And yes, I did deliberately bash her back-pack….

 

We were going stir crazy. The weather was wet, the garden was wet, the roads were wet, the allotment was wet, the cat was wet….. do you get the picture? ‘Lets pop off to Kew’ said the Doofer, it won’t be busy with this weather, we can go & see the orchids’. We are normally early birds & like to go to places as they are opening so as to avoid the lazy slothful stay-a beds but needs must…….

It started well, we parked very close to the gate, the rain had stopped pouring down, the gardens were quiet……but of course everyone who was there was in the Princess of Wales glasshouse. Now the modern parent has to free any small children from the confines of their buggies & let them roam free; the number of times I almost stood on one of these small things as I rounded a corner or tried to take an artistically important photo. That was not all, adult groups without children were as bad; standing talking whilst taking up the entire width of the pathway. And the lady with large back-pack? As I tried to squeeze past whilst she took not a blind bit of notice of this poor  person (me you understand) I suddenly decided to take matters into my own hands & quite deliberately bashed her back-pack as I passed. It made her swing round a bit but did not put her off her long & I am sure essential conversation with the others in her party.

What follows are some pictures of the orchids & other bits of Kew although I am a bit miffed that Ms Sock got to see them before I did & wrote her usual individual take on things, but I do my bit.

Outside, despite the weather, you could see that spring was if not exactly springing into life, at least making a valiant effort to put on a brave face.

 

And a few other pictures for your delectation.

Should I Keep Myself Regular….

……or should I await the urge?

Some people blog say once a week or even, god forbid, once a day. Other bloggers wait for the muse to come upon them & then get it all out for their avidly waiting public. The advantage of the regular blog is that it must instil some discipline into the author & there is nothing like a deadline to get the brain cells working. But then what if you have nothing interesting to say…….. yes, I know, I rarely do.

At this point I really should say how gob-smacked I was at the sudden huge (for me) influx of people who read my last blog entry. I must thank the talented, the wonderful Ms Arabella Sock & Mr James Alexander (my name is too big for a fairy cake) Sinclair for having me hanging on their coat tails. I am most smarmingly grateful. I think there were still a large proportion of new arrivals at Lack-A-Daisy looking for my bare bits. So, in their honour I give you………

……. my lawn. Yes, you did indeed read this correctly. It is a bit of my lawn. Not looking up to much I can hear you mutter dear reader. And whose fault is that? PIGEONS! Those vile dirty irritatingly stupid feathered creatures. I confess the grass was not the brilliant green sward I would have liked but I had lovingly aerated & top-dressed it in the autumn. This particular bit of lawn is under the bird feeders which are wired & protected so as to prevent the greedy buggers in question getting anything out of them, so what do they do but patrol up & down underneath all day long scooping up any little bit that falls to the ground whilst at the same time pounding my grass into obscurity.

This by the way, is the original bare bit, still looking bare though with lots of bulbs reaching through, & some attempt at pigeon protection going on as they don’t know how to walk round a delicate emerging shoot!

OK, rant over. I have presented you with a couple of other pictures taken in my garden which are of such small bits that you can’t see the crap!

Which reminds me, I don’t think I have the discipline to become regular.

A Tale of Two Hattiewats.

 

I know the RHS London Flower & Design Show is all about plants, gardens & gossip but as I joined my 100% cashmere friend, Arabella Sock, to hit the horticultural halls yesterday, we could not help but notice that we had the best 2 hattiewats by far. In fact I only spotted 2 other rather poor contenders for the crown & I feel we thoroughly deserved a Gold Medal for our seasonal display, beautifully & carefully presented. Yes, that is Gold, not any old Silver-Gilt showing you haven’t quite made it! I didn’t actually hear any but I am quite sure there were gasps of astonishment as we walked by.

 

OK, after that brief interruption for flowers, & to be fair the snowdrops did look quite magnificent , it is back to the important matter of the hats. I will show you the 2 pretenders to the crown….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am quite happy to point out their attributes: the first is very seasonal with the snowdrops but the spring effect is rather spoiled & over-shadowed by the main combination of colours, & as for the cow’s teat on the top…………. The overall effect of the second outfit was striking but I felt the wearer was making up for a rather half hearted hattiwat & hoping to blind the viewer.

Now for the important bit. Unfortunately I am unable to show you my own headgear in situ but I think you will be impressed at the magnificence of the beast I am about to show you.

The picture does not show the object at it’s best, but you can see how it is subtle yet sophisticated, smart & suave & of course extremely expensive. The impact was awesome.

 

You had better see a few more flowers. I went to the same show last year & remember being totally blown away by all the jewel like hepaticas. It was like looking in a sweet shop window although the one I bought is sitting in the greenhouse whilst I carefully ponder where to put it. Not so this year.

I am never sure about the design content of this show. There seems to be barely enough to get the brain cells moving, & what there was seemed to be rather dour looking. I did decide eventually that it was probably the lighting as even the bright yellow narcissi looked rather dull.

  

I did enjoy the show: it is a lovely way to see plants that are in season & perhaps to purchase something not otherwise easily available, but then it is very easy for me to get to. The company, as ever, was more than excellent. Oh god, I’ve just realised, I’ve become a lady what lunches!

I will leave you as I started, with the good ladies on the balcony of the Lawrence Hall.

Where shall I point Percy?

So dear reader, you are not interested in folk music then.

How about helping me with a bit of garden design. Well, when I say garden design I think this is probably on the fringes, niche even, possibly an edgy aspect of garden design. Or is it art?  We could even find ourselves reading about it in Thinking Gardens!

The dilemma I face is where to point dear Percy, & no, I don’t want to hear shouts of ‘At the porcelain’ thank you very much!

This is Percy…

Percy was given to us at Christmas. It is obviously well known that I am a Trollop of very poor taste who likes to place  works of art (which others might regard as tat) around her garden. With all the cold weather we have kept Percy snug indoors, but as spring approaches we need to put our minds to where Percy will be happiest & seen to best advantage by the visiting public.

The possibilities….

On the lawn……………………………. or on the deck?

      Next to the pond?

In the new bed (which should but may not be full of flowers)?

In my one tree woodland?

Under the window……………

 

 

 

                                   

                                                    or with the ducks?

 

I just don’t know.

I look forward to an avalanche of even 1 suggestion.

A Surreal Yet Totally Meaningless Title

So, at the risk of boring the socks off my reader, a bit of culture. I have popped on sandals over my socks & have got a finger stuck in one ear as it’s folk day on Lack-A-Daisy. No, I am not a folkie geek but I do enjoy lots of the music.

On Sunday it was a trip to Queen Elizabeth Hall to see The Imagined Village, a fantastic folk fusion. I loved the sitar. The line-up vwries to include Billy Bragg, Benjamin Zephaniah & Paul Weller, none of whom were there on Sunday!

The gig began with a support session from Chris Wood who got things going with a brilliant song about the death of Jean Charles de Menezes. I loved My Darling’s Downsized, his take on the love song  which contains references to allotments, celeriac & chitting potatoes. You can’t get much better than that. (You are allowed to skip to 3.55)

It is difficult to get a real feel for the evening: I just love live music of all sorts, you can’t beat it! All you have to do is enjoy.