Live Simply Simply Live
  • Blog
  • Studio
  • Home
  • Cards
  • Coronation Wood

Simply..the view....

30/6/2014

8 Comments

 

..from the hammock, where I spent a good part of the morning!
 
Picture
8 Comments

Simply..speechless....

29/6/2014

6 Comments

 


Well, hoarse!
 
From chatting to lovely garden visitors.
 
Glorious weather, a steady stream of interesting people - numbers not finalised yet but will let you know. Thank you so much to all who came and made it such a wonderful week-end, and to the other gardeners who worked so hard to make their gardens beautiful.
Picture
6 Comments

Simply sunny....

28/6/2014

6 Comments

 

..with the odd little shower! We've had a great first open day.
 
We felt so on top of the garden (we have worked really hard) that we had leisurely breakfast in warm sushine outside this morning, but our robin is getting even cheekier- look at him at my toast!
Picture

Make that six baby swallows. I wrote the sign yesterday but this morning we realised there are six in the nest - 
Picture
though I only caught three in my photograph.
Picture

The weather forecast for tomorrow is for even better than today. So lucky!
Picture
Dactylorhiza majalis - a very easy orchid to grow.
6 Comments

Simply..ready!

27/6/2014

13 Comments

 

Well, nearly...I just have to put more signs out, mow a path, mulch another path, deadhead the lupins, print off some handouts....

Tomorrow is Open Garden Day and the garden is looking very trim and I am looking very bedraggled, but the lovely rosa glauca still has flowers. And there is the added attraction of five baby swallows peeping over the edge of their nest!
 
All will be well.

If you live near enough I hope you can come. Details here. I'd love to see you!   


Picture
13 Comments

Simply..music and the Great War....

26/6/2014

4 Comments

 

I've been very moved by the Radio 3 series The Story of the Great War in Music (still on iPlayer).
 
Talking of the terrible sacrifices made in wartime someone asked 'And for what?'
 
Which got me thinking that it was for the freedom to read what we like and discuss it, in our own language, whenever and with whoever we want, for the priviledge of casting my vote recently in a peaceful village hall with no one threatening me, for the freedom to have as many children as we want (a friend is just back from a visit to China where there is still a one child policy), for the chance indeed to travel to China and many other places, for the freedom to write this blog uncensored...

It is so easy to take all this for granted, isn't it, so I'm grateful to Radio 3 for the stories, essays, interviews and music, Lest we Forget.
4 Comments

Simply..subtle....

25/6/2014

4 Comments

 

Yes, more about the garden!
I do like some of these quieter elements....
Picture
Back door - plain and simple.
Picture
Bench, fern and topiary.
Picture
Bronze fennel with geranium psilostemnon.
Picture
Simplest water feature.
Picture
Ikea pot with viola labradorica.
4 Comments

Simply..birdsong in the morning....

24/6/2014

5 Comments

 

..at 4.33am to be precise!

Now I am truly honoured that a wren (troglodytes troglodytes - love that name!) should choose to build it's home in the clematis under the bedroom window, but it's extraordinarily loud song wakens me every morning lately and continues for about two hours or more....

Another lovely true blue flower (see this post from open gardens weekend 2010) is just coming into bloom in some pots. An annual, started off in the greenhouse, but worth growing for it's baby blue flowers.

I know everything is about plants at the moment (4 days to go till open garden weekend and I do hope you like gardening) but I'm planning some posts on Simply Money soon - an important subject I see I have barely touched upon with two posts in four years (see sidebar).
5 Comments

Simply blue..or not....

23/6/2014

4 Comments

 
Picture

This sweet pea is called Blue Velvet. It looks decidedly purple to me. It was supposed to match this geranium Roxanne -
Picture

which itself is a little more purplish than it looks in this photograph. There are some true blues though - cornflowers,
Picture
Picture
some delphiniums
Picture
Picture
ethereal nigella.
Picture
hydrangeas, if the soil is acidic.
Misnomers abound in the world of plants. This is meant to be sweet pea Almost Black! Now did they get it wrong, or did I? I shall have to wait till they all flower to find out. They are all beautiful though in all their variety and I love them.
Picture
4 Comments

Simply..at one stroke....

22/6/2014

7 Comments

 

I halved my workload and my stress level for the week!
Picture

In previous garden open days we have shown just the front garden, but I had decided we would open the back garden too this year. However....it is proving to mean a lot more work. This morning I just made the decision to show the front garden only.
 
