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Great Dixter

I really enjoyed the hour long video of Christopher Lloyd and his gaeden on the above website, but it does feel like a bygone age. This garden and that of Beth Chatto were the least commercial of the famous gardens I got to know and I loved that about them. They were all about the plants and the personalities of their creators.

They do both have tearooms and shops now, so maybe they feel very different in character. Has anyone been to either recently?

I'm off to explore a garden on an Inner Hebridean island - will report back!

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Simply..the human touch....

3/5/2025

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It was like a message from another age.

I oredered some seeds from Great Dixter, the wonderful garden of the late Christopher Lloyd.

The seed is like dust. It is of Beth's Poppy.

It came in a modest little packet with a design based on some famous topiary in the garden.

Even nicer, it came in a handwritten envelope with a real stamp, all of which gave me a real sense of connection with the garden (which I visited several times when I lived in Oxford). In these times of automation and robotics, it was lovely to have a sense of the person who patiently collected the seedss- it could only be done by hand - and perhaps another person sitting and quietly writing my name and address on an envelope... I found it quite touching and I thank them for it.

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Simply..distressed....

1/5/2025

I am talking home decor here! I used to say there was enough distress in the world without deliberately 'distressing' furniture, but of necessity I have joined the shabby chic fraternity. It may well be outdated but it's all I can manage right now.

My kitchen worktops are painted with Fired Earth Malm - a colour I absolutely love. Not a very practical finish and it needs repainted quite often. As you know I don't see very well, so it's a bit hit and miss but I think I can get away with it if I call it shabby chic and ignore my perfectionist tendencies! Life is short. :-)

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Simply..summery sky....

30/4/2025

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..and a Country Living magazine moment.

Will you create a Country Living moment for yourself today?

What will it be?

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Simply..early this morning....

29/4/2025

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..on the Clyde..

The book group took a two ferry trip to Kilcreggan on what turned into a warm sunny day.

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Simply..a gentle phase....

27/4/2025

I love this time in the garden. The bulbs are almost over except for the tulips in the black pots, and the fresh foliage on some of the trees and shrubs is simply very beautiful.

This is viburnum Maresii

Many of my shrubs have a horizontal habit which gives the garden a restfful look and contrasts with the white verticals of the silver birches. I plan to add a juniper horizontalis to the composition thus year.

It evolves.

I love it.

Thank you all so much for the kind birthday wishes yesterday x

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Simply..so grateful to have got this far!

26/4/2025

Just had a lovely birthday and loved this message..

I also appreciate this quote from a 96 year old -

I'm living as fully as I can with what I have

Filed under Simply A Student Of Old Age.
:-)

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Simply..dying beautifully....

25/4/2025

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Tulips, in particular, can be strangely beautiful as they die...

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Simply..The Scottissh Colourists....

24/4/2025

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This is a lovely and extensive exhibition at the Dovecot Studio which shows The Colourists in an international context and includes many paintings I had not seen before. We went to a very well attended talk by Alicce Strang.It's on until the end of June. Well worth seeing!

There is a good five minute video about this group here.www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/glossary-terms/scottish-colourists

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Simply..home and away....

23/4/2025

I discovered a new bit of Edinburgh - like something from Hogwarts!

and had an hour to wait for the bus home and contemplated the shore while waiting.

And enjoyed a cup of tea in brilliant sunshine on the porch.

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Simply..simple....

20/4/2025

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Simply..chocolate anyone?

19/4/2025

Happy Easter

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Simply..the balsam poplar....

18/4/2025

Just a few small branches of the balsam poplar scent the room. You have to pick it just as the leaves are emerging, as, unusually, it's the leaves which are fragrant. I love the delicious smell and can detect it from the back door although the trees are about 100 metres away.

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Simply..slower....

18/4/2025

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After the city buzz of Edinburgh, my lovely Tai Chi class helped me to slow down and accept the slower country pace.

I was tempted by the gorgeous bouquets of colourful flowers in the city, but a bit put off at the idea of carrying them on and off three buses and a ferry, so instead when I got home and before I took my coat off I went out and picked some branches of birch to fill two big jars. They are so very pretty at this early stage and the quiet and calm in the late afternoon light were soothingly beautiful.

I am so lucky to bee able to experience both the city and the coutry.

What pace will you be going at today?

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Simply..four galleries and a Japanese cake....

16/4/2025

On a short trip to Edinburgh I visited the RSA, the Ampersand Gallery, the Scottish Gallery and the Open Eye Gallery.

All in one day (I hope all these links work). Many good and stimulating things to see.

In the cafe of Uniqlo I tried a Japanese cake. The green part is made of rice and is like a very chewy marshmallow, the filling is red bean paste and it is topped with a strawbwerry. Interesting!

I thought this lovely old piece of furniture looked fabulous in the ultra modern store. There is a great view of Princes Street from the cafe too.

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Simply..plants for free.....

13/4/2025

..and the perfect pets. I've got twenty tip cuttings of erigeron karvinskianus, the lovely Mexican daisy, sitting in a heated propagator. They will root in just a few weeks. They are not always hardy here so it's good to have a supply. I wouldn't want to be without them.

The pair of robins are the perfect pets for me. They greet me in the mornings, keep me company in the garden and most importantly look after themselves when I go away for a few days as I am about to do...Back soon!

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Simply..tulip time....

12/4/2025

You can't help but find joy in them!

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Simply..on the pier....

11/4/2025

We took a local bus from Norwich to Cromer - famous for crab. So we sat on the pier, with the rhythmic sound of the waves and the music from a man playing the accordion and ate delicious crab sandwiches. Idyllic!

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Simply..the blossoming month....

10/4/2025

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Apple, pear, plum and cherry, and oh those magnolias! This one in a churchyard in Norwich, sparkling in spring sunshine. I hope that wherever you are you are getting good weather. Meals outside with my robins for company, gardening from early till late, the kiss of the sun lifts my spirits.

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Simply..a sad tale....

9/4/2025

St Gregory's, one of the 31 churches in Norwich, is now an antiques and collectibles venue.

On seeing these I was reminded of Hemingway's poignant Story In Six Words -

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

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Simply..old and new....

8/4/2025

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,I think Norwich does a good job of integrating old and new. The converted warehouse we stayed in (10 Calvert Street - lovely) was a good exanple and here in the magnificent cathedral I loved these modern windows by artist John McDonald.

They perhaps look a bit incongruous in just photgraphs, but the modern wndows are in a dark side aisle close to the transept and in situ, look wonderul. If you ever get the chance see them for yourself and decide. And let me know what you think!

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Simply..texture....

7/4/2025

On a lovely trip to the historic city of Norwich with three wonderful friends, I was struck with how textured everything felt. Cobbles underfoot and flints and rust and carvings, and so many different materials, put together in so many different ways - including fragments of old buildings randomly flung into walls!

Bright sunshine enhanced all the effects.

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Simply..delicate daffodils....

30/3/2025

..and a mackerel sky.

Jous of spring.

Top to bottom - tete-a-tete, Jenny, February Gold and Thalia.

Be back in a week..

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Simply..have to say....

29/3/2025