Vignettes and Pets #6 Three Degrees of Separation

[Oops...]

Flopping deliveries came after our painting man ran up the road after him! I left a note on the door saying ‘Please do not take the parcels back again as we are just near the side gates in the garden‘. Sadly he wasn’t English and couldn’t read the note! Fortunately our chap caught him and took the wretched parcels. I now own 2 new jammies and some lovely silk scrunchies and other odds and sods and one candle with a ceramic plate for underneath. I am still short of another 2 candles and another 2 candle plates…such a fag having to go back to ask about them…Teddy’s new powder to put in his food has arrived so will try him on them from tomorrow. They are full of all these essential things like reishi mushrooms and twenty other essentials which I can’t get into him but hope he may take in his water at the beginning. A lot of external painting has been done now - all my benches and bin stores and arbour and shed are a lovely elderflower cream colour and some windowsills have been painted. All my summer bedding is now in my pots and window boxes. They will take a while to flourish but I will photograph them when they have. The dressing room is now Spring cleaned and forensically organised…I flopping love it! I will never be weed free but it’s soooo much better than it was. I won’t allow chemical sprays so each weed has to be pulled by hand. Also my son has sorted out a huge pile from around the back and sides of the sheds so he’s arranged to have it collected this week hopefully. Altogether a most productive week so far. Tomorrow it’s just Emily and I again so we’ve decided to not do any gardening but carry on indoors. Next week we may do some gardening again. When I say gardening I mean weed pulling of course. I have been dead heading like a mad woman and may have a bit more to do on my roses. I hate it when the first flush dies back. Longing for the next lot already. Next week we are giving everything a good feed including the Buxus. It’s a tiny bit early for them but they need a feed so they are getting one.

 

[Milking Keynes]

Flopping deliveries came after our painting man ran up the road after him! I left a note on the door saying ‘Please do not take the parcels back again as we are just near the side gates in the garden‘. Sadly he wasn’t English and couldn’t read the note! Fortunately our chap caught him and took the wretched parcels. I now own 2 new jammies and some lovely silk scrunchies and other odds and sods and one candle with a ceramic plate for underneath. I am still short of another 2 candles and another 2 candle plates…such a fag having to go back to ask about them…Teddy’s new powder to put in his food has arrived so will try him on them from tomorrow. They are full of all these essential things like reishi mushrooms and twenty other essentials which I can’t get into him but hope he may take in his water at the beginning. A lot of external painting has been done now - all my benches and bin stores and arbour and shed are a lovely elderflower cream colour and some windowsills have been painted. All my summer bedding is now in my pots and window boxes. They will take a while to flourish but I will photograph them when they have. The dressing room is now Spring cleaned and forensically organised…I flopping love it! I will never be weed free but it’s soooo much better than it was. I won’t allow chemical sprays so each weed has to be pulled by hand. Also my son has sorted out a huge pile from around the back and sides of the sheds so he’s arranged to have it collected this week hopefully. Altogether a most productive week so far. Tomorrow it’s just Emily and I again so we’ve decided to not do any gardening but carry on indoors. Next week we may do some gardening again. When I say gardening I mean weed pulling of course. I have been dead heading like a mad woman and may have a bit more to do on my roses. I hate it when the first flush dies back. Longing for the next lot already. Next week we are giving everything a good feed including the Buxus. It’s a tiny bit early for them but they need a feed so they are getting one.

So much to address tomorrow - but it’s bedtime - and can we all take a moment for the ‘elderflower cream colour’ - This is the description of the most, mostest, perfect colour....ever. I actually want my whole house this colour. Sleep well, lovely girls - we will continue to inspire tomorrow!

 

[Oops...]

 

[Oops...]

Elderflower Bower!

 

[Milking Keynes]

View attachment 2993156

How glorious is this colour! Thank you for the pic . I want to paint every surface and nook and cranky....so, my outdoor bits are a paler shade of Magnolia - this looks just the ticket! I actually painted the walls around the outdoor hedge in Magnolia last year and it was too dark. You are a genius - Elderflower is the most beautiful shade - perfection!