Whew!
 
Now it seems do-able again.

Anyone who really wants to will be welcome to have a wander around the back, although it's a wee bit weedy and mossy and doesn't come into it's own until July and August, being mostly annuals and herbs and salads.
Picture
With just 6 days to go now, and other commitments this week, this was the right decision. (Why was it hard to make I wonder?)
 
It was so simple really!

Are you committing yourself to too much?
 
Needlessly?
 
Is there something you could just opt out of to simplify your life at one stroke?
7 Comments

Simply..magical flowers on the longest day....

21/6/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
2 Comments

Simply..charming....

20/6/2014

10 Comments

 

..and very cheeky! I thought you might enjoy the story of a robin which features in this blog every now and then. (See yesterday's post)

Read here about  how we think he became so tame....
Picture



An eye for the main chance..ie my breakfast.

Picture





Crumbs to entice him early one summer morning while I dashed inside for the camera. The light and the shadow were so beautiful..

Picture



He was so tame so quickly - we were amazed and delighted. It feels such a priviledge to have a wild bird trust you.

Picture



A bad hair day?

You wanted to get a soft towel and pat him dry!

Hardly recognizable as the sleek bird above.

Picture















Very patiently waiting for us to get up.



We don't know of course if the robin which comes now is the same one that Ross shared his breakfast with. I say 'he' most often but it is very hard to tell male and female apart. We do know that the male robin will feed the female of a pair (and not vice versa) and 'our' male is bolder than the female. There was a year when two were equally tame. Barry was feeding one from his hand at the back door and called me - but I was feeding one from my hand at the front door! They have brought their babies into the garden some years, so the current robin might be one of the offspring of the original one, though they can live 10 or 11 years....It would have been lovely to have ringed them, but it seemed wrong somehow.

The Life of The Robin (1965) by David Lack is our robin bible.
10 Comments

Simply..social media, and pears in chocolate sauce....

19/6/2014

6 Comments

 

Some interesting comment on social media here and here (thank you Julia). I laughed when Bruce Feiler wrote that he sent a tweet 'Then I waited for the love'. I also laughed at the cartoon of the man arriving home from work to be met at the door by his partner, hand on hip, saying 'What do you mean what kind of day have I had, haven't you read my blog?'

The thing is not to take it all too seriously I think!

Keeping it light then -  
Picture


You may remember these..

Picture










which tonight became these. Poached in water, lemon juice and sugar which was then reduced to make a syrup and served with lazy chocolate sauce (a Mars bar melted with a couple of teaspoons of milk.)

Yum!

6 Comments

Simply..scorching!

18/6/2014

11 Comments

 

21 degrees Celsius. Well by Scottish standards this is a heatwave!

Picture


Before it got too hot for me, I had breakfast with a cheeky robin, while the swallows fed their four babies above my head.

Picture



Sniffed the first sweet pea to open - Matucana - small flower, big scent.

Picture



Bees buzz in the poppy Papaver ruprifragum.

Picture




So tempting, but there's work to be done first!

Picture



More buzzing in a cloud of catmint: Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'.

Picture



And the first whiff of scent from the honeysuckle.

Picture



The fuchsia 'Hawkshead' in the background, about 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide..

Picture





started out as a small pot plant on the balcony of our previous house.


Simple pleasures to share, to savour and to celebrate.

Have a lovely day.

11 Comments

Simply..more sky....

17/6/2014

6 Comments

 
Picture
..at 4.50 am today! (I did go back to bed.)
6 Comments

Simply summer skies..

16/6/2014

8 Comments

 
Picture
From the sitting room window at 11.10pm last night....
8 Comments

Simply..a 'madeleines' moment....

15/6/2014

8 Comments

 

After reading this post over at Cornflower I indulged myself with a year's membership of The Perfume Society and received, for £25, this lovely box of treats.
Picture

I was busy when it arrived and it wasn't till very late that I opened the box and began to slowly sample some of the eight perfumes - each one comes with a card with questions to ask yourself 'smelling notes to delve a little deeper into the world of perfume' - all very intriguing and pleasant. I was really relaxed and enjoying the experience. After spraying a few on wrists and hands I found to my great surprise that tears were streaming down my face.

I don't cry easily. In fact I very rarely cry.

I asked myself what exactly is making me cry?

