Blog Archives

Simply..hitting the pause button....

30/6/2016

I'm taking a tip from Barack Obama.

(That man is the epitome of cool. And I don't usually read the South China Morning Post but it was the most comprehensive review of what Obama said.)

It is July and the rosa glauca and campanula Anna Lodden are blooming together as I hoped they would. Here are a couple of good gardening blogs - struggles in opposite ends of the UK with Christine in the Outer Hebrides, who describes herself as 'the servant of the garden' at Gardening in a Gale and Jessica at Rusty Duck in Devon who will make you laugh about her battle with 'more munching critters than you can shake a garden fork at'. And see why Lucille will never be self sufficient...

Back soon.

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Simply..taking the long view....

29/6/2016

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Simply..night scents....

28/6/2016

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Do you grow the deliciously scented annual Matthiola longipetala - night scented stock?
A tiny sprig or two will scent the room in late evening into early morning. I have a little jar of it on most windowsills throughout the house.

It doesn't look much in the garden as the flowers close in daytime, and it is often grown along with Malcomia maritima, the pretty Virginian stock, to give colour during the day.

They are both easy to grow and there is probably still time to sow a row of them for late summer/autumn flowers.

It was one of my husband Barry's favourites and I am picking from the sowing I made when he died in February, so there is an added poignancy to the exquisite perfume.

Here is an article on the night garden by one of my favourite garden writers Dan Pearson.

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Simply..cultivate our gardens?

27/6/2016

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Voltairs's Candide, disillusioned with the world's affairs said Il faut cultiver son jardin.

Good idea!

Letting some areas of the grass grow and cutting paths through is working quite well so far, but it is a fine line between relaxed (which is what I am calling my new garden style!) and neglected.

On warm sunny days, of which we have had a lot in June, it looks romantic and lush, but when it gets flattened by rain or wind I have to say it just looks messy.

All in the eye of the beholder of course and if I am feeling good I love it, if I am panicking slightly that I will never be able to keep up the garden without Barry, not so good..

I think how you treat the edges and the perimeter makes all the difference. I try to keep border edges really sharp. I only cut the obvious ones, but with new super-sharp long handled shears it only takes minutes, and if I do it often I get away with not picking up the trimmings...you get the idea I'm sure...

This edge below used to get strimmed right up to the wall. Who knew there were so many marguerites in there?

Elsewhere alchemilla mollis and hardy geraniums hide a multitude of sins.

I never did get this bed weeded or the surface moss removed, but it doesn't show now. (Hope to tackle it in the autumn.)

I've decided the leaning fence looks whimsical and rather romantic. (Another job for autumn.)

It's so relaxed it's falling over!

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Simply..beautiful....

26/6/2016

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Spotted at the barbecue - a golden ringed dragonfly (I think?) I have just learned that a dragonfly holds its wings open when at rest, and a damselfly holds them closed....

Thanks to Jennie and Ross for the great photographs.

More on dragonflies and damselflies here.

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Simply..bliss....

26/6/2016

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Belated big birthday barbecue on the beach, basking in beautiful sunshine yesterday.

Strawberries and champagne, brilliant food and my lovely family.

Blessed.

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Simply..sad times....

24/6/2016

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..with yet more division in the world.

I remain at heart a European.

(The computer was fixed by removing the battery and leaving it overnight. Who knew? Laura knew. Thanks Laura. x)

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Simply..strange times....

20/6/2016

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I am enjoying Bill Bryson's book At Home and was intrigued by this passage about the Englishman Parson Woodforde who kept a diary from 1758 to for forty five years. 'A decent enough human being' according to Bryson, It seems he mainly recorded what he ate and Bryson notes -

Nor did anything much .of the outside world intrude. The American War of Independence is hardly mentioned. When the Bastille fell in 1789 he noted the fact, but gave more space to what he had for breakfast.

I do wonder whose lifestyle is the strangest, or the sanest, his or ours....

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Simply..troubled times....