You have been busy - I did two days of weed pulling last week so I know what you mean. I don’t use weed killer either.
Hugely relieved you managed to extract your parcels from the delivery man - it was a close call! Enjoy your purchases and - Teddy - listen to Aunty Havisham and eat your mushroom powders - they are good for you! Between ourselves, they don’t sound very tasty though....
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View attachment 2993441Elderflower Bower! View attachment 2993443

So gorgeous, @Oops I would visit and never leave! Utter perfection. X

 

[Oops...]

So gorgeous, @Oops I would visit and never leave! Utter perfection. X

Yep that’s the general idea - that’s why I’m putting the photos up! When your ready dear…
Seriously, it’s such a lovely shade isn’t it? It’s a really clean looking cream. I use it a lot.

 

[Milking Keynes]

Yep that’s the general idea - that’s why I’m putting the photos up! When your ready dear…
Seriously, it’s such a lovely shade isn’t it? It’s a really clean looking cream. I use it a lot.

It’s exactly the shade I’ve been looking for. I bought this house with the outside fencing and walls in this colour and couldn’t match it - I used Magnolia which was too yellow although thankfully more muted now. This colour is gorgeous @Oops - it’s buttery and warm but has no yellow undertone. Thank you muchly for sharing, dearest one! X

 

[Miscanthus]

Will be thinking of you as ever tomorrow dearest Captain!

I don’t think I could function very well without Emily. I mean I’d function but I wouldn’t like it very much. She’s been with me for years and not one cross word. She’s an enormous help and I value her a great deal.

You did mention the two lads who doormailed you. I know how important it will be to you to get your new garden going as soon as possible. What are you planting? Are you happy with your new greenhouse? I remember you had two at your other house. I haven’t got one, but after this year’s debacle with the window boxes and having to let the cranesbill and celandines rumble through my garden, I’m thinking about visiting Alitex. I am still not convinced I will stay here though which is what’s held me back. Also, I think I would be a bit jittery about keeping it heated. My mother
( who was an amazing plantswoman) always kept a parrafin heater on low in hers. Bless!

My greenhouse is very basic as there is nowhere to place a more decorative one. It's purely for overwintering and growing seeds and cuttings. When I had two (plus use of my neighbour's) I was growing plants for a local National Trust property which ceased in Lockdown.
I've only ever heated greenhouses with fan heaters...paraffin would scare me!
As for the garden, the back of the house faces south and directly next to my new patio I'm planting grasses and more transparent wafty plants like Verbena bonariensis. This to also stop the eye from travelling immediately across to the rear fence as the garden is not deep. By the fence (which faces north) I will be planting shade lovers like ferns, astrantia, hosta, rodgersia, pulmonaria, brunnera, hydrangea etc.
The other side of the L shaped house faces west.
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View attachment 2990905
You are so kind - I’m loving my little silliness - a joy!
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Silly as heck - but who cares, girls?

Absolutely adore your drawings!
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View attachment 2993441Elderflower Bower! View attachment 2993443

Your garden looks idyllic and the paint colour is perfect!

 

[Milking Keynes]

My greenhouse is very basic as there is nowhere to place a more decorative one. It's purely for overwintering and growing seeds and cuttings. When I had two (plus use of my neighbour's) I was growing plants for a local National Trust property which ceased in Lockdown.
I've only ever heated greenhouses with fan heaters...paraffin would scare me!
As for the garden, the back of the house faces south and directly next to my new patio I'm planting grasses and more transparent wafty plants like Verbena bonariensis. This to also stop the eye from travelling immediately across to the rear fence as the garden is not deep. By the fence (which faces north) I will be planting shade lovers like ferns, astrantia, hosta, rodgersia, pulmonaria, brunnera, hydrangea etc.
The other side of the L shaped house faces west.
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Absolutely adore your drawings!
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Your garden looks idyllic and the paint colour is perfect!

You and @Oops are so talented, honestly. My dad would have loved you both - he really loved gardening and was passionate about seeding and growing.

 

[Oops...]

I have never grown anything myself as I have never had a greenhouse. I’m still not sure about one although the older I get the more I am thinking of one especially if I stay here.

