Garden Archive

My friend Julie, a brand new Mini and a barking dog called Lottie!

Let me introduce you to my friend Julie, we worked together many years ago and have remained friends, we have similar interests and have a bit of a passion going on for starting up a business, so if anyone out there has a spare barn in a good location and a money tree let us know please! She is also a fantastic cake maker and cook, more about that on monday.
Recently she visited New England with her family so you may notice some similar things to those in my house including various quilts.
Julie has a Labradoodle called Lottie who is lovely but has a slight problem with barking! If anyone knows of a miracle worker that can stop dogs barking when unfamiliar people visit please let me know, Julie will be eternally grateful! Apart from that she is a lovely looking dog with hair to die for, I’m sure you will agree.
Great excitement this week as Julie has bought a brand new Mini, her old car resembled more of a boat with lovely moss growing on the inside, now you know I am partial to a bit of moss, but not on the inside of a car.
The new Mini is fantastic with such cool features and brilliant design work, I particularly love the speedometer, now try telling the police officer you didn’t realise what speed you were doing with a speedometer that size, it is huge!
Julie has two beautiful daughters, the eldest one is called Jo and is studying to be a teacher at Brighton Uni, Lucy is a fantastic artist and has made a few things I have featured in my previous blogs, I will show you some other things she has made on mondays blog. The box full of New York memorabilia is one of her designs, and all the bedroom pictures are hers. I love the lights and the small suitcases full of Art and Design books.
Having only had boys it’s nice to have a nose around a girls bedroom to see all the lovely things they have.
Now can anyone come up with a good name for Julie’s Mini? Feel free to leave a Mini name in the comments.
We will be taking the Mini to fill her/him up with pumpkins in a few weeks time, how many pumpkins do you think you can get in a Mini? I will show you soon after we have made our trip to Slindon pumpkin cottage.


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Pumpkins

Firstly, I apologise for not sending out many blogs lately. I have been silly busy, and as some of you know I am self employed. Being self employed is a good thing but lunch hours, tea breaks and days off sick just don’t exist, and if you are a bit of a maniac like me, occasionally you burn yourself out!
Well, I’ve had my burn out, and I am back on track (I hope). I have so much to tell you but some of it is going to have to wait until Monday when all will be revealed. Not long after that I am off to celebrate the fall in New England, so very exciting.
Meanwhile to keep me going I am planning a trip with a friend to Slindon in West Sussex where there is the most amazing cottage that sells all sorts of pumpkins and gourds. I like nothing better than to fill my garden with various coloured pumpkins, squashes and gourds. They usually last well into December and give me great pleasure.
Treat yourself to a few, put them somewhere you can view from a window, they are such lovely things and provide that much needed colour at this time of year.

In New England they decorate the fronts of their houses with amazing displays, even in Boston which is like a mini London, how sad that mostly we can’t do this for fear of it not being there in the morning!
Anyway enough of gloom, enjoy some of these ideas to decorate your garden and enjoy the Autumn.

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Graham Thomas

I have been appreciating roses in other peoples gardens over the last few days, they seem more special at this time of year, probably because I know that this is the last we will see of them until June 2013.
This rose called Graham Thomas is a David Austin Rose, Graham Stuart Thomas OBE (3 April 1909 – 16 April 2003), was an English horticulturalist, artist, author, poet and garden designer.
He was born in Cambridge and studied in the University Botanic Garden at Cambridge University. For thirty years he was Gardens Adviser to the National Trust and in 1975 received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his work with that organization. He supervised the restoration of some of the most famous gardens in Great Britain including Mottisfont Abbey in 1957, Sezincote in 1968, and Eyford Park in 1976.
It is great when used as a climber, has a fantastic colour and smells wonderful.

Two thing to do this weekend.

As we head into what I think are the four busiest months I think it’s important to take more care of yourself. For some it’s the back to school rush (thankfully for me those days are over), for others it’s a time to clear up house and garden before the cold dark nights start to arrive, we rush around trying to pack the same into less daylight hours and generally wear ourselves out.
Don’t get me wrong, September October November and December are my four favourite months, I love all the Autumn colours, the Pumpkins and the Apples and all those blackberries just waiting to be picked for free.
I love frosty days and the anticipation of Christmas which allows you to put as many twinkly lights into your house as you want!
I pull out my stash of cosy quilts and look forward to good T.V curled up in a quilt with my Brandy Coffee!
So here are two things I intend to do at least once a day.

Make a nice Smoothie or Juice from fresh ingredients, todays is Apple Clenser, 2 Apples, 1 stick of celery, half a cucumber and half a beetroot. It tastes suprisingly good, and remember if you dont like it 10 gulps and its gone, you can feel healthy within seconds.

My second thing is to take at least 30 minutes to find somewhere nice to sit and read a book, do a crossword, or whatever takes your mind away from day to day life. If you can’t find 30 minutes (or longer) in your day to do something calming then something is seriously wrong. You will feel so much better for it and what’s more you deserve it.

My time is usually right at the end of the day, candles, twinkly lights, a book and a nice drink. Perfect.

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Last of the summer roses, and a bit of America.

I’m enjoying the last of my summer roses, these ones are called Heritage by David Austin. They have been very good this year, they flower twice, once at the begining of June and again at the end of August, I must have had about 300 blooms altogether, they obviously like lots of rain and not too much heat, which is exactly what our summer has consisted of this year, so I guess there is always a bright side to most things!

As my New England holiday gets nearer I have been looking at places to visit, I always come across pictures of Amish and Shaker people, I’m intrigued by them, so much so that I sometimes think I was one in a past life!
One of the things I am drawn to is their washing lines, call me odd but I love the colours and the simplicity of the ordered washing, and of course there are always beautiful views in the background.

Just a thought for today, can you smell Autumn? I can especially in the early morning, it’s just waiting around the corner.

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