Another encore

It's happened again ...

Every year I decide to chop down the ceanothus in the

front garden which has flopped to one side and now

makes it difficult to mow underneath ...

... and every year it goes and does this ...

The picture really doesn't do it justice ...

It is the most intense, eye-watering blue and the bees

adore it. They swarm all over it, working busily - everywhere you look there are bees 

and more bees - from a short distance away where you can't see them, you can

hear the humming sound they make.

A happy bee chorus? 

Or a less scary version of the Singing Ringing Tree?

Whatever.

It has once again got a reprieve - how could I ever have

thought of getting rid of it, even if I had planned to replace it with

another, better trained one.

It is simply glorious and I'm loving it. 

After a couple of days of glorious weather - yesterday was positively hot

work on the allotment - today we have been promised rain all day.

I'm quite pleased as I have lots of indoor stuff to get on with - such as working on the Your Dog gardening series - plus it will soften up the ground nicely - I still have another bed to dig over ready for the leeks. 

Archie and Angel are less thrilled.

Sunbathing by a radiator just isn't as good as the real thing.

Good thing doggy TV is switched on - rain never puts the pigeons off, so there's always something to watch in the garden outside whilst staying warm and dry indoors.

Tap, tap, tap ...

Very busy writing at the moment - I am putting together an eight part series of articles on dog-friendly gardening for Your Dog magazine. I'm really enjoying it, but it does eat into the time I should be spending actually doing some gardening at a time of year when everything is poised ready for action. I was relieved to see that Monty Don said as much in one of his books - to quote: "... I spent more time writing about this garden than actually gardening." While I'm not in the same league as Monty Don, at least it would appear that I'm in good company in that respect! I did manage to rush up to the allotment to get the broad beans in, and this weekend am planning to get the parsnips in before it gets to be too late - that happened one year and we did miss them through the winter, roasted, creamed, mashed with carrot and of course in soups - spicy, or with a dash of horseradish or - my favourite - with apple. 
Anyway, I need to get back to composing the next article: May is done but I really should crack on with June now ...  This may mean that until the series is completed, over the next month the posts on this blog will be a little erratic, but I shall of course carry on posting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-friendly-gardening), so do carry on looking in there as well as here! And of course, please add your comments or share your doggy and/or gardening tips!

Archie and Angel doing a little sunbathing - indoors as they reckon it is still
a bit cold outside for lounging around

Dog friendly gardening - the book!
Click HERE for link

A bit busy

Whoops ... a little disorganized on the blog front this week - partly because the weather has been lovely (apart from the odd hail shower) so I've been busy trying to catch up on the allotment. I just wish the parish council would lift their ban on allowing dogs there too as it would be nice to take Archie and Angel with me instead of having to leave them at home. Several plot holders have dogs and we are all well behaved and wouldn't dream of allowing them to run amok, so I don't see what the problem is! Even a trial period to show that we don't run riot would be welcome ...
I'm also disorganized due to being busy working on an exciting new series for Your Dog magazine - it is due to start in the May  issue (which comes out in April) - I'll tell you more about it in the next few weeks!
So in the meantime let us simply show you our own interpretation of that amazing weasel-flying-on-a -woodpecker photo that has taken the world by storm this week ... (No whippets or stuffed squeaky toy stoats were hurt during the taking of these photos.)

Fill up the senses

The lovely Tony Head!

Firstly, congratulations to Penny, who won the copy of Dog-friendly Gardening signed by Tony Head, in the recent charity auction held by iheartwhippets. Paola does a wonderful job running twice yearly auctions with some truly luscious goodies up for grabs. This year's Spring auction raised in excess of £6,200 which will be divided between charities Scruples Whippet Rescue and The Greyhound Sanctuary  and Galgos del Sol.  Keep an eye out for the Christmas auction which will be held in November - you can find out more about it and sign up for updates HERE


Secondly, with garden centres currently stuffed to overflowing with all sorts of plants, a spell of good weather predicted, and another Bank Holiday coming up, now is the perfect time to plan a garden makeover with your dog in mind. Keep an eye out for the article on creating a sensory garden for your dog in the June issue of Your Dog magazine. Yes, I know it's still May, but it is on sale now - do grab a copy as it is full of great ideas about ways in which you can make your garden a more interesting place for your dog to spend time in. 
As well as using planting to sniff at, graze on, push through and hide in, there are some neat suggestions for landscape features you might like to include. Gardens are so often wasted spaces where dogs are concerned - an area for him to toilet in and maybe have a game of ball in - but with a little imagination and effort can be made into a far more satisfying environment for him. And as many rescue centres are finding out, it can help him in overcoming any stress issues he may have (or help prevent them arising) and allow him to indulge in doggy behaviours such as digging and denning. 

Click HERE for link