I love some of the plants you have chosen Captain especially the ‘Rogersia’. I love the white one.
Strange thing happened here last year - all my verbena completely disappeared! I just wasn’t there any more! I have just spent 30 mins trying to get the italics to switch off and it just won’t so I am writing the rest of this in flopping italics. Grrrrrrrr….

I had a lot of pulmonaria in my Bath garden but haven’t used it here. The combination of the plants you have chosen will look so lovely together. No doubt there will be several Miscanthus or Miscanthuses!

Finally the wretched italics have stopped!!!

I am looking for another grower at the moment because ours is just too hit and miss lately. He couldn’t get me the geraniums and Ageratums I wanted for my window boxes so I had to have the wrong pink and use petunias grr…so annoying. I detest Dobbies. I bought some alliums from them which were 11quid each and an unmitigated disaster an£ the campanula that died as soon as it got rained on before my family arrived in a may at 11quid a pop were rubbish too. I don’t know why they charge so much for rubbish! It makes me CROSS and when I’m cross I rant as you can see here. Shut up Oops!

 

[Miscanthus]

I have never grown anything myself as I have never had a greenhouse. I’m still not sure about one although the older I get the more I am thinking of one especially if I stay here.

I love some of the plants you have chosen Captain especially the ‘Rogersia’. I love the white one.
Strange thing happened here last year - all my verbena completely disappeared! I just wasn’t there any more! I have just spent 30 mins trying to get the italics to switch off and it just won’t so I am writing the rest of this in flopping italics. Grrrrrrrr….

I had a lot of pulmonaria in my Bath garden but haven’t used it here. The combination of the plants you have chosen will look so lovely together. No doubt there will be several Miscanthus or Miscanthuses!

Finally the wretched italics have stopped!!!

I am looking for another grower at the moment because ours is just too hit and miss lately. He couldn’t get me the geraniums and Ageratums I wanted for my window boxes so I had to have the wrong pink and use petunias grr…so annoying. I detest Dobbies. I bought some alliums from them which were 11quid each and an unmitigated disaster an£ the campanula that died as soon as it got rained on before my family arrived in a may at 11quid a pop were rubbish too. I don’t know why they charge so much for rubbish! It makes me CROSS and when I’m cross I rant as you can see here. Shut up Oops!

Don't shut up!
I brought A LOT of plants with me so I need to prioritise them when I plant (they are the ones I mentioned) but I will be supplementing them when i see what space remains. My favourite Pulmonaria is Diana Clare....the leaves are quite silvery. I do like planting shade....I like the textural aspect of the leaves contrasting with each other. Rogersia is a favourite...I have the white and the bronze one.
Something has eaten the tops of my Astrantia that I brought from the other house and Google says it's rabbits...grhh....I was blaming the pigeons.
I'm aghast at the cost of plants and compost now. I hate to think of how much I have spent over the years but it's so much more expensive now. Mind you I got my grasses in Squires' sale (Inc Miscanthus) and bought some shrubs in Hilliers 50% off shrubs weekend. I also bought a lovely tree (Amelanchier lamarkii multi stem) on Facebook marketplace when I was "away". The seller was a garden designer and her mother an oncology consultant!

 

[Milking Keynes]

Absolutely adore your drawings!

So lovely of you to say! Coming from an artist too

 

[Oops...]

Ooooh! A ‘snowy’ tree! How utterly lovely! That has inspired me now to look out for one. Take a photo of it next year and put it up. Heavenly! Has she got anything left?

Talking about the cost of compost! I mean WHAT is that all about? It’s flopping criminal! Emily walks miles behind me if we go to Dobbies as I am vociferous with my HOW MUCH? INIQUITOUS!

I should really keep out of there but they have the dog place there where I get my Teddy Treats and it’s managed by the loveliest woman who I love to talk to about Teddy. She gave him a birthday present in April.

I love blues, silvers whites and ice pinks in my gardens. I had a moonlight garden once which was almost all blue. I took advice from my hero Gertrude Jekyll and offset it with a bit of yellow to blue the blue even more. It was glorious on summer nights by candlelight. That was in the late nineties. I had wooden fences at that house and painted them blue too. People thought I was bonkers. I cared not one jot though…My arbours in that garden were blue too. I remember planting loads of ceanothus And I planted purple cordylines for a bit of architectural interest. It wasn’t a very big garden so it was relatively easy to manage.

