Pour Moi?

Nothing beats that Friday feeling other than an award!

The lovely Helene over at Graphicality-UK has kindly given me the coveted Lovely Blog Award and as always with such honours comes a whole batch of legally binding rules & regulations that must be obeyed for fear of death or worse!

Firstly I must thank my Nominator with a link back to their blog....Tick

Secondly I must reveal 7 things about myself....now I wasn't sure if this meant a seductive, strategically positioned piece of silk revealing 7 bits of me such as a shin or elbow. So I'm going to go for the safe option of more random facts for your delight & delectation. Brace yourselves....

1. I have an acute fear of flying & have been hypnotised in the past in order to actually get on a plane.

2. I'm 5'2" tall and what I lack in height I make up for in...hmmmmm...er....I'll get back to you on that one.

3. The first words that I utter each morning without fail are..."2 more minutes"

4. All time fav' song...'Are Friend's Electric' by Gary Numan

5. My fav' daughter was 15 this week which means I'm gonna have to start lying about my age.

6. Avid card-maker

7. Fav' food...lamb chop (s)

So there you go....my final task is to nominate 10 fellow bloggeroonies equally deserving of The Lovely Blog Award. I shall share with gardeners & crafters...

Faye - Stampin' Fluff n' Stuff

Indie - Red House Garden 

Jak - Jak Heath 

Beth - Day Lily Soup 

Julie - Catch Me Crafting 

Virginia - Tangent Gardening 

Debby - Debby 4000 

Crystal - Yorkshire Buddings

Chrissy - Chrissy's Cardland

Elaine - A Woman of the Soil

Have a Groovy Weekend All

The Other Woman

I had my suspicions about Mr TG and another woman.

The signs were all there....disappearing off outside, unexplained receipts, a wry smile when he returned, a sense of happiness & a skip in his step. 

The floosie in question?

Mrs J. Bradshaw (Geum) 

 She's a flaming red, semi-double flowering beauty' he gushed.

'Hmmmm'...said I....'she's flamin' everywhere!'

Not content with one Mrs J.Bradshaw we now have several.

Deep is Mr TGs passion for his new love.

At least that's what I thought....No sooner had ol' 'Bradders' wormed her way into my husbands heart another more up-market wench appeared in the shape of Lady Stratheden (Geum)

Now she is a posh bird, even has the RHS Award of Garden Merit

(I have a red 25 meter swimming badge...Woop! Woop! But alas they don't compare apparently)

Again, not content with one Lady, we now have several around the Tidy Garden flaunting her wares to all n' sundry.

So where does that leave Geum Borisii?

More of a Plain Jane, more to my liking. I have approved of this relationship. Smaller & far less blousy than the other 2 harlots, Borisii provides a subtle flash of sweet, peppery orange here n' there amongst the usual garden colours.

Now where has he disappeared to...?

Caught him!

Hugging Mrs J.Bradshaw.

Dropwort

It's hard to pick a fav' plant from the Tidy Garden at the moment without upsetting one of them.

Everything is performing (except the Peony...grrr), but as I stroll around it's the Dropwort that I bought about 10 years ago that's catching my eye this week.

I bought this from a garden centre down the road that was closing down. I don't know what the attraction was at the time, knowing me...it was probably the price...if it's cheap or slightly sad looking I'll give it a go.

I knew nothing about Dropwort back then but boy did I discover a cracker!

It's a native perennial wildflower found on chalk & limestone downs...and in our back yard, which has zero chalk & limestone!

I only bought one tiny plant but have since divided it & poked it in various locations around the garden in full sun, shade, good soil and atrocious soil (if you can call it soil at all), even pots.

The leaves are feathery and fern-like, evergreen and clump-forming. The flowers appear as teeny pink buds on slender stems up to 2' tall before bursting like sparklers (getting all poetic now!) into hundreds of tiny flowers about 1cm across each. They flower all summer & simply need the stems snipped at the end of the year.

Another one of those plants that just does it's job, no fuss...if you buy any plant (or seeds), get a Dropwort...trust me...it is perfect in everyway.

Initiation Over

(Alien-like Aquilegia flower bud)

Thankfully Mr TG's 2 month probation period is finally over.

He is now officially qualified to use a pair of secateurs without the aid of a safety net (or the need to sellotape flower-heads back on!!)

(Relax Sigourney, it's just a pretty flower)

BUT, he still insists on grass cutting with a scythe.

Business Name Change

In light of the horrendous gale force winds that have swept across dear ol' Blighty over the past 24 hours, I doubt any of my clients will have fences, sheds, let alone plants left in the garden. Henceforth I am considering a business name change from 'Tidy Gardens by Jane' to 'Jane's Windy Garden Retrieval Service' for anyone whose garden is no longer in its original location (eg.not outside the back door where they left it).

Meanwhile, here's a picture of some Lupins from the Tidy Garden last week prior to the sun-umbrella & heavy metal stand crashing down on them this morning!! (wipes tear from eye...)

Icelandic Poppies

Mr TG found a wee gap in the garden the other day...

Just enough room to squeeze in several Icelandic Poppies.

Unfortunately, ever since he bought them, the weather has changed again and they're taking a bit of a battering in all the heavy rain we keep getting.

Their tissuey petals are like ballerina skirts and they're beginning to appear in a variety of shades & patterns.

When the sun does come out, that empty space is no more.

And when the petals drop, it is worth enjoying, just for a while, the seed head.