Ness Gardens

This blog is a little out of sequence but I was looking through the photographs I took when I went to Ness Gardens on the Wirral a couple of weeks ago and thought some of the photos were worth recording here. I also found the following poem by Rudyard Kipling which I haven't read before but I think very appropriate to somewhere like Ness which looks so effortlessly beautiful.

The following is not the full version but just the verses I have selected:

THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN

Our England is a garden that is full of stately views,

Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,

With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;

But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.

For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,

You will find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all;

The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dungpits and the tanks:

The rollers, carts and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you'll see the gardeners, the men and

'prentice boys

Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise;

For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,

The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a

rose,

And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows;

But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,

For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.

Rudyard Kipling

Fluffy Fleece

I have washed about 300 gms of fleece and carded a small amount. It is lovely and fluffy and is spinning up well. I used Fairy washing up liquid for washing the first 100 grm just to see how clean it would come up - the photo opposite is wool from my first washing. The second 200 grm washing was with Power Scour and compared to Fairy Liquid I used much less and it was easier to rinse out, also the tips looked whiter but I did four washes with the Power Scour (three with Fairy Liquid) using more than the recommended amount for the fourth wash. I think in hindsight I may have used too much water for the amount of Power Scour used in the first three washes I went by the weight of wool being washed not the amount of water used and I do like to use plenty of water.

Fleece straight from the sheep

We had a lovely afternoon at Blaze Farm's, 'Wool Experience' at Wildboarclough. There were demonstrations of spinning and sheep shearing and this is one of the fleece from the shearing demonstration. One of the spinning ladies helped pick out the fleece for me which was great as I really wouldn't know a good fleece from a bad.

When I got home I spread the fleece out on cardboard on top of the bins. I pulled out the worst of the soiling around the edges of the fleece but I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't too bad at all. I have some soaking in cold water so that I can start washing tomorrow. I was encouraged to try spinning in the grease but I really feel more comfortable washing the fleece -but who knows - not long ago I was saying I wouldn't buy a fleece........