Chilli when it's chilly
Hello from a chilly Long Mizzle,
Brrrrrr, please come through for a virtual cuppa in the garden. We have tea, coffee, herbal or hot chocolate? ... The traffic at the bottom of the road has finally settled down and the frosty nights leave the pink River Lilies sugar coated. As the day progresses and the sun lazily stretches out, the crisp ground softens, sending quick ascending vapour over the old town and tidal river. This week I've been sowing chillies and, shock horror... bird watching ( I never ever thought I'd say that!) amongst other things.
The sticks, jars and green orbs keep the cats' furry bottoms off the vege beds.
Frosty River Lilies (Hesperantha coccinea) -
The Camellia at the top end of the garden won't be too happy about the frost but it'll survive (if this particular one were in flower, they would spoil).
It was amazing to see an enormous 230 year old Camellia, in its own grand glasshouse. Beate in Germany, who sees real snow, kindly shared it following last week's post. See it here ! (Newer posts here)
Mostly, the plants are left to their own devices, but I do try to wrap the Tree Echium in fleece, if we are anticipating snow. The alpines, unlike most of us, don't give a hoot about frost or snow and are happy to have a 'dry January'.
To the right of the greenhouse is a Brunswick fig tree, which will hopefully grow to cover that boring, but conveniently south facing fence. Previously living in a pot, the fig was moved into the greenhouse each winter. This will be its first winter outdoors so I have covered it with a make shift cloche.
Anyhow, lets get on to my cheesy magazine style feature of the week...
Chilli when its Chilly: Five fun things for January
(apart from drinking white wine spritzers and expressive dance in Lycra)
1) Sow Chillies: As chillies need a long growing season, I sowed some seeds this week, using old humus pots as mini propagators. I am trying 'De Cayenne' and as they are now on a window ledge above a radiator, I will be able to sing to them every morning.
*The sad looking stalk in a pot is our Apache chilli - every year I forget to bring it indoors on time. It eventually recovers and the foliage grows back.
2) A wanky backdrop for Zoom / Teams calls: This week all the houseplants got a top up of compost, a little clean, water and feed. The books, gifted pictures and crystals were dusted and polished. Sadly there's no room in our Snub (home office) so it's in our bedroom, but between work and homeschooling, the four of us are all jostling for space.
I have started 'doing a Vix' . Whereas this can refer to wearing a fantastic fluffy hat whilst touring a National Trust property, in this instance it means putting the houseplants in the bath for a weekly watering (Christine Walkden of BBC Gardeners' Question Time said she showers with hers!)...
3) Birding / Twitching: 'Twitching' is the pursuit of rare birds, 'Birding' is just plain old bird watching. Here follows my weekly sightings, not rare, but new and exciting to me!
The Goldfinch duo returned to have another go at the Verbena Bonariensis seeds -
My favourite fella: a sole Blackcap...
A fair few individual Tits have turned up (Blue, Green, Great).
***But stealing the show this week... the Long Tailed Tit posse!!!***
They're a little bit cute aren't they!
This time last year, when the family & I went on our annual trip to the bright lights of Truro via train, our then three year old daughter spotted lots of Long Tailed Tits by the station. She considers the word 'tits' hilarious and has learnt to expertly identify the birds, so as to allow her many opportunities to use rambunctious language.
4) ROCK music: After all that bird watching, I felt a bit nerdy, so a good dose of BLACK SABBATH was necessary. (Oh my, I do love a young Ozzy Osbourne... a funny midlander musician with long hair ...very much like my dear Monsieur).
[Artwork for the album that never was ???]
5) Pancakes: Flipping pancakes always make me happy. Always delicious. Always fun. My old dutch friend introduced me to pancakes with smokey bacon and syrup. How do you have yours???
Finally before I go, some Hyacinth vase updates.
Mine -
That's all for today folks! I've harped on long enough.
We're planning on going for a local Yuckle Hunt in the next couple of days. I found Kezzie's blog this week - she has been photographing some great fungi finds here, including weird 'Jelly Ears' and ones that look like cashew nuts!
I never really know who's reading these blogs, but I just want to say, if you are a front line worker, you are amazing! Maybe when the current situation calms down, I can send you a chilli plant.
Hope you are keeping sane and well. Please do say hello in the comments section.
