THE GREAT OUTDOORS UNDER COVER

The Great Outdoors Under Cover. The name my husband has put on the covered patio area. And I like it!

It is just so lovely sitting there on a summers day. Our adjoining orchard garden is full of all sorts of birds and I sat alone there recently watching blue tits, ring necked doves, robins, thrushes, and black birds to name but a few, busying themselves too and fro feeding their young. The blue tits have built a nest in the ivy climbing up an attached barn wall beside the G.O.U.C. (great outdoors under cover). The robins have nested in our little fuel shed and the rest of the birds are in the trees in the garden. Their tweets and chirruping was so relaxing and lovely.



Later that same day I was in the kitchen which looks out to the G.O.U.C. and the orchard garden. The ring necked doves were sunning themselves on the garden wall and I tried to quitely get near to photograph them but unfortunately the gravel underfoot alerted them and off they went. I fully intend to get close ups of them soon by simply sitting quietly in the garden for a while and waiting, camera at the ready ...

A couple of weekends ago we stayed in Daisy Cottage for 2 nights and after dining out (at the wonderful Kitty Kellys in Killybegs ~ write up to follow), we came home and had a few drinks in Macs Bar. Later, back at Daisy Cottage, we sat outside in the G.O.U.C. and enjoyed the darkness and silence only possible in rural areas. The night was warm and balmy and sitting out there relaxing was divine and the perfect end to a perfect day.

The garden is looking so green now with the trees in full leaf and the grass growing well. Too well I think ~ it is going to need very regular cutting. Poor Richard, the lovely chap who cuts the grass, will have his work cut out!



I found this little chap to put on the garden wall to welcome guests to our garden and I rather like his cheeky little face and laid back pose!



And for the cooks who are guests at Daisy Cottage (and ourselves of course) I planted up a terracotta planter filled with lots of fresh herbs. The great thing about herbs of course is that they benefit from lots of cutting and so hopefully our guests will have a good supply of herbs for any cooking they do.



Around the G.O.D.U. I have planted some rather lovely clematis which hopefully will grow up around the frame and give us lots of flowers. It has already grown at least a foot since planting a few weeks ago so perhaps we will have flowers from it this year.

There is a rather nice plant, the name of which I have no idea, currently in full bloom to the side of the G.O.U.C. It is huge ~ probably around 15' high and seems to be a large bush rather than a tree, but I could be wrong. Regardless, it is very pretty and bursting with flowers.



And I was absolutely delighted to discover at the very back of the orchard garden that plant so reminicent of the hedgerows of Ireland in earlier years, before machines cut them away to make way for wider roads, a fuschia bush. I remember as a child on holiday at my grandparents' home here in Donegal having great fun 'popping' the unopened flowers. Oh, the days of childish innocence ...