I will stop now as I will probably write 10 pages if I don’t because I can bore for England on plants and gardens I used to have…The best ones I ever did was my Bath garden and possibly this one now as it was just a slope of nothing when I first came seven or eight years ago. There’s quite a lot of hard landscaping here which I try very hard to soften back and not one piece of turf laid so NO mowing! Hurrah! My feng shui master threw his hands up in despair when I had no grass. I told him if he wanted grass in my garden he would have to come and mow it himself…
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So lovely of you to say! Coming from an artist too

…and she’s absolutely right! They are really lovely. You won’t upset anyone if you put some more up for us to see! Ahem! That’s if you would like to of course. Soooo creative we all are!

 

[Miscanthus]

Ooooh! A ‘snowy’ tree! How utterly lovely! That has inspired me now to look out for one. Take a photo of it next year and put it up. Heavenly! Has she got anything left?

Talking about the cost of compost! I mean WHAT is that all about? It’s flopping criminal! Emily walks miles behind me if we go to Dobbies as I am vociferous with my HOW MUCH? INIQUITOUS!

I should really keep out of there but they have the dog place there where I get my Teddy Treats and it’s managed by the loveliest woman who I love to talk to about Teddy. She gave him a birthday present in April.

I love blues, silvers whites and ice pinks in my gardens. I had a moonlight garden once which was almost all blue. I took advice from my hero Gertrude Jekyll and offset it with a bit of yellow to blue the blue even more. It was glorious on summer nights by candlelight. That was in the late nineties. I had wooden fences at that house and painted them blue too. People thought I was bonkers. I cared not one jot though…My arbours in that garden were blue too. I remember planting loads of ceanothus And I planted purple cordylines for a bit of architectural interest. It wasn’t a very big garden so it was relatively easy to manage.

I will stop now as I will probably write 10 pages if I don’t because I can bore for England on plants and gardens I used to have…The best ones I ever did was my Bath garden and possibly this one now as it was just a slope of nothing when I first came seven or eight years ago. There’s quite a lot of hard landscaping here which I try very hard to soften back and not one piece of turf laid so NO mowing! Hurrah! My feng shui master threw his hands up in despair when I had no grass. I told him if he wanted grass in my garden he would have to come and mow it himself…
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…and she’s absolutely right! They are really lovely. You won’t upset anyone if you put some more up for us to see! Ahem! That’s if you would like to of course. Soooo creative we all are!

Love hearing about your gardens, past and present.
I'm afraid you have set me off now....I could bore for Engand about plants too! I completely forgot about the tellima and tiarella I bought off the garden designer for my shade beds. She had done a Gardeners World Live event and it was the remains of the dismantled garden. She lived in a flat in Winchester and had never had a garden!!! Personally I don't believe you can be a designer with no experience of growing anything or combining plants in real life but then a lot of designers I trained with didn't know the top of a plant from the bottom. They were young girls straight out of art college who thought garden design could be done while pushing out babies......tsk!
One of the shrubs I bought was the deep blue Ceanothus "Concha". I have limited South facing planting for shrubs but what I have will feature this!

 

[Oops...]

…Blissful choices - and so inspiring! I now want to go and plant all the shady plants you have mentioned in my shady bits at the top of the garden and maybe parts of the right hand side on the top tier too. You haven’t mentioned one I wouldn’t love. Your lady with the plants had such beauties to sell considering she’d had no garden. Are you keeping in touch with her?

So, Good morning and welcome to today

I have been up since 5 am writing and watching Daniel Amen on You Tube. I heartily recommend him. He’s the brain man. I find him inspiring, so my topic for my writing today was inspiring myself which I have had such a lovely morning doing. Anyway - I am sure I have posted this before ( it wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t) but I want to post it again. I know I don’t need to explain why I watch this when I really need it and imho it’s one of the most amazing poems ever written ( along with my glorious WBYeats and Robert Frost). But as far as women poets go Maya Anjelou is Queen. Here she is at her most glorious best and we all need a bit of her from time to time…xx

 

[Oops...]

