(Image Credit: timelesswheel)
It’s yet another heavy, darkly overcast day and I felt so disappointed that yet again there was no sun showing off the garden to it’s best advantage. Yesterday, I had watched as the rain distorted the view we have from our kitchen window, and sighed. I have always looked forward to this time when all the blossom and the rhododendron flowers burst forth in a synchronised display and the garden looks altogether very pleased with itself.
I could see that there would be more heavy rain before long which might ruin the display so, checking first that it didn’t feel as wintry as it looked, I decided to make the most of it and sit outside drinking not only a cup of licorice and cinnamon tea, but also drinking in the spectacularly colourful show around me.
I love my garden. I love the peace of it. I can sit there in contemplation and hear only the birds, the bees, the occasional thwack of leather on willow in the distance (that’s cricket to my American readers!) or wood on wood from the local bowling green. Sometimes I can hear young children laughing and splashing in their paddling pool – children laugh so uninhibitedly, it always brings a smile to my face.
My garden is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination; it is informal, wild plants have insinuated themselves and been welcomed if they fit and don’t get greedy, while other cultivated plants have self-seeded in nooks and crannies, like the pink nemesia covering an ugly corner of the path, and have been allowed to take up residence.
I never fail to have my spirits restored and uplifted when I’ve been in my garden, even for just five minutes. Breathing in the fresh air scented with floral perfumes and sometimes wood smoke fills me with joy and gratitude. I feel renewed. Any stresses and frustrations are lifted for a while as my brow unfurrows and I lift my gaze from the ground and up towards the sky, the trees, the shapeshifting clouds.
I am always grateful that I have been fortunate to have this space and I wanted to share a part of it with you.
Forgive the quality of the pictures, I only have the iPad camera!
The baby apple tree will hopefully have a better backdrop soon: my lovely daughter has volunteered to paint the garage against which it stands after I gave up on the fairies performing this kindness over the past couple of years!
The bright pink azalea and the irises are from last year when the sun was more generous with its rays, this year the frosty hail and constant rain destroyed the azalea flowers before they could sit for a while and be admired, while the irises are still thinking about waking up.
I hope you enjoyed the show!
Copyright: Chris McGowan
pearsnotparsnipsdotcom 
My garden is my haven…so sorry you haven’t been able to get time in it. Sending wishes, Chris, for sunshine and flowers coming your way! jo
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Your garden is stupendous. I am always amazed at how abundant the flowers are in your part of the world. I can see why you want to spend some time every day in your garden. I would too.
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It’s cloaked in all it’s late Spring splendour, a couple of weeks ago I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to see it with all the winter bulbs dying off and leafless shrubs etc! Thank you! ☺️
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Oh I do love your “wild” garden! If I had one, it would be like this – probably very much wilder and more disorganised if I’m honest, haha! Your slideshow is very pretty, all the colours! (I had to come onto your actual site to view this, rather than stay on Reader. So much else to look at here!)
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Yes I only discovered recently that people who follow by email can’t click on the videos on my recipes. I don’t get the email follow at all, there is no incentive for people to go on to your site and the photos are not nearly as good, I think they should be sent the link rather than the actual post.
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I agree! From now on, I promise I will visit your site properly – I had no idea you had more videos on it. I have been able to view the music ones you occasionally post, but I think think today is only the third time I have actually viewed your site since we met! Sorry. 😦 Blame WP for making people lazy :p
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Thank you! I always visit the sites, there is always so much more to appreciate, photos look much better and you often see other posts that catch your eye. I know that some people just click like on the Reader without actually reading any of the post because the like comes within seconds of publishing the post. I suspect they do it to make you look at their site.
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Well thats happened more times than I can count – people clicking *like* within seconds of posting. No site views recorded so you know its bunkum. One girl even nominated me for some award and said she shared my site with all her followers, so I should “follow her back”. I’d never spoken with her before, and she most certainly hadn’t read a single thing I wrote, never mind liking it. Another thing that bugs me (sorry, but I’ve dragged out my soapbox now, haha!) is these “private followers”. The ones who remain invisible on WP as far as notifications go, and whose accounts are “protected”. I often wish there was a way to block followers, but there isn’t.
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I didn’t know about private followers, how do you spot them? I had a scammer in a made up language!
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You get emailed a notification about all followers. I usually go and check their blog on WP if they have no profile pic or information. That’s when the notice comes up saying “This is private” or sometimes “This blog is password protected” Because you have a dot come, maybe you can check their isp and get it blocked from your control panel? I’m thinking about a dot com, but for the shop, not this blog.
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Oh, right, I haven’t had one of those yet.
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