Chelsea Flower Show

I'm tempted to start off by saying I can't believe it is Chelsea Flower Show time again, but of course another year has flown by. Tony's a very long suffering husband as I like to tune in each evening to enjoy the delights of the gardens with Alan and the team. When I was at college I went to the show each year and it was amazing, very busy even though it was members day. Now I enjoy watching the show on TV, but I do miss the experience of being there. I love looking for ideas for our little garden which has evolved over the years. We moved in 2000 and inherited a garden paved from wall to wall with crazy paving. I attacked the edges and softened it with plants, but we weren't really happy with it. So in 2003 I designed the garden and we employed a local landscaper to do the hard landscaping. I then laid the lawn and planted up the flowerbeds. Finally six years later the garden looks lovely.

We have learnt lessons along the way about what will and won't grow in our little garden. It has sandy soil which is lovely to work with, but you must remember to pour in lots of mulch/ peat free compost. My parents garden always had thick London clay that was too wet for working in the winter and too dry and hard in the summer. Our garden catches the early morning sun, but by lunchtime/early afternoon in the summer the sun has disappeared behind the house on the right so it is quite shady. During the winter, sun hardly touches the garden at all. So it is more like a woodland garden without the trees. Happy gardening Jane x

Crafty Mojo Has Returned

I'm so pleased that my crafting mojo has come back, as I was beginning to wonder when I would feeling like picking up the needles again. This time though it is the cross stitch needle that appealed so I returned to an old friend - my poppy picture. It is a beautiful pattern from Cross stitcher Magazine issue 204. Yesterday Em and I went to Horsham and discovered that the English festival was on in the Carfax (square) there was a food fair and morris dancing. Lots of local groups from Sussex and 1 group from Surrey came to dance, some were all male groups others were all female and there were a group of scottish dancers, they were all very good. I didn't have my camera with me so these shots are taken with my mobile phone, 3.2mp. Tony has gone to Dubai on a business trip, and I'm missing him very much. He will be back at the end of the week. I hope you have a good week. Jane x

My Birthday

Last Sunday was my birthday, we went out to Amberley Working Museum, they had an industrial trains weekend. All the little quarry engines came out to play, some were the engines that used to work in the chalkpit carrying lime to the de Witt Kilns. Most of the engines were diesel, one was electric with a huge box full of batteries and there was one steam engine. The Museum has been busy with improvement and repairs and now that funding has been granted for the restoration of the De Witt Kilns further work is underway. Still not much knitting being done, more reading Last night I even picked up my cross stitch! I hope you have a lovely weekend, Monday is May Day Bank Holiday in the UK. Jane x

Books

During the Easter Holidays I spent my spare time reading as well as knitting. I have enjoyed three Elizabeth Chadwick novels, I couldn't find The Conquest for this photo. I have also been reading more of the No1 Ladies Detective Agency stories. My wrap has grown to nearly its full size and I have decided, when its finished, to crochet on at both ends a very pretty edging which I found in a book my parents gave me. It is by Nicky Epstein. It is full of the most wonderful edgings for all sorts of projects. Looking at my photo the wrap looks grey but it is infact a deep purple plyed with a creamy white. I hope you have a lovely week. Jane X

"Dorset is beautiful where ever you go" Part 2

Our trips out this week have included, Athelhampton house and Gardens which are beautiful and have many echos of Montacute and Barrington Court, but Athelhampton is privately owned. Lulworth Castle which was fantastic, it was destroyed in 1929 by fire. It was then rescued and roofed and stabilised, so you can see three floors from the ground floor. One of the towers has a steel stair case to the battlements which give 360 views of the castle lands. Later the same day we visited Lulworth Cove, we even tackled part of the coastal path to Durdle Door. The views were stunning.

We also visited Barrington Court for an Easter Egg Hunt then on Easter Saturday we went to Corfe Castle and later the same day we boarded the steam train to Swannage which was brilliant. I love steam trains despite being born after Dr Beeching wielded his axe on the railway. We visited a wonderful chocolate shop which hand makes all sorts of chocolate including the dairy-free variety. So Em did very well this Easter despite her dairy allergy. I bought the dairy-free bunnies as substitues for the Cadbury's egg she won on the Easter Egg hunt. Easter Sunday we went to Lytes Cary Manor and Easter Monday we visited Coldharbour Mill, Uffculme. The mill has some beautiful wool. Today we came home to Sussex with Ali. I hope you have a lovely week Jane x

"Dorset is beautiful where ever you go"

The title of this post is a line from a song sung by the Yetties and pefectly sums up the County of Dorset. Sunday afternoon we visited Tintinhull Gardens N.T. The gardens were beautiful, the tulips and magnolias were in bloom. Em took her sketch book with her to practise single line drawing of organic shapes. They will be doing more in art lessons at school after Easter. The pond in the photo was full of fish and lots of tiny tadpoles hiding in the clumps of iris. On Monday we went to Bath, to the Jane Austen Museum. It has a display of costumes of the period and tells the life story of Jane Austen, which was fascinating. We walked around the Royal Crescent and down the shopping streets. Tuesday - we visited Athelhampton House, it is a beautiful house and gardens, which we enjoyed discovering. I hope you have a good week. Jane

Dorset Here We Come!

We're off to Dorset, we've packed everything including the kitchen sink! I hope to post during the week but that depends on the time available and broadband connection. We've plans to visit Bath and lots of our favourite National Trust houses. I've packed some knitting and crosstitching and a couple of books to read. I hope you have a good week too. Jane x