I smelled again the palm of my hand, and I was sixteen again and my extended family were all still alive, my aunts and my great aunts. My great Aunt Jen (I will tell you about her one day) wore a fox fur and perfumes from Switzerland, my Aunt Peggy had a pretty dressing table with pearly backed brushes and a perfume spray bottle of cut glass with a little pump, and my first boyfriend had just given me a tiny glass heart shaped bottle of Nina Ricci's Coeur Joie. I was back in the warmth of my family. I was in love.

It was such a powerful feeling!

It made me think of Proust and the madeleines and I stayed up for hours reading excerpts from La recherche du temps perdu (here and here) and all the time smelling this scent, perhaps Lady Million by Poco Rabanne, or perhaps it was the combination of the three or four I had tried, and the tears kept coming, silently. It wasn't distressing crying. In fact looking back they might have been tears of joy for happy memories of being loved.

So the box of perfumes, the world of perfume, can be an emotional place - I am fascinated.
8 Comments

Simply asking....what is the first thing..

14/6/2014

7 Comments

 

..that you will see when you open your eyes tomorrow morning?
Picture

Make it something beautiful, something that will make you smile. Flowers? A postcard? A photograph? What will it be?
 
You could go fix it now and start your day on a happy note tomorrow....

Have a basket under the table for the clutter, or find a bedside table with a drawer.

Little things can make a big difference, don't you think?

(Thank you for the great comments on 'filtering' yesterday -  it is a subject I will certainly be coming back to.)
7 Comments

Simply..filtering....

13/6/2014

10 Comments

 

I suspect a new essential life skill might be filtering out a lot of the data and information that comes our way (see yesterday's post).

Would you agree? Any suggestions? I shall start by unsubscribing a few things I am no longer really interested in.

Meanwhile in the garden -
Picture














I'm thrilled by this new foxglove 'Pink Illumination'.

Picture










It's a sterile hybrid, so I shall try to propagate it by basal cuttings in autumn and in spring, but it should flower over a longer period than the white ones.

Picture
I'm also thrilled to have a garden big enough that I can pick a bunch of flowers for a friend without denuding it!

My garden's not huge, but it is the biggest I have had (not counting the 2 acres of the cottage on a moor where the sheep always got in and ate everything I tried to grow...I gave up and learned all about the wild flowers instead.)

10 Comments

Simply..all a bit much?

12/6/2014

6 Comments

 

Radio/TV/iPlayer/computer/email/mobile/smartphone/phone/answerphone/iPod/iPad/blogs/RSS feed/comments/facebook/DVD/podcasts/twitter/instagram/pinterest/news/newspapers/magazines/junk mail/advertising/sales calls/surveys/cold calls/charity appeals/apps/spam/passwords/updates/texts/chatlines/special deals/LinkedIn/favourites/likes/newsfeed/trends/games/search/subscribe/FeedBurner/Feedly/Blog lovin/cookies/follow....

When it all gets too much, remember - there's usually an off switch.

You mean it's allowed?

Yes!

Whew..

In the words from Evita -
 
'Let the world turn without me tonight'

Peace.
6 Comments

Simply..a bit obsessed....

11/6/2014

10 Comments

 

..with the garden at the moment. June is my favourite month here. Today has been warm and sunny with the odd short shower - perfect growing weather. I've cut a narrow gently curving path through our mini-meadow, tiny though it is. The newly cut bit has not really greened up yet but the effect is lovely and the light in the late afternoon was so beautiful....
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
10 Comments

Simply..if you buy only one book....

10/6/2014

9 Comments

 

..on learning to draw, make it this one!
Picture

I never liked how to draw books. It seemed to me they all said 'Do what I do and you can draw like me.' whereas this book by Betty Edwards will have you drawing in a way that is as unique to you as your signature is. I think it the most intelligent how to draw book out there. It's an interesting read and provides a fascinating insight into how we learn.

It also really does get down to basics. You might think of it as the equivalent of learning your abc, or piano scales, or first ballet positions.

When drawing skills were required in factories making carpets, textiles and pottery in 19C Britain all children were taught to draw. Some found it easier than others of course, as in any subject, but they all learned. It is not a mystery, it is a teachable, learnable skill. If you can ride a bike, drive a car or use a computer, you can also learn to draw.

The book won't make you an artist any more than playing scales will make you a musician, but if you have patience and the humility to be a beginner, you will in a few short weeks be drawing in a way that will probably surprise you!
9 Comments

Simply..open your garden for a good cause....

9/6/2014

12 Comments

 

I'll start with why shall I?

