Fantastic Flowers

I must say and I am being completely bias but honest, that the garden looks fabulous on the whole - the herbaceous border is amazing, the annuals and rose garden is really coming into its own and the vegetable patch is blooming. A surprise for this year was the creation of a wonderful rockery but the manly beloved - he moved a whole load of concrete from the old path and earth and a few old tree stumps to make a stunning structure, which is really coming into its own.

There is still work to be done nearer the house - aquilegia-tastic but I will be weedkilling today. I KNOW it is better to dig it out, more organic etc but they are a total nuisance and must die!! The herbaceous border is GORGEOUS; so many plants kindly donated by my mother last year have really come into their own. I can really see that as the plants become more established they flourish and really do bloom more and look stronger. The success flower in the Spring has to be the lupin - three lowly plants put in last year have created towering spikes of candy floss that are still blooming now in July. I keep cutting the old spikes down to the nearest leaf and another albeit slightly smaller one pops up in its place.

Other successes this year are the Cirsium - I think the tallest was about five foot and all May the bumble bees (of which there have been masses) have been snuffling right into the densely packed petals getting their fix of honey for the day.

Plants that are really coming into their best now include the Monarda, which only seems to grown well in my garden; I keep giving my mother and sister cuttings but they don't seem to take, which is frustrating as it is a lovely flower. The pink Gypsophila is taking off and I love the scent it gives off plus the fact it is a great flower for cutting. It sits quite happily next to the Lavender and Mexican Daisy with yellow Sage and dwarf Amaranthus poking through at intervals. It has been a good year for Heucharas - my Mocha has grown to be vast and I'll probably chop a bit off for mum later in the year. Dead nettles are still proving to be lovely ground cover that stretches over the patch to make the whole area look a little more established.
Roses I must say have not been that great in my opinion; we discussed this yesterday and think we will give them a really good feed at the end of the season and lots of farmyard manure. Annuals are filling up the spaces where we have no roses and I'm very pleased with myself and my annual trials. I have had immense success with Briza grasses, aforementioned Dwarf Amaranthus, Cerinthe or 'Honeywort', Black Boy Cornflowers, the most amazing Black Peony Poppies, the Cosmos purity and Zinnia envy are on their way as are the Scabious, Agrostis, Anethum or 'Dill' and the simple but very pretty Oriental nights Allysum. I will definitely grow annuals again next year as they are so easy and are out of the greenhouse before the toms, etc need the space.

Holidays Galore

So when we decided to book a honeymoon we procrastinated for days and virtually traveled the globe in search of somewhere suitable at what could possibly be the worst time of year for honeymoons - December, Christmas and New Year!! Jolly good planning there especially as we delayed the wedding to December because of my work....which is now no longer (hoorah) - sod and his law!!

We were going to do Tanzania (too expensive), then it was going to be Thailand backpacking (too many 'orible backpackers spaced out on ecstasy), then Goa/Kerala (underlying concern that we didn't want to have to do poverty on our honeymoon - harsh but true), almost became Kenya (although desparate for our business the massive hotels there abused tourists enthusiasm for returning by adding on Christmas supplements just for being there and then New Year supplements just for being there and we're not talking a couple of quid - £700 per hotel!!!!) until we finally plumped for Stan's first choice of South Africa.

Very excited as we're seeing a lot but also not rushing too much, only thing I'm a little sad about is missing out on a luxury beach moment but I think what we're going to do is fabulous. Lowveld, Kruger, Cape Town and the Cape Winelands - heavenly. We're self-driving most of it except in the Kruger and I have managed to pick a honeymoon where we fly a total of six times...as you all know I DON'T DO FLYING!!!!! gulp

At the weekend a friend said casually to me "I expect you won't be going on any other holidays with that big one planned?"...how little do people know of us! We couldn't possibly be content with no holidays until December - outrageous. We're off to Switzerland for two weeks in September - posh camping!!! The not so mighty EURO looked decidedly poor value for a trip to euroland so we went for the neutral party in Europe - the gorgeous Switzerland. We're staying at a campsite that I visited with my brother and parents a LONG time ago and I'm sure it is going to be every bit as beautiful as it was back then.

Dotted throughout the summer we'll be weekending on the beloved's boat as we did last weekend - it was glorious weather so we did any overnighter on the Thames, which was great fun. We moored up in (yes IN not to) a tree at Cliveden and enjoyed a lovely evening's walk up to the house itself for some stunning views over Berkshire. Supper was book reading with chorizo and crispie canapes plus a glass of Lidl's best red with the sun setting over the river. Yes it really was that romantic!! I think the beloved fiance was pleasantly surprised at my ability to be Second Mate and keep everything sorted at locks, etc, given that he also thinks I'm a little adverse to giving things a go. It was a great trip and we really did work well together - hardly a cross word and lots and lots of laughs. I think taking a 70+ year old wooden boat out together on the Thames is a great way to see if couples can work well together!

Shall we move??

Yes it has been a seriously long time since I have written anything on my blog, predominantly because I haven't felt like it as work has been one the gruesome side but now I'm out the other end with the great unknown in front of me I feel a whole lot better.

In the time that I have been away from my blog a whole lot of things have been happening both in the garden and with me. The beloved and I decided to move house to Wiltshire and then decided to move to the Test Valley and then decided to stay in Reading although we have confirmed we would ultimately like to live in that area around the river Test whether it be slightly North of Andover or slightly West or South, its that area. We actually did go and look at some houses and got our pad valued and ready for sale but his work played a part in knocking some sense into us and making us realise that we like our creature comforts so will only move when we're financially happy with it. Perhaps the reaction was to my strife at work and a way of escaping it all but once I gave my notice in, the panic subsided and the worse case scenario of temping/looking for a new wasn't that bad after all. Reading is okay; just not what we like in an area especially when your dodgy window cleaner attempts to break in through the cat flap and the car gets keyed just 'for the fun of it' but hey it can happan anywhere!!

The short term plan means we remain in Reading - we really have to now as the prices are falling a little although not as much as in some places as Reading is always a relatively hot spot of property given its economy and proximity to London. Medium term i.e. 2-5 years would see us moving out and into our 'family home' if we have a family that is but we would definitely have a dog or two by then so they would need the space!! Five years plus sees us staying in aforementioned family home and living with roses round the door, apple trees in the garden, sun beaming into the kitchen with the smell of something delicious cooking in the aga and gin and tonics at six o'clock sitting in the summer house enjoying the lovely weather. Ahem....reality hits as I awake from my lovely dream :)