Day Out

I had a day out on Friday. I took a day off work and went to the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire with my mother. We had a wander around the show gardens, but to be honest, there really wasn’t much to inspire me. So many show gardens now are contemporary in their style and have a fondness for concrete and I just don’t like them. We then headed for the floral marquee. This is my favourite place at any garden show. There were so many lovely flowers. I could have spent a fortune but I was good and restricted myself to buying what I really wanted.

I have craved some alliums for years so bought some bulbs. Two different types, Purple Sensation and Christophili and some lilies. A bit later on we met up with my aunt and uncle and had lunch. By the afternoon, unfortunately, the rain came and it was torrential, thunder rain. Everyone retreated into the marquees, making them packed out. After sheltering under a canopy for a while, Mother and I decided to call it a day and made our way back to the car, getting drenched in the process! Despite the rain, it was a good day out but I can’t help but think these shows always look so much better on the television!

The garden above was planted with flowers to attract bees.

I bought some little cane tops. I'm not sure that they are much use but the look very pretty!

Recent Buys and Finds

I bought some Cath Kidston smelly sachets today to try and make my house smell a bit sweeter! When I got back from my holiday, I realised, after being away from my home for a while, how musty and old it smells!! I think it is because we've exposed all the old plaster and beams or it could just be because I don't do much cleaning!!

I am gradually getting around to painting chairs to go with my kitchen table but I thought we could do with something a bit more comfortable to sit on so I found these cushions on Ebay. You get four for twenty quid which isn't bad I think. They are Sandersons Chelsea print which amazingly, matches the colours of the chairs.

I am collecting pewter. I have the grand total so far, of two pieces! I bought this pewter plate from Cellar Antiques in the Yorkshire Dales a couple of weeks ago. I would love an oak dresser to display them on but finances won't allow so for now they will have to sit on the mantlepiece.

I feel very lucky to have this gorgeous object. It was given to me by my aunt when I visited her in Scotland recently. It is a glass dump from the Pilkington Glass factory in St Helen's near Liverpool. I remember it from my childhood and always admired it so couldn't quite believe it when she said I could have it.

This lovely little bottle was found in a hole in the ground! Well actually, the electricity men dug it up when they came to move a cable than ran across our garden. They dug a dirty great big trench across my lawn but did at least put it all back again after moving the cable. This Mason's Extract bottle was one of many that my brother managed to rescue before they filled the trench back in - bottles and all.

These are two images from my kitchen calendar. Every month is funny but I find Dec and July a real hoot. It is by a company called Kiss me Kwik and they produce hilarious (well in my opinion anyway) cards and gifts.

Holiday Snaps

I'm back from my break now and my garden has survived thanks to mother and her hard work watering every day, but I was right about everything finishing in the hot weather, there is hardly a flower left.

First stop on my trek up to Scotland was the Yorkshire Dales. I went to Aysgarth to see the falls, famous for their appearance in the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner! Despite the fact that it rained non stop all day, there wasn't a lot of water coming down the falls but they were still very pretty.
Next stop was Prudhoe near Newcastle. This is where my cousin lives with his wife Cathy and their three sons, Harry, Oli and Theo. It was only an overnight stop but it was really nice to see them all again as we don't meet that often because of the distance. We were treated to a very nice meal including a delicious chocolate pudding made by Theo!

Theo adding the finishing touches to his chocolate pudding

The next day we headed up to Portgordon, a fishing village in Scotland to stay with my aunt and uncle and to see my other cousins who live nearby. We arrived at about 6.00 pm, had dinner and then went for a long walk along the beach. It was a beautiful evening and as it doesn't go dark in the summer months, the sun was still shining when we went out at 10.00 pm.

Sunset over the North Sea at Porgordon with HMS Ark Royal on the horizon

More sunset

No trip to Scotland is complete without a visit to Dallas. It was smaller than I imagined and we didnt get to see JR Ewing!! My brother and I now add to the list of idiots who have stood beside the sign for a photo!

We visited a couple of castles and this one is the very Harry Potteresque, Fraser Castle

Me (far right) with some of my family Delphiniums at Fraser Castle

Fraser Castle

Another castle, this time, Brodie Castle, owned by the National Trust

Brodie Castle

It was lovely to see the newest member of the family, Deri, who is 9 months old.

More Garden

I have been around my garden today photographing all the flowers. I'm off to Newcastle tomorrow to stay with my cousin and then on to Scotland for break. I'm away for over a week so am hoping that my garden will not be too frazzled by the time I come home. The weather here is very hot at the moment so I'm sure everything will be more or less finished by the time I return home. My mum has offered to be on watering duty while I'm away.

The poppies and delphiniums are looking really lovely at the moment.