Cruel Summer
Well ! summer has arrived, Hooray! At long last a chance to see people in badly fitting shorts and nasty tats, lolling outside pubs,screeching at their badly behaved brats-maybe that's just Northampton. I am back from Belgium, it was fabulous. Very posh hotel, The Metropole, stuffed with glorious art nouveau design. We ate way too much lovely food, we walked and we people watched. We drank buckets of good coffee in pavement cafes and visited the tiny but splendid Grand Place. I can't wait to go back. We also had a splendid time at Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland. Thirty-eight small gardens that were quite perfect, The scent of roses was giddying, The colour palettes were inspirational. The lovely Geoff Hamilton presented Gardeners World from here many years ago. The gardens also have a feeling of permanence unlike the "plonked down" stuff at Chelsea etc. There are seats and benches dotted about so you can sit and feast your eyes and take photos. They also have a sma...