Start September with Positive Thoughts

Hallo again everyone. It's been a while!  I hope you are all keeping in good spirits as we start the new month and start to enter a new Season. 

Can you believe it's September already?!  Even in this most strangest of years, the days, weeks and months still seem to be galloping by. This will certainly be a year that we will never forget!  Even though people are gradually out and about a bit more now, everything is so different. But oh the joy of meeting up with a friend and actually going out for lunch after five months!  Something that I used to do all the time. My, how we used to take things for granted!

As you can see from the above photo, this is the time of the year when I start cutting back in the garden, which I was doing yesterday. I always call it putting the garden to bed until the next year. Fortunately, the roses are still doing splendidly, and the geraniums are still giving plenty of colour. 

Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to start the new month with some positivity, and so I am including a few quotes courtesy of Pinterest.com. I think we can all do with these.  

Don't forget to hang on to HOPE.  There's never been a better time to say......this too shall pass....and it will.  Look after yourselves little peeps and keep safe. 

I'll leave you with a couple of pics of little Benji, who loves to play hide and seek in the garden. Hopefully they might make you smile 😊 

Sunday Snaps

It’s that time of the year, over here in England, when we ‘put the garden to bed’ once again, although this October we are still experiencing warm, sunny weather. The light always seems so clear at this time of the year. I took this photo the other morning, as the sun was rising across the fields next to the garden....

There are still so many roses blooming at the moment, although I’m sure that they will finish flowering once the mornings start to get a little chilly. 

I think the colours of Autumn are shown really well in the following photos - it really is like having a carpet of gold in the garden 🍁🍂🍁

Every year I like to plant winter flowering pansies in the tubs, so that their colourful faces brighten each day! 

All the photos here today have been taken in the past week. This was my attempt at a little Autumn display!

Don’t forget to just double click on any image if you want to enlarge it.  I think the following quote (courtesy of Pinterest.com) is always worth remembering 

It’s hard to believe, but this little tub of flowering daisies has been in full bloom since June and, even though it is now October, it is still covered with buds!

So then, I hope you have enjoyed my Sunday Snaps feature today,  of my Autumn garden. I will leave you with this thought .... ❤️. (Pic courtesy of Pinterest).

A Trip To The Movies ....

For some reason, Sunday seems to be the day that I write my Blog Posts at the moment, so here I am again!  I hope you’ve all had a good week.  

I’ve seen two excellent films recently, both of which I can highly recommend. The first one being ‘The Darkest Hour’ with that excellent actor, Gary Oldman, playing the part of Winston Churchill.  Sir Winston certainly had a way with words, and that is why his speeches invigorated our Nation.  I was only made aware a couple of days ago that he helped to write the speech for the Abdication of Edward viii ....’......I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King.... without the help and support of the woman I love.’

Going back to Sir Winston, who could ever forget the words ....

     ‘We shall defend our Island whatever the cost may be.  We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight 

                                                   in the  fields and in the streets.  We shall fight in the hills;  we will never surrender.’

I realise that a lot of this is pure rhetoric , and some people reading this might not agree with the sentiments, but don’t forget, this was a different time.  This was the situation we were in, when we were in real danger of being invaded at any time.  

Anyway, on to the second film, which is The Post, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks.  Meryl plays the part of Kay Graham, Publisher of The Washington Post.  Her father left the paper to her husband, but when he died, Kay has to take over the reins, and she is quite uncertain about fulfilling this role.  In fact, the Editor of the paper, Tom Hanks, certainly treats her with disdain at the start of the film, but it is very interesting to watch her character evolve as the film progresses, and she really does come into her own by the end of the film.  

The story is based on The Washington Post as it struggles to uncover the unpalatable truth behind the Vietnam War, and the cover up that occurs with the truth being withheld from the American people.  A cover up that, in fact, spanned the Terms of four U.S. Presidents.  It did make me wonder whether we can trust any Government. I’m sure there is so much that goes on without the general public being aware of it! 