Lulu xXx
Thank you for visiting!
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https://longmizzle.blogspot.com/
thanx for the shout out - i ´m happy if someone shares my gardening nerdiness ;-D
ReplyDeletelovely photos of the frosted plants...... and gorgeous bird portraits! no goldfinchs here but occasional a pair of chaffinches. the long tailed tit posse was here this week too - they only come when its really cold and snowy and always hang as a bunch on the half coconut shell filled with fat and kernels - and yes: they are to cute for words!!! <3
i feel like heavy metal too lately - must be the cabin fever ;-)
pancakes - "plinsen" - get eaten mostly savory here - with fried veggies, sometimes a bit of fish or yogurt sauce..... in summer with salad.
beautiful hyacinth!
and i love your fake leopard coat!
stay warm and safe! xxxxx
Thank you Beate! I haven’t seen any Chaffinches here yet, but I am on high twitch alert! The Long Tailed Tit posse are very boisterous - they just dive bomb in and are gone almost as quickly as they arrive. I bet they like heavy metal too. Thank you for sharing your mode of “plinsen” eating. I’ve tried savory ones before, wrapped up, but I’ve never heard of pancakes with salad. That makes them sound almost healthy! Lulu xXx
DeleteLove the pat butcher coat!! I had a pat butcher style bomber jacket but I sold it to a colleague last year only beacuse it made me sneeze and I regret it now!! I loved it was long and proper Harajuku style!
ReplyDeleteI love your ideas, we often sit by the koi pond but they are hiding at the moment. Teams meetings at work always end up who wore the best outfit to the meeting it’s so funny!!!
Birds milo the dog and the resident stray cats would try to eat them, but we do try and sit in the local park and watch there. And watch the local resident security guard do ballroom dancing on his own!! Yes it does happen!!
You need to look up fluffy pancakes orginated in Kyoto but exploded everywhere in Japan. Floaty light and heavenly to eat. I am mainly in indoor Gardner grow many plants from cuttings and have plants all over the house. If you want a garden you pay for it!!! or live in the countryside. But I love the city.
Take care and keep safe
Hello Allie jane, I had to google Harajuku style! Wow, my girls would love those outfits. One of their favourite bands is from Japan – Baby Metal! How funny that the jacket made you sneeze. I have got rid of jumpers before, for tickling my nose. I love that you have outfit competitions on Teams meetings. And good on that security guard for doing some sole ballroom dancing! I will look up Kyoto fluffy pancakes for sure, they sound gorgeous. Enjoy your lovely koi pond and house plants and take care. Lulu xXx
DeleteHI Lulu,
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful post. Lovely to see you and your coat.
I love your posse of Long Tailed Tits. Aren't birds amazing. I love Stonechats and Pied Wagtails.
This week i have been filming a Hone School Yoga class for the schools I usually work with all about birds. Email me formbyyoga@gmail.com if you would like a link to it for your children. It's suitable for 4-11 year olds.
I will be taking your planting advice and now I am off to water my plants.
Have a lovely weekend. X
Hello Jane, aren’t Stonechats lovely little things! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. The Pied wagtails don’t come in our garden, but I see them down by the local beaches, lake and pier. Thank you for the kind offer of the yoga link, and yes please. The kids would love it and I might even give it a go myself! I have just sent you an email which will hopefully safely reach you. Take care and speak soon, Lulu xXx
DeleteI reckon that stupendous coat is more Bet Lynch than Pat Butcher, she was far more glam!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up about planting chilli seeds, that's on the list for tomorrow. Ta for the shout-out, too! One of my blog friends showers with her orchid, she's had it for years so she's definitely doing something right.
