A Birthday Surprise

My birthday was back in February, but I so enjoyed the large box which was delivered on that morning that I thought I'd share it:- 

Someone was very eager to help!

Nooooo!!!  That's not helping, Zac.  LEAVE IT! 

All of the contents were selected and beautifully wrapped by my daughter-in-law, on behalf of herself, my son (who is away in Afghanistan) and my 14 year old grandson.

I love this embroidered and beaded cushion- which goes so well with my decor.

Photo-bombing Zac! Don't you dare grab my beautiful duvet cover.

And when I opened my laptop, even Google wished me a Happy Birthday!

Wasn't I a lucky lady?  And there was more to come . . . . much more.

In the evening I enjoyed a very nice Indian meal with my friends.

A Visit to Bigbury-on-Sea

Last Thursday I was invited (with Zac) to visit friends who were holidaying in one of the apartments overlooking Bigbury beach and Burgh Island, with its famous Art Deco Hotel. It was a wonderful day out and one of the best, weatherwise, we've had recently.  

My friends had one of the ground floor apartments with a large balcony:-

The views from the balcony:-

Burgh Island can be reached at low tide across a sand spit and at high tide by a sea tractor, a unique vehicle which transports visitors in a cabin, atop the tractor. On the island is the enigmatic Burgh Island Hotel, a Grade II listed, Art Deco style hotel built in 1929 and frequented by Agatha Christie. The hotel was recently refurbished to a high standard and has an excellent restaurant. Guests can arrange to be picked up by the hotels 4x4 vehicles to save getting their feet wet!

And of course, Zac and his new friend, Noodles, enjoyed the sea very much:-

Finally - look at the lunch we enjoyed, prepared entirely by the Mister of my friends!

 A lovely day out.

Summer Blooms

You turn away from your garden for two days and suddenly 

there are more blooms. This fragile little rose is growing in 

the shade of the tall conifer hedge, but has now produced 

several dainty pink flowers.

My Peony has produced two colour variations on the one plant,

both very pretty.

 A lovely colour combination on this Fuchsia.

 Zac keeping an eye on that Crow - just in case!

 And these two are Rua the Red Setter and Goldie the Labrador, my friends' dogs.  Both are 'Rescue' animals, brought over from Ireland after being found wandering the streets of Dublin.
It's good to end with a smile, isn't it? Or even TWO smiles.

Can anyone identify this tree, please?

PLEASE . . . . can anyone identify this tree?

For several days now it has been alive with bees; the buzzing is constant and although the flowers are like a closed bell, the bees are all over it like a rash.

A friend told me the name - and I've forgotten it! 

It started something like 'Crino . . . .' because she said,"Think of Crinoline to remind you, but of course I can now only recall the Crinoline bit. 

A Garden Safari

I'd never been on a Garden Safari before, but I saw this one advertised, rang a friend to see if she was interested in joining me - and off we went. 

It was in and around a small village not far away, the weather looked reasonable - and we had a lovely afternoon out.  I hope you enjoy the photographs.

This was the first garden - and the first time the owners had taken part in a Safari, so were understandably nervous; the husband said he hadn't been able to sleep for the last two nights!

I love the Wedding Cake Tree on the right . . . but the Rose bed on the left was visited by deer just a month ago and all the buds and tips were eaten. More Rose bushes were bought and planted, then on the night before the Open Day, the deer came back and did it all over again - no buds again.

 There were 7 gardens altogether, some manicured and immaculate, some real working gardens, more like allotments; some were easy to negotiate and some were on very steep hillsides which needed lots of energy to view, let alone to do the gardening. All were a credit to their hard-working owners but  I'll let the photos tell the story -

 A very cleverly camouflaged tap -

 A lovely view across the River Tamar -

This was a very welcome sight after all that walking! A cup of tea and a slice of Lemon Drizzle cake, please!

A table with a view to die for.

This beautiful tree takes up almost the whole of a tiny front garden  - but the owners weren't around to ask what sort of tree it was. Behind the cottage was a very unexpected HUGE garden built on a steep hillside.

The herbs planted between these steps gave off a wonderful perfume as people brushed past them -

Narrow paths kept leading on to unexplored areas -

 - and there were seats strategically planted for admiring the views and taking a breather.

 We admired the complexity of the slate paths, which must have taken hours of back-breaking work.