Walking East Stoke's lanes: April 2025

May 7, 2025

The month started and ended with some great weather, and we got out and walked various lanes around East Stoke in both of those good spells, and more besides.

After a busy weekend involving a long car journey to West Sussex and back it was an easy choice to get out in the lanes when the weather looked like this.

Which is how my first walk of the month ended up walking to and from my weekly yoga class in neighbouring Elston, MOH joined me for the journey there - it really was just too nice to be indoors.

It was great to see nature waking up, and to feel the sun on my skin as I walked the thirty minutes or so to the next village.

And just look how blue that sky was, an almost unbelievable blue for the start of April. But what’s almost as unbelievable is that just to the left of the tree below is the busy A46, you’d never know from the picture would you?

It was great to see the blackthorn blossom, and that prickly rambler - I’ll need to remember where this is when I’m looking for rosehips later in the year!

What a gloriously colourful start to the month, which although it would be repeated, it didn’t last and the grey skies returned, and I’ve captured the ‘ripple’ of clouds in our next venture out a couple of weeks later. This time our route took us down towards the River Trent.

And we’d clearly arrived for nettle and dandelion season - they were everywhere, even growing out of the Stoke Hall boundary wall.

It was a typical spring day, and the photo of the open gate to Stoke Hall is probably the most spring-like picture I’ve taken.

A few days later over the Easter weekend we took a brief stroll with family down to St Oswald’s Church, and I couldn’t help but be amused by the sheep that are seemingly on the top of the wall. I’m assuming the ground level is higher on the other side, as they didn’t look that precarious at all.

We snuck in a final walk on the penultimate day of the month, another warm one - but this time the sky was full of wispy clouds as we headed down Moor Lane, once again walking from the crossroads to the bend.

It was a walk where the wildlife was much in evidence, and one of the yellow wagtails obligingly perched on the top of the hedgerow for way longer than I’ve seen before - it’s reward a photo, well several actually. We spotted the hare sitting in the middle of the field shortly after that, this is a much zoomed in shot - and still it’s just the silhouette that’s visible.

The wispy clouds are cirrus clouds - I had to look it up! - and it seems they can be a sign of approaching weather changes, particularly warm fronts, which makes sense as the days after I took this photo the forecasts for the mini-heatwave.

I couldn’t end this post without some more sheep, and their lambs. These are in the field at the crossroads in East Stoke and on the warmest days sensibly spend their time under the large oak tree.

Thanks for joining me for this update, if you enjoyed this post you may also like to see all of the posts in this series.

Plants galore, and more at the Newark Garden Show

May 6, 2025

Once again we went to the Newark Garden Show on the Friday with pre-paid tickets. This time entry into the show was more organised, though we probably arrived later than we had last year, so perhaps we benefitted from the team hitting their stride. The traffic getting to the Showground though was worse, with queues on the A46 roundabout up to the turning - this was likely to be due to ‘normal’ traffic and the additional show traffic, and both having a bad day, as traffic seems to all too often.

And with this being our second visit we were a little more aware of what to expect. As you enter the show there’s plenty of plants to buy, for what I think are very reasonable prices. This year we skipped those, and the crowds, initially and headed straight for the main ‘avenue’ or ‘drag’ which runs parallel to the building which hosts the craft stalls, and before I knew it I’d seen a garden sculpture that I didn’t want to leave without!

And while the stems and the orbs sway in the wind, the base should ensure that it’s not something that we’re chasing down the road in the wind (hopefully!) - though that said, I think this is one I’ll keep away from the greenhouse once that’s in place just in case.

The stallholder was doing a good trade, and with a ‘show only’ approach to his items I knew this was a now or never item. As you’ll know from my April garden update, it came home with us - after a bit of jiggery pokery actually getting it into the car! We bought it there and then, and collected it later on our way out, which was ideal.

It’s not hard to see why the sign for Deviant Plants caught my eye is it? But their stall was more than just a good sign, and they had many plants here that were a bit different to the norm, which I think can only be a good thing. I’ve since discovered that they’re a small Lincoln-based nursery, and I hope to see more of them and their plants. It’s from here that I bought the Natchez Trace Iris and the Southern Globe Thistle plants which also came home with us.

Apart from the sign, it was the plant that promised chocolate scented flowers that fascinated me; but I wasn’t so keen on the leaf shape so left this one there. We had a stroke of the silver sage which is softer than it looks, and while we left it there it’s on a list of potential future plants - everyone has one of those right?

