AL FRESCO

We spent a lovely day in the garden yesterday, doing some of those jobs that have been building up during the recent rainy spell. But what better way to start a day of pottering than having breakfast al fresco? It was such a beautiful morning, and so quiet and tranquil in the garden, that we could almost have been in a remote holiday hideaway.





Pure Bliss - and just what gardens should be for.




If you have a mind at peace, and a heart that cannot harden,
Go find a door that opens wide upon a lovely garden.

DAMN AND DRAT YOU WIND

Is it me are are we suffering from unseasonal wind? (Well not me suffering from wind obviously, because of course I'm a lady and one simply just doesn't!) But LOOK what it's been and gone and done to me Euphorbia...



Spiflicated! And it was looking soooo lovely. This is Euphorbia Martinii and one of our favourites, its grows quite quickly and puts out a fabulous, long lasting, display of chartreuse green flowers with bright red centres. Now it's been squished flat by this horrible cold wind we're getting here in Stafford at the moment - are you suffering from it too?

I'm dreading doing the nightly tour just now as this wind is wreaking havoc on all the plants which are top heavy with new growth - I'm hoping my lovely alliums, just on the brink of bursting forth like lovely lavender fireworks, can take the strain.

On a brighter note though, my May favourites, the Aquilegias, are looking lovely. Here are some fab pics Moonshine Minor took a couple of evenings ago.





More from the grounds at Moonshine Manor anon, must go and Blog @ Maisie Moonshine's - ah me - my virtual life is soooo hectic.




Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.
Chinese proverb

I BLAME YOU MR MOONSHINE

... AND YOU ALONE!

So here I am again clicking away at the keyboard. Does he not realise I have other VERY IMPORTANT things to do?

MY TO DO LIST

• THE WEEKLY SHOP - Aaaaargh
• THE LAUNDRY - Double aaaaargh
• MENDING - yuck!
• Trying out my SUPER DUPER new camera - Yippee
• Scrapbooking - Mmmmm
• Card making - MUSTN'T forget!
• Maintaining my other two Blogs - I must be mad

and that's without opening the back door and stepping out into that other wonderful world of mine for some touchy-feely-freshy-greeny-dirt-under-the-fingernails-honest-to-goodness-no-body-bothers-me, ME TIME communing with MY GARDEN where there are many, many jobs to be done.

So why am I doing it?

Mr M is becoming what we call Chez Moonshine A NAG FEST (Imagine bolts of lighting, crashes of thunder - dum, dum dummmmm) about me keeping a photo record of our garden so we know what's where, when we have gaps in the planting, colours that work together etc, etc, etc. Of course I always have a million and one other things to do so I'm really bad at going out there and taking the necessary pics. Soooo - he, with the cunning of Mr Fox, having noticed how much I'm enjoying playing on my other Blogs (see side bar for details), suggested that I should "Do a Blog about the garden" and I, like the gullible fool that I am, took the bait and the rest, as they don't quite say, will be history.

So, please come in to the garden, look around and enjoy...

These are just some of the views in our really quite small garden, I'll show you more as we go along - and now I've got my SUPER DUPER new camera be prepared for some SUPER DUPER close-ups and other fancy photowork!

I really should go and do some of those VERY IMPORTANT things, although the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I can hear that Mr M has put the kettle on... Aaah - just time for a nice cup of tea in the garden ...

A garden isn’t meant to be useful. It’s for joy.

Rumer Godden