Time for Coffee

 BLOG LAURAH 27 JUNE 2025

Good morning  it's a lively day fresh windy overcast but cool...

It's 08.04am

I will go have a coffee to start my morning ...

My tomatoes have started bearing fruit so rather chaffed ....

I picked my muriwo , kale in English.

Muriwo is Chikunda and Shona for vegetable... and I got a huge handful ...so will cook it with beef and pap.....pap  is your nshima or fufu which we eat with meat or veggies ....similar to polenta.

I will be indoors,  it's way too windy....I would start coughing.

The coughs we caught in Spain, whilst on holiday,   have not completely gone.

Vicky, my daughter,  was saying it's still in her system.

Sianna; my granddaughter,  went for one day and night of camping to  Sherwood Forest,  with her class, year 6...

They left with their teachers yesterday morning,  and are due back this evening at 5pm.

She was so excited. First time to go camping,  and even sleep out.

So pleased with my garden,  and my neighbours are taking note....they continuously give me soil ....plants even containers...the garden has really added beauty to the surrounds.

The hanging baskets on the outside of my garden fence are a profusion of colours.

Lilacs ..rosetta pinks whites and blues of petunias and other flowers in miniature,  which  I dont have the names for;  but they are so charming.

I am blessed.

I watch the birds big and small come drink water,  and play in the garden. They fly in and out,  and are so at home...the squirells too.

The tabby cat comes in too drink water as well. ...it hesitates when I spot it,  but I don't interfere.

The little creatures are guaranteed water in my garden .

My bottlebrush surprised me,  and had it's very first flower....you can Google bottlebrush on youtube.

Kabwe,  my hometown in Zambia;  had whole streets of bottlebrush trees .. they are stunning.

I had a mature one in the ground,  and it would get flowers all over...but the creeper  on the wall fence strangled it..  

So I went and bought a small  bottlebrush  tree  early last year,  and it has flowered....I am super chaffed.

It is still in a pot I need to remove it from it's pot and plant it in the garden.

The bumblebees are back ; as one of my perranials,  a thistle that turns blue,  and grows over 5 feet ....is attracting them ...I am sure its called  an alium.  

The arum lillies are in bloom and this year they are so huge....ivory white and waxy.

One of my neighbours came to admire the garden,  and remarked that he watches me from his flat upstairs when I am  in the garden,  and said " You have green fingers"...

I invited him inside,  as he was leaning over the garden fence to talk with me

He was enthralled.

He  could not believe it;  especially when he saw the grapevine that's climbing up the trellis,  it is so healthy.

It's a black grape I bought two years ago.

I am praying for the first harvest this year....fingers crossed.

He wandered around and was truly captivated...I have put  supporting sticks for my chillies and tomatoes.

The strawberries are doing very well.  Getting bigger and riper by the day.

So at last he said "Please come and get some plants from my garden"  he has fuchsia....Google it....growing wild;  and what looked like lemon balm....whole bushes.

I took cuttings,  including of a creeper with white flowers   that is growing on his fence....I think he said its jasmine.

I  have planted them in a bucket,  with moist compost,  and will see how they do.  

His name is Russell and  his flat is upstairs but he has a downstairs garden.. tiny... but full.of exotic shrubbery,  flowers and creepers.

We are agemates,  his birthday is tomorrow, Saturday 28 June,   he turns 66 ...he was surprised when I told him I turn 66  in October....kikiki....

I always took him to be an old man and treated him with that respect.

My direct opposite neighbour Rob has told me he is getting me pottery,  from a friend of his , who  is moving out of the estate.

He will bring them once his car is working.... my garden angel!

Rob gave me 20 litres of compost some time back....today is the second time he is giving me compost.

That is what I used to plant my hanging baskets and chillies and tomatoes,  the very first time.v

Rob  seems to be the gardens fairy godmother...he too has an upstairs flat but has indoor plants.

The wind has knocked some of the apples off the tree,  but it is covered in apples,  all green,  and growing bigger by the day...

These are cooking apples bramley apples....they get gi- normous

The Apple tree defines the garden ..as it is huge and still growing.

There is a  Magnolia tree;  which  is just behind the apple;  and stands by  the corner of the garden fence; its  leaves are ever so green. 

Directly across from the Magnolia  is a  Camellia bush on the opposite corner of the garden fence,  with its glossy waxy red green leaves. It is  next to the lush green ferns .

The ferns are the same height as the garden fence five feet ...the   garden has a jungle vibe to it ...very tropical......love it .

I  am off to go make that cup of coffee....with bread and peanut butter.

I am waiting for Sianna to arrive either today or tomorrow,  so we can plant seeds together.

I ordered 8 packets of heirloom chillies different varieties brown..black.... purple.... yellow reds and  oranges from all over;  as well as 6 packets of  heirloom lettuces,  of different textures and colours.

One of the lettuces  looks like a leek,  but it is from France,  and said to be rare.

This heirloom website is in the UK and is called " She Grows Veg."...and was set up by two young ladies who favour collecting and selling heirloom plants from across the world..

Their prices are reasonable and they provide a good service,  including advice on growing and aftercare.  

They even have a children's club...I must join for Sianna as they send free seeds for the children every two weeks to get them hooked into gardening. 

One of my chillies is from Zimbabwe others are from Jamaica...Peru ...Chile and Brazil 

I like to have Sianna plant with me,  as she loves gardening,  and it gives me a chance to see how her hand are .

To see  if she has green fingers...but she gets to learn about veggies and herbs from me too.

Sianna actually knows a lot of medicinal plants, insects  and  beneficial weeds,  as I teach her when we take our walks.

She knows the names...can identify the individual plants.. beneficial weeds...  trees ,  and what they cure and how you prepare them.....as well as insects beneficial and pests.

Children are naturally curious and they  learn fast and don't forget.... 

She is becoming a little encyclopaedia....but best of all she loves nature especially trees....she is a mini meand  just eleven years of age..

She learnt that. Linchen growing on trees is a very healthy sign as it signals that the air quality is pure;  and there is no air pollution......

I learnt that too as I never knew that  before , thanks to internet.

I have cloned myself and am.passing on my knowledge,  thereby safeguarding  the love of organic farming,  in the next generation....in my family .

No chemicals.

Protect weeds....love little creatures...grow food... trees plants ..and flowers,  wherever you are;  both indoors and outdoors...save and grow heirloom seeds  ..keep a seed bank at home ....make sure there is water yto drink. for the birds and little creatures .

Sianna knows that flowers plants and trees go go sleep,  when they close up and that they wake up when petals open...but she knows to respect them and allow them to rest as they too are spirit beings ...

She has a deep love of nature.  And has a keen eye for taking good nature photos of flowers plants and animal life in the garden and estate....Her photos are praise worthy.

Fun times with granny,  will become a way of conscious living.  

A legacy to protect and pass on to her own offspring one day!

Keeping the world natural,  as God made it.  

That is the plan ....pass on the knowledge to a willing keeper

That is what grannys do ....time for coffee.