I had half an eye on potential paving and greenhouse base options as I walked around the show, so I was pleased to see the local Gainsborough based company Naylor GridTech’s stall at the show. It was really useful to chat through the different options, and learn that this is absolutely strong enough for a greenhouse base. They also do a product which can be driven on, but that’s more than I need - so if this is something you’re considering, it’s worth asking that question.

The grid is both durable and environmentally friendly which is strong once filled with gravel, so it can provide a strong and permeable base for my future greenhouse, which is very good news indeed as I really didn’t want to have a concrete or paved base.

It was good to see the new-to-the-area Quirky Duck team at the show, and it was a good reminder for me that I haven’t been to their new showrooms yet - something for me to fix. The tall strawberry pot reminded me of the one we had in our London garden - and no longer with us, and long forgotten about until now.

After talking myself out of buying the NASA sign to add to the old farm wall, I once again found myself admiring the Lagurus/Bunny Tails as I had last year. They’ve clearly got a pull on me, but we already have a small (but growing) plant in our outside border, perhaps that’s why.

I was less successful in avoiding the dark leaved and dark flowering penstemons - as usual unable to choose between the two so having one of each, and adding a small variegated fatsia to make up the three.

I had a plan for the wooden seed trays too, thinking they’d be idea for my (not yet in existence) greenhouse - my plan is to task MOH to make some. The fact he doesn’t have any wood is not a valid excuse either. I know he has all sorts of wood which we brought with us when we moved, and maybe it’s time for some of it to have a new purpose…

There are bargains to be had at the show. Last year I was impressed by the good prices of the olive trees, and that was the same this year. I also saw Rhododendrons priced from fifteen pounds to fifty, though to be fair the higher price was for a larger plant. But £15 for a plant this size is a good price.

Seeing this, and knowing MOH’s penchant for a rhododendron - or rosiedendron as he calls them (on purpose to annoy me!) made me think about our garden, and how we could fit one in as we definitely have the space. The plant above is predicted to grow to 1.2 m (width and height) within five years, so it’s not one to just plonk anywhere. My current thoughts are that having a rhododendron would be a great way to screen off the compost bins, and look pretty too. Hold that thought!

It’s just as well that we’d already bought a garden sculpture, otherwise I think this rusty iron dragonfly would have been the one - and it would have been way easier to transport! But at £25 I’ve a feeling that this (or something like it) could be a future purchase as it’s a great way to add height to a border, new or old.

There was more iron too, and more that I could easily have left with. I am sure these will also feature at some point in our garden; they’ve been a favourite of mine for a while, and we’ve seen at other garden shows and online and balked at the price. These are much more favourably priced - the circular supports in the first image below at £20 each.

As we headed back towards where we’d come in we were met with a blast of colour from the cheery bougainvillea - a plant that’s sure to bring holiday memories that’s for sure with its jewel-like colours. And the hibiscus too - fabulous plants, but not on my current plant wish list.

Though now I’m wondering why not! But I know I have to stick to my plan - or close to it anyway!

So again another good year at the Newark Garden Show, and I’m sure we’ll be back again next year - hopefully we’ll be much further along with our garden planning and I’ll be buying plants and actually planting them in the garden, who knows - let’s hope so.

The fourth (and last) of our black and white pictures

May 5, 2025

Here’s the final post in this series, which follows more details on why we chose the first, second and third photos as part our series of four black and white pictures. As you know the first two images were of holiday memories, and the third was prompted by where we used to live, so it seems only right that the final image was of our new location. It’s also the only photo not taken by me in the series too.

MOH took this photo of one of his regular bike rides, it’s a place we drive past often and so it was a bit of a shock to see the field full of water that first winter we were here. We were already a little bit more shocked than we thought we would be by the weather and its impact on the area around us, and I remember thinking how much hardier these country folk were, much more than us townies and questioning if we’d made the right decision to move.

But to give you an indication of how grim it was, and how much of an eye opener it was, there’s very little difference colour wise between the colour and black and white photo. There’s definitely some mileage in the ‘it’s grim up north’ saying, but it’s also true we’re glad we moved here as there is so much more it offers us.

The black and white photo loses the place names on the sign, but I think accentuates the pot hole - which like many places is sadly a way of life right now. We’ve learnt that here though they draw a yellow circle around them, we’re not convinced this is to highlight where repairs are needed though as often the yellow circle wears off and needs replacing too! You’ve got to laugh though…

So the final image is a good reminder of our first winter in our new house, and I think complements the other images in our series of four black and white pictures, each of which includes an element of nature. Together they make a great and impactful display in our bedroom of our now not quite so new house!