Ouch, that was hard to do - it's the give away/throw away bit that hurts. Thrift is in my DNA and I'm thinking of ways of making do.........but you know what? I'm going to stop beating myself up about it and I'm going to allow myself a bit of a fresh start! Why ever not?

Are you with me on this? Have you started on your wardrobe? Are you there Laura? Doreen? Anyone else?

Have you got rid of everything that was in there (see 22nd June) that you can't wear/don't want to wear/have accepted was a mistake? (be kind - forgive yourself and move on....)

Have you now got in your wardrobe:-

• only clothes that fit 
• things that are clean, pressed, ready to wear now 
• things that you feel happy  in
• colours that suit  you
• things appropriate  for the time of year
• something for each of the things you are likely to do in the next week or two (if not, start a list  of what's missing - find a nice little notebook - you'll be using it a lot) 

Give away, throw away, and/or store in another place, all the rest - good idea to do this now, today - I'm off to do it right this minute....

Did I tell you I am designing my old lady garden?

I met so many older people this weekend who are sad about not being able to keep up their gardens, that it strengthened my resolve to take action now.

It first occurred to me when I sat with a neighbour who was in her 90's, on her porch, looking out at her garden. She was sadly remembering how beautiful it had been when her husband was alive.  I came home and sat on my own porch and thought  'I want to sit here when I am 92 and say - look how beautiful it is! - I am so glad I planted that, and that, and that all those years ago!'

So within the design that you see now when you look at my garden, lies another, hidden, long term garden of exquisite trees and shrubs which look their best as mature specimens. Three cornus controversa variegata (wedding cake trees), a robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia', various desirable acers, viburnum plicatum 'Maresii' with its wonderful horizontal form, and pinus mugo. I'm about to add malus 'Golden Hornet' a crab apple with bright little orange fruits which will look fabulous beside the golden robinia and acer 'Orange Dream'

May I live so long........!

So enjoyable to share the garden with other garden lovers. A great success, the weather was kind, the visitors interested and appreciative - 'It does my soul good to see it' someone said. (But I must confess it is lovely to have the garden back to ourselves!)
 
The nicest bit about the timing of our open weekend is that it is still just the beginning of summer - all the work is done - and apart from  cutting the grass and deadheading the bedding plants, all we have to do now is just enjoy it. Tomorrow I shall just sit in it, with a book, and a drink.

If you were one of our visitors - thank you for coming....

Lots of visitors, lots of compliments and lots of questions!

This was the most asked about plant. It is an annual called Nemophila menziesii or baby blue eyes. Easy from seed and a little straggly and fragile at first, it gets quite bushy and flowers for a long time, and tolerates a little shade. A gorgeous shade of blue.

So tired....... but happy..

In my first foray into the big city since starting Simply Stylish (I went for a haircut), these were some of the things I noticed:

The price of the haircut had unaccountably gone up nearly 20% !

The sales were offering 50% off and 70% off and hardly anyone was buying anything - there were more staff than customers

The old Big Issue man, who'd had a drink, said 'I'm tired and I'm fed up and I've got no electricity in my house'

Further up the street a champagne bar had opened under a canopy - two handsome young men in white shirts and long black aprons, but no customers

There was a queue right down the street for something! What could it be? I asked one of the three security men 'The new i phone - 600 quid - they've been here since 2 am'  We both laughed...

Same street - a small, very elderly lady - eastern European perhaps, headscarved and smiling, was playing cheerful music on her accordion

In the newspaper in the coffee shop Obama reminded us (and General McChrystal) of 'the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system'

Cue gravelly voice: 'It's a wonderful world............'   ( and how do you type musical notes on the computer?)

The owners of the eight gardens opening this weekend visited each others gardens this afternoon - what a delight! I saw quite a number of plants I have never seen anywhere before, and got some great ideas. A delightful buttercup sprinkling its small yellow flowers in a lovely cloud would look good in my golden corner, as most of the flowers there don't appear till later, and I rely on foliage colour just now. I've been promised some seed!

I am always looking for gypsophila substitutes, as for some reason I can't grow it well (soil too acid perhaps) but I love its style - that airiness and delicacy. I've tried crambe cordifolia but the slugs always get it, and it smells of cabbage. Suggestions please!

Gentle rain tonight, which is just what our gardens need.....I'm wishing for the Ballerina roses and the honeysuckles thick with buds to open before the weekend....

• Gardening has taken over my life (and my blog) recently!
  
  The rest of life goes on, and with the hot weather we've been enjoying, I've been looking at my clothes......and that word 'decluttering' comes up again when I think about my ideal of simplicity and tackle the wardrobe......
  
  When sorting out the wardrobe ignore the voice that says:
  
• But it's got a bit of wear in it yet
• But I paid a lot of money for it
• It doesn't quite fit but it would do under something
• I could wear it for gardening (how many gardening clothes do I need?)
• But I love it (even though it is faded/stretched/worn/stained/too big/too small/past its best - the fact is I loved it when it was bright/neat/new/fitted me/fresh)
• I might wear it this year
• But it was a bargain
• But I wore it at my wedding (OK I don't actually have anything I wore at my wedding, but you get the idea!)

          OUT ! OUT ! OUT !

Open Gardens weekend June 26th and 27th 2010 - hope you can come...

1 - 5 pm     £4 for all eight gardens - a bargain day out!

Kilmun, Strone, Blairmore and Ardentinny, Argyll (by Dunoon)

Look out for the yellow balloons.... Home baking and teas will be served at Blairmore Village Hall thanks to volunteers from Blairmore Village Trust, and there will be second hand gardening books for sale at the hall, and plants for sale at most of the gardens. We raised £1250 last year for the Scotland's Gardens Scheme charities. All we need is fine weather - green fingers crossed!

(See also 29 April, 12 May and 29 May)