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 small but interesting nursery which has some unusual plants and is very reasonably priced. I think we may well become regular visitors.
In less pleasant news, My mum-in-law is in hospital after a triple heart by-pass. Although she is being cared for by good people (thank you NHS staff), it is a horrible time. She is in Oxford, about an hour away, so we are arranging visits in shifts. Even though she isn't conscious it just feels right to have family around her. My father-in-law drives there and back every day, total devotion, he's a good man. Hopefully things will improve and she will be back with us soon.
Well, I'm off to make the dogs a hot weather treat, I put a few doggy treats in a shallow bowl, cover it with water and freeze it. Ta-Dah! Dog ice lollies. I think Len the sprollie developed brain freeze eating his hehehe.
Laters taters.
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 small but interesting nursery which has some unusual plants and is very reasonably priced. I think we may well become regular visitors.
In less pleasant news, My mum-in-law is in hospital after a triple heart by-pass. Although she is being cared for by good people (thank you NHS staff), it is a horrible time. She is in Oxford, about an hour away, so we are arranging visits in shifts. Even though she isn't conscious it just feels right to have family around her. My father-in-law drives there and back every day, total devotion, he's a good man. Hopefully things will improve and she will be back with us soon.
Well, I'm off to make the dogs a hot weather treat, I put a few doggy treats in a shallow bowl, cover it with water and freeze it. Ta-Dah! Dog ice lollies. I think Len the sprollie developed brain freeze eating his hehehe.
Laters taters.
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