Category: Nature

Cool church on a warm day

One sunny afternoon, before the monsoon season, we went to the burial ground to see how the native cherry we planted on mother’s grave was faring in the drought. Walking through the meadow, we took the footpath to the nearby church of St Nicholas.

Interesting chapel which houses the tomb of the Knollys family. You can see the effigies of Sir Francis Knollys and his wife, Catherine, lady in waiting to Elizabeth I, and niece of Anne Boleyn.

You may remember a previous post about Greys Court, and the connection with the Knollys family.

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Open Gardens

The Yellow Book Scheme is a very British thing it seems to me. The premise being to
open your garden and invite folk in, sell tea, cake and cuttings, then give the takings to charity.
The charities they support are close to my heart and I love going around gardens, especially those gardens which are on a scale that I can relate to my own small patch. I’m always on the look out for ideas that I may be able to translate for my own use.

Yesterday afternoon we walked around a collection of gardens which had opened together, in one little community. It was a true ‘village affair’ – with the village hall open for tea and cakes, and 7 gardens open.  It was warm and there was a breeze – a quintessential English afternoon, just like you may see in ‘Midsomer Murders.’

The village topology is very different from ours, even though it is only a few miles away. Our village is flat: not a contour in sight. The village we explored yesterday is steep and has a river running through it.

To my mind it was a bargain – £5 a head, plus a little for the tea later on.

Early summer border

Continue reading “Open Gardens”

Backlit

Yesterday a day in the garden, admiring the contrasting leaf textures, light effects and …. well relaxing and then working! Today’s work entailed, amongst other things the deconstruction of an over grown shrub – how very satisfying – the contrast between before and after. Space for a new tree perhaps?

Geranium, back-lit Continue reading “Backlit”

Curiouser and curiouser – USA-style

So a fella goes to Wal-Mart to buy some mulch for his legal marijuana plants. Nothing unusual so far, eh? He goes to brush a stick out of the way and ouch! It’s just a small but not-so-inoffensive rattle-snake. He survived, the shopper that is.

Sometimes it’s not SO boring living in Vikingland!

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/15/oukoe-uk-usa-walmart-rattlesnake-idUKBRE84E02N20120515