I love watching the birds even though most of the time I don't know what they are. They're great photos, you've captured your feathered visitors really well. Can't beat a bit of heavy metal but I wouldn't be much of a Midlands girl if I didn't! xxx
Yes, thank you Vix, you’re right!!! I am more Bet Lynch than Pat Butcher. I feel like a traitor to the North now. How could I forget about her from my Corra watching years! (We named our old cat Deidre Rachid – actress Anne Kirkbride used to shop at our local Tesco and she always said hello and had a lovely smile for us). Having just ran an image search for Bet Lynch, it is like staring at a future version of myself… but I still need the earrings! The midlands IS heavy metal. Lulu xXx
DeleteJust found the follower button, not sure why it took months to locate, it's right there left of page ... I think Vix is right, that's a Bet Lynch coat, definitely. I have a brown bear version about 25 years old - used to worry about getting paint thrown at it but mostly worn in the woods these days its great for camouflage and dog walkers don't carry paint cans (anti fur campaigners - I could never understand why fake was a problem for them, mine must be a very good fake) Your garden looks super frosty and full of promise. I do love a bit of twitching too, havent been leaving food out though as worried Mollie cat will use it as a lure for her killing sprees... might hoist a feeder up into a tree though, that might work. My neighbour has an elaborate love seat arborium thingy against my fence, no plants are allowed to grow on it, it is a great spot to observe birds from as they visit purely to s**t on it, I am trying to get my vine to creep over it but he always cuts it back (he's a minimalist and has killed all his fruit trees by 'pruning' them to death, weekly, my plan is to make my garden invade his. I am going to look out for coloured glass vases when the chazzas open, would love to grow bulbs like you have - what a display!
ReplyDeleteHello Betty, I don’t understand my own blogger page sometimes. Some fake coats really do look real don’t they! I remember hearing about people getting paint chucked on them. Has Mollie done any tree climbing yet? Our old Deidre’s first venture was to climb up a lamp post and sit on the top for three hours. We couldn’t work out if she was surveying her land, or genuinely stuck. How accommodating of your neighbour to put up an essentially fancy bird karzie in his garden! His pruning style sounds a bit keen like my dad’s :0 Lulu xXx
DeleteGreat post, Lulu!!! I am with your daughter and, though MUCH older than her, I never can resist a snigger at the word "tit" (ooh er, missus!). A friend came into the staff room and announced, "I've got Great Tits!!!", obviously she's never been allowed to live it down! Your tit photos (snigger) are really good. I used to have a tree where I hung food and I would have a whole family of wrens in summer, artfully arranged one under the other on both sides of the feeder. I used to have a lot of garden birds but since magpies moved in, am reduced to two bold robins, wrens (gorgeous) and blackies. Some blue tits (snigger) re-emerged this year - hooray - and have eyed up one of my nesting boxes but not moved in. I stopped feeding when my tree had to go but also because it ended up that I was only feeding magpies and I HATE them. Two summers ago, I was enjoying a beer in the sun when Mummy Wren was teaching her babies to hop and they hopped on the fence right next to me. She hadn't taught them fear yet. A really special moment. I buy chilli plants as the growing season is much shorter here. Any I've bought as seedlings just don't grow enough so I've never bothered with seeds. Your hyacinths look great! Mine is still thinking about it! I enjoyed your view through the window too.
ReplyDeleteHiya Catmac, I am glad the language appeals to your naughtiness too. Let’s not get onto ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (p.s. in recent editions they have changed the girl's character from ‘Titty’ to ‘Tilly’! – maybe so school teachers didn’t have to read it out?). Those magpies are big bad bullies. There is usually some sort of high octane standoff going on, between the Crows and the Magpies in my mam & dad’s garden. The Crows seem to win. Who needs Games of Thrones eh! The wrens sound rather cuter. This is the first year I am trying chillies from seed, wish me luck! Lulu xXx
DeleteGosh, what an interesting post, love the photos. I was just looking at our camellia, they always seem to flower too early. Ours is known as 'Toby's Bush' as this is where our favourite ever dog is buried - he was a beautiful border collie.
ReplyDeleteAll good wishes ~ Mike.
Hello Mike, thank you for popping over and leaving a message. My Camellias all flower at staggered times, the first one is usually in bloom by Christmas day! Most of them were here when we moved in, so I unfortunately don’t have names for them. I love that you named your bush after your lovely old dog and may it bloom long and healthily. I look forward to more Cornwall photos on your blog. Lulu xXx
DeleteYou'e inspired me to grow some chillis now, Lulu. Thanks for your bit of cheer from Penryn, and the hyacinths are looking amazing. I've got some coming up in tubs outside, as long as we don't have more frost! Take Care, Flowerpot X
ReplyDeleteThank you Flowerpot! Good to see you back online. I think hyacinths fare better outdoors, but it is fun growing them indoors in the bulb vases. I am popping over now to your blog to take a peek... Lulu xXx
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