Back To The Garden

Hello! A couple of days after getting back from Kefalonia Jon & I met up with Claire and Gareth for what's becoming an annual event, an afternoon at Gifford's Circus in my favourite part of the UK, the glorious Cotswolds. I'd kill for an hour in this truck. 

This year's event was held at Sudeley Castle, best known as the final resting place for Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's sixth wife, and the theme was Avalon, hence Claire & I's nod to Medieval style with our vintage maxi dresses. Our photos of the circus performances weren't a patch on Claire's so do check out her post HERE.  

With the weather being mostly glorious Jon & I have spent almost every waking hour outdoors trying to tame the garden which, with festival life returning to normal, we'd neglected for the last couple of summers. 

During lockdown we'd attempted to grow more edibles but with limited success (there's just too many trees!) and with us being away a lot during the summer it's hardly fair to expect our friends to water the garden and be on pest control so it's back to the basics; apples, raspberries, redcurrants, rhubarb, blackberries, gooseberries, pots of cut and come again salad leaves and hopefully more figs from the tree we planted last year.

Apart from a £5 Clematis Montana rescued from the clearance shelf in B&Q, we've not bought anything for the garden this year. With the abundance of ferns, cranesbill, fleabane, sempervivum, London's Pride, Euphorbia and crocosmia, all we've done is divide the clumps we already have and replanted them elsewhere.

The rose arch was an online lockdown buy from the much-missed high street shop, Wilko. Eventually my new Clematis should scramble up it but, in the meantime I've splashed out £6 on some B&M solar fairy lights and threaded them through the arch to add a bit of interest. It doesn't look much in the photo but it looks absolutely magical after dark (or that could have been the rum we'd consumed!)

Although the house is due to be painted during the Summer I couldn't not plant up my window boxes - always with geraniums so I can pretend I'm in Greece. 

These Oriental poppies are always a joy when they flower, it's hard to resist the temptation of peeling off their furry jackets and helping them on their way.

Our boys are loving the warm weather almost as much as we are. The first night we were home William spent it cuddled up in bed with us, reluctant to leave our sides, since then he's been sleeping outside in his catio or keeping Jacob company.

I don't know about you but I'm beyond excited for the new series of The Great British Sewing Bee which starts on BBC1 tomorrow (Tuesday) night. I was thrilled to spot this whopper of a book in a charity shop on the way home from the baths last week. I don't think it's ever been used, all the patterns are pristine. Not bad for £3!

 In honour of The Bee I'm wearing one of my me-made dresses. Originally a set of curtains I spotted at a car boot sale, the vintage fabric, featuring Grace Sullivan's iconic Tree Tops screen print, sold at hip London store Heal's in 1971 and commands silly money online (I paid £2!) 

The pattern is by Kenzo and dates from 1970. 

When I checked through the archives I discovered it was ten years ago yesterday when I first shared this dress on my blog (HERE)!!! A whole decade gone in the blink of an eye.

These gorgeous tribal bangles were awaiting me when I got home from Greece. A wonderfully kind blog reader, Marjorie, bought them from a market in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1982 and thought I might like them. Like them? I absolutely love them! And yes, Marjorie, I'll definitely keep up with the exercise, you're so right about it - and a positive attitude - keeping us young!

Talking of kind gestures, Claire gave me a bag of goodies when we met up at Gifford's including some marvellously kitsch vintage vinyl. I remember dancing to Paloma Blanca at the Blue Coat Junior School Leavers Disco in July, 1978. I can even remember what I wore, a black floral off-the-shoulder cotton maxi dress from Van Allan and some black wedge sandals (I was a very sophisticated 11 year old with a very cool mum!) The gorgeous little cat was handmade in Prague, a groovy mermaid makeup mirror and two books. 

Andy, one of our swimming buddies, went to Thailand for a month and promised to bring me back an elephant... he bought me two (and a fridge magnet). With his travel tales and the current series of Race Across The World, I really fancying a trip to Thailand. In the meantime I might reread The Beach for the millionth time. 

This week we'll mainly be found in here....it's almost festival time...yippee! 

Thanks for reading, see you soon!