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Springtime garden fun

The weather is being typically British at the moment, having lured us in to a false sense of security by letting us think that summer may just have arrived, only to blow our hopes a week later.

It’s our own fault for daring to put away our winter clothes and start to show the sun parts of our pasty white bodies that have been in hibernation all winter. We should have known what was coming. It is a Bank Holiday weekend after all.

But a rare break in the rain this weekend and a sudden outburst of sunshine had us rushing in to the garden to get some much needed fresh air and burn off some energy. We have a fantastic garden and there is no better place to be when the sun is shining, especially when you don’t know how long you’ve got until the next shower hits.

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We made time to explore.

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There is a ‘secret’ passage that runs down the side of our garden, made possible by the fact that the Laurels, which are old and therefore huge, have grown out and left a gap between our garden and next door’s fence. You can let your imagination run wild in here and it’s also a great place for hide and seek.

My eldest daughter opted out of our little expedition, preferring instead to practice her cartwheels, which she can never resist the urge to do, despite the grass being wet. Anyone who can do cartwheels whilst wearing wellies deserves a mention, in my book. I wasn’t tempted to join her.

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Playtime fun at the bottom of the garden suits all three of our children. For one child the play frame is handy for doing all things gymnastics related and for another it is about relaxing on the swings or playing house. The third and youngest loves to be Captain of his ship (at the moment it is a space ship, due to a Star Wars obsession).

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It is great to see the garden coming to life. My husband and the girls have been busy planting out the vegetables in their lovely plot and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a good harvest this year.

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The homemade pond on the other hand, doesn’t appear to be showing similar signs of life!

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You could spend all day out in our garden exploring and playing and then, when you’ve had enough, it’s time to relax.

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Shush don’t tell anyone, but this is my favourite place in the garden.

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To be enjoyed in the hot balmy evenings when the kids have gone to bed and with a chilled glass of wine in hand (I’m optimistic, but I’m sure that it won’t be long before we have this type of weather again).

We’re not the only ones who enjoy our garden. It is teaming with wildlife of the feathered and furred variety. We have a fox den in the Laurel hedge and regularly see the babies coming out to play in the early evening. I’ve seen Wood Peckers, Jays and even a Pheasant and of course plenty of grey squirrels. This one came to help himself to the bread we put out this morning.

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The birds are never lucky enough to get any of the offerings that we put out because the foxes and squirrels tend to get there first.

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But our favourite garden resident is a very special young lady. In fact, she inspired me to write this post because she reminds us all that nature is right on our doorstep.

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This beautiful deer has been living between our garden and the neighbours on either side since she was young. We don’t know what her circumstances were or how she came to be here (there is a deer park in the middle of our town, but it is too far from our house for her to have strayed from). No authority of any kind has been interested in her and as far as they are concerned she is a wild animal and can live where she likes.

We don’t mind. It is lovely to have such a special resident. The children have named her Poppy and it always makes our day when we see her in the garden (usually first thing on a morning). Even the foxes seem used to her now and to be honest, we would miss her if she decided to leave.

What is special about your garden and have you started to rediscover it too now that the spring has arrived?

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots100 May Challenge. If I’m chosen, I would like to visit Elveden Forest.

Comments

  1. elliebearbabi says

    Lovely post, your garden looks fab! we are lucky enough to have a fox living in our field attached to our garden too, beautiful animals. (popped over from magic moments)

    • Nicola Young says

      We had a baby one right outside the kitchen the other day. It didn’t look old enough to be out, but definitely cheeky enough! Didn’t manage to get a photo in time, which was a shame.

  2. Le Coin de Mel says

    What an amazing garden you have! A Jacuzzi, squirrels, deer, veg plot… You definitely have it all in your back garden! Mel #MagicMoments

  3. Louise says

    Ah! I almost did a gardening post this week, so I read yours with interest. You have a lovely garden. And your planters for vegetables look so wonderfully organized. That is my goal for this week. The fact that you have a deer is wonderful! What a nice addition to life around home! As for the fox, maybe not so much there, but we have a few around here and they never seem to cause too much trouble.

    I laughed about the cartwheels. Still no? I think you could pull it off. What with the return to exercise and training and all…. With a bit of prep first, and maybe some tips from your obviously expert daughter?

    • Nicola Young says

      The vegetable plot is my husband’s baby, so I leave that to him. The girls like to help out with the planting though. And yes, I will make it my goal for the summer – get fit, then after three hours’ warm up, I will attempt that damn cartwheel!

  4. thereadingresidence says

    Oh, wow – that is a very special visitor to your garden, how wonderful. My garden is flourishing right now, with all of this sun and then rain, and flowers are blooming daily, which I love to see.

    • Nicola Young says

      She is lovely indeed. It is so nice to see the gardens coming to life. It’s amazing how quickly it happens. One minute you look out and the trees are still bare, next they are thick with leaves, and flowers have sprung from nowhere. Love it.

  5. Emma T (@ETusty) says

    That’s great you’ve got a deer in the garden (better than foxes any day!) I love your wooden swings/climbing frame – which make is it? (Doing research for my son’s as want to get him one, but there’s so much choice) #magicmoments

    • Nicola Young says

      I don’t know what make it is. Everything in the garden is inherited. It’s started to rot in places and we’ve had to replace other bits, but it is pretty old now. Not sure I’d recommend wood though, even if they do look nice.

  6. Perfection Pending says

    What a fun looking house and yard! And, I need your daughter to teach mine how to do a cartwheel. I never learned, and we spent a big portion of the weekend working on it with not much success. :/

  7. Megan L. says

    What a beautiful garden and yard! And the wildlife! We have wild bunnies that come up from the gully…I’ll have to keep my eye out for any other guests. 🙂 Thank you for sharing. And thank you for following my blog! I have joined yours so I can see if you do indeed get you chilled wine wish later in the season!

  8. Drsyn(Random made up name to not show my real to public only friends) says

    Where did you get your eldest daughters wellies?

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