On a lighter note, I am delighted to say that we have some dry, bright weather here in heavenly Devon (at last) and I actually worked in the garden for a couple of hours yesterday morning!  That felt good, I can tell you.  

Well, I think that’s about it for today, but I will leave you with another quotation.  This one, along with the Sunday quote at the start of this Post, is courtesy of Pinterest.com. Bye for now. 

Summer Colour In The Garden

Hello again. I can only hope that you enjoyed the first tour of my garden, as I now take you into Summer...

 

Quote courtesy of Pinterest.com

 

 

 

Years ago, I used to spend so much on bedding plants, but for a long time now, I have bought Perrenials which come up year after year. 

 

 

With the size of the garden, I decided to invest in a greenhouse about three years ago, and, really, it was such a good buy. All plants now are bought as tiny little plug plants and then re-potted until they are ready to go into the earth. 

 

 

You might have noticed little statues dotted around. I do like to have lots of little things of interest to catch the eye. If anything ever got rusty, I used to throw it away, but have you noticed when you visit Garden Centres and the like, 'rust' is all the rage now. So I hang on to them and, and find that I actually really like things that have an aged appearance. Bit like me really. Oh! Talking of moi....

 

I look very composed there, don't I?!  They say that the camera never lies, although these days with all the editing tools that are around, that's not quite true!  Anyway, I was bending down trying to take a Selfie whilst trying to get the garden in the right position behind me, when I fell into the plants! My glasses came off and I was ten minutes or so looking for them in amongst the foliage. But...ever the trooper...I managed to get my photo!

 

 

The following photo was taken in the early evening, as the sun was going behind the trees, and it was evening in the next photo as well. I have to say that I love catching the garden in this light. It is so much softer - I just love it!

 

 

Aren't the Lupins glorious?!  I was so pleased with them, as they were only put in earlier this year. As they faded, I took a lot of seeds, and new plants are coming along nicely in the greenhouse, even as we speak.

 

I think, and this is just my personal opinion, that I left the best photo to last. The above photo was taken at dusk and, to me, actually being there, it was absolutely magical. If a couple of little fairies had appeared, I wouldn't have been a bit surprised. The colours of the plants and the sky, the warmth of the air.... or was it the glass of wine in my hand ....  no, no, I'm kidding. There was no glass of wine - just me, nature, and one of those perfect balmy, Summer evenings. 

I do hope you'll pop over again on Sunday, for the second edition of Sunday Solace. Take care ....

Snapshots Of An English Garden

Hi everyone,

 

Well, it's that time of the year over here in England, when we start 'putting the garden to bed'. I do still have quite a bit of colour in the garden here in Devon, with a lovely second flush of roses, but the perennials that have well finished flowering, I am cutting back to the ground, before Winter sets in, and it gets too cold (or wet!) to be working outside. 

It occurred to me that you lovely people who may be new to reading this Blog, haven't seen my garden here in heavenly Devon, so I thought I would post a few photos that I have taken over the past few years. To start off with, which one of us cannot be cheered by 'a host of golden daffodils', heralding the start of Spring, and the promise of longer days ahead, as the garden starts its new season once more. 

 

 

 

Following the daffodils, other bulbs soon start appearing, and I do like to have lots of pots around. In the last photo above, you will see pretty coloured pansies. I do love their little faces!

 

Roses do feature heavily in my English garden. I have just picked out a few for you today. Maybe I can publish a Post just on roses if you would be interested 

 

 

The rest of the photos were really just taken during the Summer months. 

 

Well, that last photo was just a taster!  I suddenly realised that if I posted any more photos today, it would be an overkill!  So I will post the Summer photos in a couple of days. I do hope you have enjoyed the little tour of my garden.  If not, I don't mind if you all Boo and Hiss - I won't be offended!!

If you double tap on any of the photos, it should bring up a larger picture for you. 

See you soon.