Blog Archives

There is a simplicity about the place that charms me every time. There is a touch of sophistication about it's honeliness. A small nimber of caravans and lodges, hens clucking around, very good coffee, sailing school, studio with smallish selection of high quality crafts and the scent of herbs from Argyll Botany drew me into the tiny beautiful shop before I could look at anything else. SeeEverything low key and well cared for. here.

If you can't make it to Carry Farm you can find Argyll Botany onlime They have a lovely website.

I liked the About section. My photographs don't do justice to the chare racter of the shoop which is quite dark and smells .divine. I bought several delectable things which are making my bathroom smell wonderful.

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Simply..wild and free....

29/5/2023

A bank holiday yet miles of beautiful beach with perhaps a dozen families and a couple of happy dogs on it. It's especially nice when visitors get perfect weather for a swim! Ostel Bay with a view of Arran.

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Simply..an idyllic day out....

28/5/2023

..on Argyll's Secret Coast.

More tomorrow..

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Simply..blue....

27/5/2023

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..in a good way. The vase is a charity shop find, the flowers are perennial conrflowers - centaura montana - and the foliiage Philadelphus aureus.

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Simply..poets and painters....

26/5/2023

Yesterday's photograph reminded me of one of my late husband's favourite poems

Glory be to God for dappled things Gerard Manley Hopkins.

And from poets to painters - if you live near enough to Harrogate don't miss the wonderful exhibition by my friend Caroline Bailey. Caroline lives and works on Skye and paints brilliant landscapes and the most lively and vibrant flower still lifes.

You can view the exhibition here.

This is the first time I have referred to Barry as my late husband - an odd expression is it not?

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Simply..a summer sunrise.

25/5/2023

I chanced to waken at 4.42, glanced out of the window at this dappled, brindled sky and knew the dawn was going to be especially beautiful, so threw on some clothes and was down at the shore by 4.52. Dawn.

I was back in bed with a tray of tea and toast by 5.08.

I only started noticing what time dawn is by listening to Lia Leenderz.

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Simply..Summer, I am ready....

24/5/2023

It came at about four o'clock this afternoon. I wasted no time in testing out the new cushion covers (£5 from Ikea).

I hope the sun is shining where you are.

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Simply..food and love....

23/5/2023

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An easy and delicious dessert for visitors, spiced plums is a favourite served hot with yoghurt or even better Ice cream and a sprinkling of toasted flaked almonds. I cook them in water with a little brown sugar and some nutmeg, reducing the liquid to make a gorgeous syrup. Easily made in advance.

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Simply..excitement....

22/5/2023

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A parcel appears.

Clever packaging.

Beautiful isotoma, disappointingly tiny lime green petunias...We'll just have to see what we can do.

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Simply..listen....

21/5/2023

I love the work of Norman Ackroyd. He was the guest today on one of my favourite programmes, Private Passions on BBC Radio Three, in which he was interviewed about his favourite music by Michael Barclay, who always seems to really like his gursts and who genuinely listens to them.

I love what Norman Ackroyd says about his art and his music and what they mean to him.

Art is everything, really.

I am the happy owner of a very small Ackroyd Rain, Skellig. I had wanted one of his prints for many years but many of the ones I loved were too big and too bold and dramatic for my small space. He shows at the Royal Academy every year and at the Zillah Bell gallery in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

It was there I saw this one. Irish islands in the rain like a Chinese ink painting, and a bold border like a Howard Hodgson (which I know I will never afford).

A very fine artist.

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Simply..grow....

20/5/2023

Getting ready for summer....

sweet peas, cosmos, ox-eye daisies, cornflowers and fuchsias. The greenhouse is filling up nicely.

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Simply..too tired to write anything....

19/5/2023

Lovely sunny day. Overdid it in the garden. Will I ever learn!

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Simply..let the day unfold....

18/5/2023

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I woke one morning recently and realised I had no actual appointments, I did not have to be anywhere at a certain time, in fact I had a fairly free day apart from my self imposed to-do lists and I thought How would it be if I just let the day unfold...

I can already hear some of you say Hah, chance would be a fine thing!

We are so goal-oriented and driven at times, don't you think? Even our 'time off' is often timetabled.

So, when did you last just let a day unfold? On holiday? When convalescing? Ever?

I gave muself the gift of the whole day. When the sun shone I went out, when it rained I came back in. I ate when I felt like it, I napped, I gardened a little, I cooked a little, I played some music, lit a fire, drank a lot of tea, watched the clouds, did a few light chores, paused every now and then to ask myslef What do I feel like doing now? And listened to my answer. It was so refreshing!

Can you gift yourself some time?

Time to just be rahter than do?

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Simply..simple....

17/5/2023

Simply..love and food....

16/5/2023

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I do like to cook and bake for guests. Perhaps because on the whole I don't like to cook, it is even more of a gesture of love that I do this? If you see what I mean..

One of my favourite films is Babette's Feast and I have recently watched two more films about food and love. Master Cheng and The Hundred-Foot Journey. Feel-good films all of them.

Have you seen them? Can you think of others about food and love?

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Simoly..twice round the garden....

15/5/2023

The first perambulation, cup of tea in hand, is to look for what is new and what is beautiful, listen to the birdsong and perhaps pick a posy for the breakfast table.

The second walk round with pen and paper is to make the to-do list, notingg what needs doing most urgently and trying not to feel overwhelmed by the tasks!

It's important to me to separate these two walks..

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Simply..sprinklings....

14/5/2023

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and spanglings. The garden is beautiful in it's fresh greens with occasional scatterings of delicate flowers - a contrast to the drana of the tulips.

Self sown Welsh poppies and tiny geranium robertianum 'Celtic White' on the floor of the greenhouse are a special delight.

Tiny lily of the valley with it's powerful scent.

The shed roof is spangled with clematis flowers.

Welsh poppies in yellow and orange.

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Simply..a last hurrah....

13/5/2023

The garden moves on to a new phase as tha tulips finish.
They have been fabulous this year.

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Simply..chill....

12/5/2023

Most days at some point I enjoy this 10 minute meditation...

I really like it.

Do you?

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Simply..nobody else is going to do it....

11/5/2023

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Making home the place I want to be..

So far in my efforts to get outstanding things done I have posted a book to a friend, sanded a worktop in the kitchen which got damaged by a leaking kettle, ordered paint for said worktop, hand washed two sweaters, got a quote for replacement of the solar panel invertor, recycled a mountain of flower pots, organised several bags for the charity shops, scrubbed dozens of terracotta pots, (how did I come to have so many?) made an appointment at the bank, planned meals for visitors, nearly got to the bottom of the ironing pile, made a staart on the dreaded shed, lined two kitvhen cupboards with fresh paper.....

Running a house can be challenging! Exhausting and expensive, but I am so happy and so privileged to have one to come home to.

If I can keep this up till the end of May I'll be astonsihed.

The joy of home.

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Simply staying home...

8/5/2023