spring is coming

But it’s not coming very fast. It’s still cold in the mornings, with a touch of frost lurking, so it’s too early to plant anything in the garden. And right now the garden looks like a disaster – lots of bare earth, with just the stumps of perennials poking through. At this time of year I remember why I keep meaning to plant shrubs instead of just concentrating on the cottage garden look.

Never mind. I thought I’d cheer myself up with a blog about the lovely things that will be growing soon.

And I might take a trip to the garden centre for a few more perennials (you can never have too many) and sow some sweet peas and nasturtium seeds around.

Meanwhile I’m looking forward to seeing a garden full of tulips – after last year when the chickens ate all 150 shoots, they haven’t been allowed anywhere near them.

silent sunday

it takes a village

My friend Sarah (read her blog here) is running the marathon to raise money for CLIC Sargent, the charity for children with cancer. Today 26 people from our village ran or walked a mile each to help her raise money towards her target of £10,000.

It was a lovely day, tinged with sadness for the one little person we’d hoped would be there to cheer her on.

It seemed that everyone in the village had baked a cake, or supplied a raffle prize, or helped out in some way. It’s amazing what one little village with a population of 700 can achieve. Today £240 was raised just from cake sales, a raffle and a tombola. Our friend Jo has raised over £300 in sponsorship for her one mile run.

There’s something you could do to help too – if you’d like to sponsor Sarah, the link to her page is here. Alternatively, right now if you click on the Tales from the Village Facebook page you’ll see a link to click like and help Sarah make an extra £500.

Thank you.

when a man is tired of London

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.

I think Samuel Johnson had a point. Every time I go (we only live an hour away by train) I love it, but then I’m always glad to get home. As I type this at the kitchen table I can see the daffodils peeping through. The chickens are sunbathing, and the sun is lighting up the new leaves of the rose bushes.

On a Saturday, London is heaving with tourists who wave maps and stop suddenly in front of barriers and congregate in huge groups, driving you off the pavement. And people who are talking so much (because they haven’t seen each other for two years) that they get on a train, change at the next underground station, keep talking, walk in a circle, and get on a train that takes them back to where they started. Ahem.

What I like about blogs is that you see the world through someone else’s eyes. For me the world is all about pattern and colour. Lines, shapes, impressions. So my London photos aren’t of Big Ben or the Houses of Parliament. They’re photos of the things I see, and the way I see the world. It’s a kaleidoscope.

We were on a mission to find a bottle of wine when we found Persephone books. It was quite by accident and very lovely. The shop was beautiful – everything a bookshop should be. And I accidentally bought another three books for my collection. I’ll write about them soon.

Even nicer still was coming back from London to a beautiful bunch of flowers – the lovely Liz at Violet Posy nominated me for a treat from Interflora. Aren’t they gorgeous?