Thursday 21 June 2012

Father's Day

A beautiful morning walk along this stretch of river only two minutes from our back gate.  The water was quite coloured and running fairly high after the recent rains.






















What a blessing, a lovely daughter who is also a wonderful cook.  A celebratory meal in good company and a fantastic bottle of his favourite tipple made it all a really special day for this really special Dad.




                                                                         
Cheers!

Friday 8 June 2012

Hosepipe Ban !!!!



For the last month we have had a hosepipe ban in this area.  Almost since the day it was enforced we have had nothing but torrential rain.  I am a great believer in nature taking care of itself and so now we are paying the price for two dry winters and little spring rain.  The roses are beautiful at the moment, Compassion on the cottage wall and Zephirine drouhin over the arch and they smell divine as you walk past but the rain is taking its toll and the wind is blowing the petals to shreds.

Rosa Zepherine drouhin

Tomorrow I should have been hosting a garden party for 40 people but sadly we have had to reorganise to an indoor location because of 40 mph gusts of wind and continual downpours.

40 mph wind in our apple trees
 Why are we not surprised or fazed by any of this  -   because actually it is just a traditional English summer.  Note to the Powers That Be - don't bother calling off the hosepipe ban the last thing we need to do is water the garden, we are busy giving our plants swimming lessons.!!