Monday 1 July 2019

Come into my garden - The old barn door


Its not really been the weather to get out and sort things out in the garden but this wall belongs to the woodshed and is in desperate need of re-pointing another job for over the summer. But as you can see it has this funny little door.  We're not quite sure why this is there.  I suppose it wasn't always a woodshed and chances are with it being an old farm house that there may even have been a pig or two living in there and perhaps that's where they put the feed through who knows.


It was in need of some tender loving care, but at the same time I didn't want to take away the fact that it is an old door what ever its use was. Back in May I stripped all the old peeling paint off and gave it a rub down and three coats of external undercoat and already it was looking so much better. And look at it now.  It certainly looks a lot better than it did but still with its old world charm.  The bearded one wasn't quite so convinced and at first wondered why I was going to so much trouble, but of course he didn't know about my cunning plan.



This little space at the end of the outbuildings was really just a dead space. In fact it was where we have been storing the bins for the last two years and as you can see right at the end of it is the ginormous oil tank.



It was also the one place the furry paws would rush off to but not anymore as its now fenced off which totally scuppered the three of them from disappearing around the side where we couldn't see them.

I discovered a few weeks ago that this area is actually quite a little sun trap, yes this was before summer decided to take a vacation and send the rain, wind & hale to us instead.  I have been trying to find myself a little bolt hole,  somewhere where I can hide away from the world with my crochet, knitting or even my latest read and a nice pot of tea.  And I think I may well of found it.  I started plotting and planning and I did think I would have to work hard to convince the bearded one.  I was fully expecting him to say with the size of this garden this is the one space you want to do something with, and the answer to this would of been YES....



And of course once I got started there was just no stopping me with new beds dug. We have a piece of trellis sitting in the wood shed and I'm thinking that it would look very nice on the narley old wall with maybe a climbing rose or honeysuckle growing up it, any other ideas gratefully received.



Planting has already started with some Dicentra or Bleeding Hearts to you and me, accompanied by Sambucas Black Lace which is part of the Elderberry family.  It was the tiniest weediest looking thing, as I am a bit of a plant it and it will either thrive or it will die kind of gardener, but to my amazement it has really put on a growth spurt this year and is already reaching just under the garage window.  I planted it with the intention that it will fill out and be as tall if not taller than the garage window to hide what is essentially a bit of an eye sore.



 It has just come into flower and the smell is just exquisite.  I believe you can also make cordial from the flowers but I think it needs a few more years of growth to have enough flowers to do that.



D had bought some Laurel to go along the fence as he didn't want something too tall that would obscure the view of the fields around us, and we can keep these as a reasonable height, although I think it may take a while for them to need any cutting back as they are only around 12" tall at the moment and I'm not sure they are that fast growing.




Foxgloves are also one of my favourites, but I do have to watch the furry paws don't take a nibble as this could make them very poorly but so far they've paid them no attention.  It was our Monty, who passed away last year,  who was the plant nibbler. 



I found this variety of poppy at the Gardeners World Live show that I went to last month.  It's called Black Beauty and is the most gorgeous deep purple, its about ready to go to seed and I will leave it to sprinkle its seeds in the hope that more will return next year.  I was quite surprised as its flowers started to open as I then realised there were two different varieties within the same pot, bonus! I have no idea what the cream/pink one is called.

When we moved from our cottage it was just at the point just before the  poppies were due to appear and I thought that would be it we wouldn't have the self seeders here at the farm house.  To my surprise one had self seeded itself in a pot that we bought with us and I managed to move it into the garden and it took and then self seeded more along the border.  They weren't really in the right place as they were over crowding other plants so once they had flowered I collected all the seed heads which have now dried out fully and I have an abundant amount of seed heads and I can hear the seeds rattling around in side.  I am waiting for the wall to be re-pointed in this part of the garden which is due to happen in August and then I will sprinkle my seeds in the hope that they will take and will be a wash with beautiful poppies again next year.    This area is very much a WIP and over the coming months there will be lots of additions to make it into that little space I am craving for so I will keep you posted from time to time as to how it is coming along.  There are times when I don't think much has changed in the garden but then I look back on photographs from when we first moved here and I am pleasantly surprised how much it has come on in the two years we have been living here, not as quick as some  but I suppose Rome was not built in a day.


