another lovely post. It's timely for me because I'm in Minneapolis where the leaves are turning, the air is brisk, the sky blue, and the days shorter. I was so happy yesterday running along a path above the river admiring the trees, the bridges, and all those others running or walking. The fall air made me so happy. Meanwhile, it's 88 degrees in Madrid. There's something special about autumn and a transition to welcome the winter, my least favorite season. But at least the fall helps me get mentally prepared.
I love your children's artwork and impressed that with all your sorting and tossing that you had the smarts to hold onto those.
Thanks so much Andrea. It was a hard task to "get rid of' all those lovingly created artworks. However, most of them have been photographed, a few are still framed, and some were offered to their artists and all kindly rejected. So, the circle of creation and life continues! Enjoy every moment with your son and the crisp autumnal days!
And I love a specialist shop! Now, I don't get out much and do most of my shopping online, but that said, I really appreciate the expertise and product familiarity offered by specialist retailers, and when I visit such shops in person I know I'll always come away having learned something!
We don't really have much of a problem with cats in our garden, but they used to love using our raised bed as a litter tray. Since I started composting eggshells (and I eat several eggs a day) and using the compost on the raised be we have had no problems at all with either cats or slugs!
Thanks so much Rebecca! That is so interesting to hear about the eggshells. I used to compost eggshells but they didn't break down as quickly so I wasn't sure if I should include them back on the soil or not. I like that they help with both cats AND slugs. Winner suggestion! Many thanks!
Give it a go! You're right that they don't really break down, but I just like to pretend that I've splashed out on some really fancy garden-centre compost with added texture.... 😉
This is like meeting for coffee and chatting about home issues, isn't it?
Spray for animals? I use a thing called SCAT (I think its mostly citronella but so strong it cauterises one's nose) and spray it on my garden to keep the rabbits away. It also keeps cats and blackbirds away but has no effect at all on my Jack Russell terrier - not surprising.
Weeds? I actually just get down and weed by hand with rubbish tubs, garden gloves and a trowel. It's a form of mindfulness for me and I really do get close and personal with the soil and my plants.
Rosehips? I can only think of two things - jelly and cordial. Both are delicious but I've never made either as I can never find enough hips!
Embracing autumn? Foraging, bringing an autumnal tree branch/es inside. making soups from harvest. Revelling in the colour of the countryside and planning autumn and winter jaunts across our little island. We don't travel in the summer as we have beaches and a boat close by our cottage. I'm a swimmer and there is a flock of three of us - aged women who have been beaching forever and we still want to do it together for as along as we humanly can.
But autumn is also a time for ordering plants from catalogues and planning for the garden, so life's never dull.
Oh thanks so much Prue, for meeting me for coffee today!
I will look for SCAT or its equivalent here. I did make some garlic spray once that I think worked for awhile, but I maybe made it a bit too strong! And I love the smell of garlic!
I do lots of weeding too, for the same reasons as you, and have now mostly rid the gravel of its late summer crop of weeds. I tend to follow the sun around the house to do my weeding in the sun when I can (It is England after all).
My SIL has a recipe for a throat salve using rose hips that she promises to send me - since they are her roses I should probably try that first!
And I love your suggestions for embracing autumn: I've got some nice foliage inside, but haven't started the soups yet: good idea! I dream about becoming someone who swims in the sea, but it hasn't happened regularly yet. I'm still a bit of a 'fraidy cat in cold water. And YES to being outside as much as possible and absorbing all the autumn beauty. Thanks so very much for all your suggestions!
Another lovely post. It's timely for me because I'm in Minneapolis where the leaves are turning, the air is brisk, the sky blue, and the days shorter. I was so happy yesterday running along a path above the river admiring the trees, the bridges, and all those others running or walking. The fall air made me so happy. Meanwhile, it's 88 degrees in Madrid. There's something special about autumn and a transition to welcome the winter, my least favorite season. But at least the fall helps me get mentally prepared.
I love your children's artwork and impressed that with all your sorting and tossing that you had the smarts to hold onto those.
Thanks so much Andrea. It was a hard task to "get rid of' all those lovingly created artworks. However, most of them have been photographed, a few are still framed, and some were offered to their artists and all kindly rejected. So, the circle of creation and life continues! Enjoy every moment with your son and the crisp autumnal days!
Loved this!
And I love a specialist shop! Now, I don't get out much and do most of my shopping online, but that said, I really appreciate the expertise and product familiarity offered by specialist retailers, and when I visit such shops in person I know I'll always come away having learned something!
We don't really have much of a problem with cats in our garden, but they used to love using our raised bed as a litter tray. Since I started composting eggshells (and I eat several eggs a day) and using the compost on the raised be we have had no problems at all with either cats or slugs!
Thanks so much Rebecca! That is so interesting to hear about the eggshells. I used to compost eggshells but they didn't break down as quickly so I wasn't sure if I should include them back on the soil or not. I like that they help with both cats AND slugs. Winner suggestion! Many thanks!
Give it a go! You're right that they don't really break down, but I just like to pretend that I've splashed out on some really fancy garden-centre compost with added texture.... 😉
And I bet it glows nicely in the moonlight! 😁
LOL - I'll have to check! 🤣
I love your children’s Halloween art!
Thanks Amy!