Peace, piece, peas

 

[Miscanthus]

…Blissful choices - and so inspiring! I now want to go and plant all the shady plants you have mentioned in my shady bits at the top of the garden and maybe parts of the right hand side on the top tier too. You haven’t mentioned one I wouldn’t love. Your lady with the plants had such beauties to sell considering she’d had no garden. Are you keeping in touch with her?

So, Good morning and welcome to today

I have been up since 5 am writing and watching Daniel Amen on You Tube. I heartily recommend him. He’s the brain man. I find him inspiring, so my topic for my writing today was inspiring myself which I have had such a lovely morning doing. Anyway - I am sure I have posted this before ( it wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t) but I want to post it again. I know I don’t need to explain why I watch this when I really need it and imho it’s one of the most amazing poems ever written ( along with my glorious WBYeats and Robert Frost). But as far as women poets go Maya Anjelou is Queen. Here she is at her most glorious best and we all need a bit of her from time to time…xx

You have inspired me dearest @Oops...
Although I'm not feeling great and it's been pouring with rain, I have been filling a bag for the charity shop. It's a drop in the ocean but it's a start.

Love the poem...."dancing with diamonds between her thighs"

 

[Oops...]

Well done! Starting is the hard part! I was hoping you and dearest Havisham would like the poem! It’s a great ‘pick me up’ I find. xx

 

[Milking Keynes]

…Blissful choices - and so inspiring! I now want to go and plant all the shady plants you have mentioned in my shady bits at the top of the garden and maybe parts of the right hand side on the top tier too. You haven’t mentioned one I wouldn’t love. Your lady with the plants had such beauties to sell considering she’d had no garden. Are you keeping in touch with her?

So, Good morning and welcome to today

I have been up since 5 am writing and watching Daniel Amen on You Tube. I heartily recommend him. He’s the brain man. I find him inspiring, so my topic for my writing today was inspiring myself which I have had such a lovely morning doing. Anyway - I am sure I have posted this before ( it wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t) but I want to post it again. I know I don’t need to explain why I watch this when I really need it and imho it’s one of the most amazing poems ever written ( along with my glorious WBYeats and Robert Frost). But as far as women poets go Maya Anjelou is Queen. Here she is at her most glorious best and we all need a bit of her from time to time…xx

Fantastic!! Very moving. It is interesting that she makes a point of gold, diamonds - real slavery there for profit. Pretty sure it’s not accidental - like the more seductive the premise, the more literal pain for the slaves. Goosebumps here - what a performer and what a gift of commitment to her story.
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They were young girls straight out of art college who thought garden design could be done while pushing out babies......tsk!

Ha! Love your comment. I’m gonna say that the baby pusher outers are p####ing me off right now..
and I’m not talking about the young ‘uns. It’s the forties - they are wrecking the workforce. They refuse to go back to work in an office building - why? Well, why not? They can get their spouses to co-parent from home - don’t have to pay for after-care, the set-up suits them perfectly.

I went to collect nephew last week and - all men - like gossipy women outside, shooting the breeze....

In the meantime, my girls’ friends - all isolated, aged 19-21, in their bedrooms, looking into a screen. It’s just so horrible. No socialization, no water cooler moments, no goss... just isolated because of my sister’s group dictating the game. Plus, the slump in commercial property prices, the resources wasted - and, above all, no guidance or mentoring.

When I said it to my sis - she refused to speak to me for weeks.

 

[Oops...]

Fantastic!! Very moving. It is interesting that she makes a point of gold, diamonds - real slavery there for profit. Pretty sure it’s not accidental - like the more seductive the premise, the more literal pain for the slaves. Goosebumps here - what a performer and what a gift of commitment to her story.
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She was a phenomenal woman and a great advocate for women’s rights. She was a great story teller and raconteur and all her audiences loved her. She was SO talented and soooo creative. Massive loss to humankind. Truly one in a million. If you ever get the chance to watch any of her interviews do - she‘s just the best imho.