Mx






14 comments:

  1. Your own little haven is most definitely taking shape already. It will be lovely to have your own sanctuary where you can disappear to when you want a quiet moment or two.

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    1. Its whether I can recreate what is in my muddled head into a reality but I will certainly try. The sun hits that side of the house first and its such a quiet little corner. I have lots more ideas for that little space but can't really do much more until the wall gets sorted out and the trellis goes up but that should all be done by the end of the summer fingers crossed.

      Mx

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  2. Sounds like the perfect project. Nothing like a little sunny nook to escape to. Enjoy. B x

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    1. I'm hoping so B. Its a place I can sit with the dogs and they have a great dane sized bed that put out for them to lie on in the sunshine and they love it so I think as time goes on it will suit very well.

      Mx

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  3. Beautiful pictures. I love the poppies and foxgloves. The little door on the building reminds me of hayloft doors on the big barns here. I love your little hideaway that you have created, looks very quiet and peaceful.

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    1. Thank you Janice. Yes the door is exactly like a hayloft but on a much smaller scale so I think it was definitely used for something like putting coal in the shed or may be wood or possible to feed live stock. I guess we'll never know for sure or though I have discovered a lady at one of the local farms who was related to the farmer who lived here so she may well be able to tell me what it was used for. I just need to remember to ask her when I next see her.

      Mx

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  4. Great job on the door! I'm getting round to repainting inside the summer house and John's just built a new fence. I just love the foxglove and poppies. My poppies are having a field day this year. Best, Jane x

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    1. I do miss my summer house but I don't think I ever made the best use of it with working full time and weekends get eaten up doing other things. So if I haven't got a summer house this little space seemed to be the next best thing. I love fox gloves and poppies and looking around at some of the wild fox gloves and poppies that you see growing they are having a bumper year this year and such beautiful and vibrant colours. I have lots of seeds to sprinkle about in the autumn in the hopes that they will snuggle down over winter and come up next year that's they theory anyway.

      Mx

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  5. I love the little door and your hidden haven is taking shape beautifully. X

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    1. Thank you Jules. Its such a quiet little corner that I don't think we'd really given much thought to when we first moved here but I find this is the space I am drawn to most. Its funny as we tend to move around the garden depending on what we're doing and how busy the equine centre is next door as we share a track and some days it is non stop horse boxes all day if they have an event on so then its nice to hide away in a quieter part of the garden and its somewhere the furry paws can relax in too as they are all getting on in years and like to be where we are.

      Mx

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  6. It's great to have a characterful old building in your garden. I like the idea of creating a quiet corner for yourself there. Love the newly painted little door and your choice of plants growing against the wall. Those poppies and foxfloves are very pretty. They're also useful plants for increasing your stock of seeds.

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    1. Thank you. I do like the little door as Janice said it is looks like a door to a hay loft but I think its too small but I definitely think its been used to maybe put feed through. I now know a lady whose FIL lived here many years ago so I will have to try and remember to ask her the next time I see her. I love foxgloves and poppies and both seem to have had a good year this year judging on the wild ones I have seen around and some of the foxgloves are so tall this year I don't think I have ever seen them as tall as some growing wild. Mine are still relatively small in comparison but I only planted them this year and they were very young plants. I am hoping to either gather the seeds or let them self seed around the garden which will be lovely.

      Mitzi

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  7. It's interesting reading your post Mitzi, my house has a few previous windows bricked up in the roof space. You can see them on the outside. It was farm houses, probably for the workers, though I'm not 100% sure. It was certainly 2 separate semi's that were an L shape each, though from the outside it looks like one big house. At the back of the house, each of the houses had a separate garden path. The ceilings are incredibly high, in fact the house is tall enough without rooms in the roof. Many years ago it was converted to make one big house and at one point, the guest room was a village shop. Cx

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  8. Sounds like an idilic place to just be. What about a grape vine as a suggestion to trail up the wall. They like bright sunny spaces. On my farm we had all sorts of nooks and crannies that made you wonder their original use, but it certainly spruced up well. xcx

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