When I lived in Oxfordshire we spent every weekend from April to October of our first year there visiting gardens open under the Yellow Book scheme. It's a marvellous way to get to know a new area. We had a wonderful time! There were so many to choose from (we often managed several in one day), they were varied and fabulous -  grand country estates to tiny back yards in the city and we were struck by the generosity of the gardeners. If it was sunny people would put out rugs and cushions and encourage you to stay a while, the cream teas were to die for, the plant sales were irresistible. I do think gardeners on the whole are very sharing people.

When I came here to the shores of Loch Long on the west coast of Scotland and developed the garden, I realised how many good gardens there are tucked away and decided it was pay back time, so I invited some gardeners to apply to the Scottish Gardens Scheme with me. (This is our fourth time opening.) 

I do it to raise money for causes I believe in and in gratitude for all those visits we made.

And I do it because it's the best possible incentive to getting all those projects done!!

Picture
Digitalis purpurea alba.
Picture
The spotted one is 'Dalmation'..

I'd love to hear from anyone who has opened their garden (or is thinking about it!)

You will find more posts about opening the garden under Simply Grow June 2012 and June 2010 if you have time for a browse.
12 Comments

Simply grow....

8/6/2014

13 Comments

 

20 days to go to Open Gardens week-end....

The fifty white foxgloves are looking wonderful, and I did think of going out while it is still light to photograph them, but, forgive me, I'm just toooo tired.

If only I took my own advice (see yesterday's post) but the sun was shining, the promised rain didn't come and there is so much to do that I just kept going, and going.. and I so enjoyed it!

(If you are new to the blog I should tell you that Simply Grow is the category with by far the most posts.)


Picture




Posy of geum and geranium from the garden on the bathroom windowledge.

Picture


I don't usually buy flowers at this time of year but I couldn't resist these dazzling lime green alstro for £2 a bunch at Lidl.

I added some beech leaves to fill it out.

Off for a hot soak....

13 Comments

Simply..baby steps....

7/6/2014

10 Comments

 

Once I got over my indignant resistance to it ('But I'm not a baby!') I found this approach so useful! You will all have heard of it before, but have you actually tried it?

When I use it I get through tasks faster and with a lot less stress. A friend once cut out baby sized footprints from paper and laid them on the floor to remind herself...

Cath wants to organise her writing things (see comments on this post). Now if she is like me she'll want it all done NOW. Actually she is more sensible and talks of taking a month over the job, which tells me she probably knows all about and practices baby steps already - but just to use her task as an example -

In the past I would set to with great energy and enthusiasm, pull everything out - the stationery, cards, stamps, diaries, writings finished and unfinished, poems, books about writing - while making a vague sort of plan, then discover, you know how it is, that I can't put them all in one place until I've moved other things from the shelf and to do that I need to sort the said things into keep and find a place for, give away, throw away, put aside to return to owner, and ..all these decisions soon tire me out and now I have twice as much stuff to deal  with, and I feel overwhelmed and want to give up!

If I baby step it, I break the job down into tiny parts. The first part might be to collect together all my stationery from around the house into an empty cardboard box - and then, and this is the important bit for me - I STOP.

I've completed my task.

I've achieved something.

I feel satisfied.

I go and do something else.

When I come back maybe 10 minutes later, maybe next day, I have a little bit of a handle on the scale of the task and can decide the next baby step, and before I know it the job is done and , to my surprise, I've enjoyed doing it.

If you've never tried baby stepping you might try it on something you've been putting off....
10 Comments

Simply eat..simply draw....

6/6/2014

5 Comments

 
Picture


Sometimes I buy food because it looks good enough to...draw!
5 Comments
<<Previous

    Categories

    All
    Live Simply
    Live Simply
    Simple
    Simply Beautiful
    Simply Bin It
    Simply Chill
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Do A Good Deed
    Simply Draw
    Simply Draw
    Simply Eat
    Simply Fitter
    Simply Fun
    Simply Get Rid
    Simply Grow
    Simply Headspace
    Simply Holiday
    Simply Home
    Simply Home
    Simply Inspirational
    Simply Laugh
    Simply Learn
    Simply Listen
    Simply Live
    Simply Low Maintenance
    Simply Money
    Simply Move
    Simply Move
    Simply Organise
    Simply Paint
    Simply Routine
    Simply Seeing.. Or Not
    Simply Stylish
    Simply Venice
    Simply Write


    Author

    An artist seeking a simpler life - (but not too simple!)

    All words and images copyright Freda Waldapfel 2010 - 2020

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.