19/6/2016

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Of course I ask myself What importance can flowers and bird nests and raindrops and umbrellas have in troubled times?

I think there is an argument for claiming that they are more important than ever..

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Simply..waiting....

17/6/2016

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for the oyster catcher's eggs to hatch.

Meantime here is some wonderful footage of nests and chicks. What patience wildlife photographers must have.

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Simply..and somewhat predictably....

15/6/2016

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A teeny-tiny flower arrangement..

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Simply..glam?....

13/6/2016

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I don't think glamour is really my style (!) but I was inspired by this theatrical and glamorous site to make a really big flower arrangement.

(The fuchsia 'Hawkshead' began as a small pot plant on the balcony of our previous house and is now 7 feet high by 10 feet wide.)

Nice, but it just needed....

the one and only really big flower in the garden right now!

Can you find material to make a bigger than usual arrangement? This one is nearly 3 feet (90cms) tall. Perhaps in the countryside, or a friend's garden, if you don't have one? I have been known to ask for leftovers on the pavement outside a florists - they were happy for me to take some away (it was foliage) and it lasted several days.

It's fun to try something different...

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Simply..mists and midgies....

12/6/2016

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The lovely long spell of beautiful weather has come to an end, as has the watching of the lark's nest which has been predated. There are snakes, pine marten and weasels, birds of prey and cats - who knows which took an egg and rolled the other out of the nest and made the mother bird abandon it. Sad.

The oyster catcher is still sitting though....

And the trees are full of fledgling tits robins and wrens.

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Simply..some pictures....

10/6/2016

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Uploading photos to the blog is really cumbersome and slow since I changed to Windows 10. I am seriously thinking of changing back.

So, not edited the way I would like, or sized or positioned on the page, here is a random selection - roses at breakfast (thank you Lucy!); Jennie's wonderful garden - she has an excellent eye for scale and colour; the place where I sit and birdwatch on the shore; a vase of azalea mollis which has scented the room for over a week; the creative mowing regime is working out well so far....

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Simply..sleeping in the sun....

8/6/2016

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I fell asleep here this afternoon...

The umbrella, given to me in April, has not yet been used in rain,

but has been well used as a sunshade..

I do love those 'Country Living' moments!

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Simply..surviving the heat....

6/6/2016

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..and still getting the gardening done.

Fifteen minutes mowing..

Thirty minutes in the hammock!

I hope you are getting some sunshine too.

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Simply..in praise of....

4/6/2016

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Fly Lady!

I am so grateful to Fly Lady. During these last few difficult months she has kept my house clean and me sane.

Her website is fussy, dated-looking, over complicated and sometimes confusing, and you could spend hours on it, but here is my tip -

One - Go to FlyLady.net

Two - Click on Launch Pad, then Flight Plan

Three - Do what it says

Don't question it, alter it, postpone it, think you can improve on it, just do what it says and over a few months you will find running your home is easier than it has ever been. You don't need to spring clean any more, you don't need to think any more!

Just doing what I am told is unusual for me! (But it does depend who is doing the telling...)

This is filed under Simply Organise and Simply Routine and I apologise for forgetting to put posts into categories lately....(must get more organised?)

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Simply..also watching....

3/6/2016

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..two oystercatchers eggs in a little indentation on the beach...no lark chicks yet.

I used to wonder why we heard the oystercatcher's piping cry at night until I realised they eat mussels and feed not according to daylight, but according to the tides. You can hear their cry here.

Long hot sunny days - amazing.

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Simply..hitting the pause button....

Simply..taking the long view....

Simply..night scents....

Simply..cultivate our gardens?

Simply..beautiful....

Simply..bliss....

Simply..sad times....

Simply..strange times....

Simply..troubled times....

Simply..waiting....

Simply..and somewhat predictably....

Simply..glam?....

Simply..mists and midgies....

Simply..some pictures....

Simply..sleeping in the sun....

Simply..surviving the heat....

Simply..in praise of....

Simply..also watching....

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