Catching summer hares...

I work silly hours. Partly my own fault - there is plenty of work to do and I can't say no. And it is easy to bury your head when you are busy. But I have tried to spend some time 'out' and my little bit of courtyard has been blissful in this hot weather.

It is a bit 'jungle' like and untidy with plants competing for attention but it is a surprisingly peaceful place to sit with a book and a coffee...

Irrationally, I am particularly enjoying this pile of unused pots every time they catch my eye...

In between crazy work and worry about Mum, there are wedding plans afoot...! This is my soon to be daughter in law and I 'planning' our girlie shopping trip (aka about to have cream tea...!). It does look a bit as though we are crouching in a graveyard (!) but in fact we are in the lovely little garden of the Britons Arms on Elm Hill - which backs onto a churchyard.

The running has had to go on hold, thanks to a calf muscle injury (very frustrating!) but I am trying to make myself keep walking - sore leg permitting - and last weekend took myself 'hare hunting'. Every couple of years Norwich hosts a sculpture trail with figurines as canvases for artistic interpretation. I'm not sure how enamoured I am of this idea really (would like to see different sculptures really) but it is a community thing and quite enjoyable to wander round. Plus I realised it made me view very familiar streets and buildings in a slightly different way.

Outside Norwich University College of the Arts - 2 minutes away from my house...

Heading into the city from St Benedicts...

Near the police station and the Forum car park on Bethel Street...

Looking towards Upper St Giles...

Beautiful evening light on St Peter Mancroft church...

In front of the Forum - city library, BBC Look East studios and restaurant space...

Heading towards Chapelfield and the Theatre Royal...

From Chapelfield, looking back in the direction of the city centre...

St Stephen's Street...

In front of a rather grand entrance (law firm offices I think)...

Church of St John the Theologian (isn't that a grand sounding name?!) on Finkelgate...

Looking down Ber Street towards the city centre...

Outside John Lewis, looking towards Westlegate...

I loved this one. In front of the Eastern Counties Newspaper building with the Castle and castle gardens ahead... 

And on Castlemeadow, in front of the castle...

Looking back from Davey Place from Castle Street (also known as the Back of the Inns - presumably because there were once so many pubs along here)...

Walking back through the beautiful Arcade...

From Red Lion Street, towards Timberhill...

On the Haymarket...

By the Guildhall, looking across the top of the market...

 On the corner of Swan Lane and London Street... 

On Tombland near the Cathedral...

On Fye Bridge...

And in front of St Georges Church, Colegate...

There are lots more across the city and county. On another evening a walk by the river took me past this one in front of the famous Pulls Ferry...

before walking back through lengthening shadows and past the beautiful cathedral...

Norwich is a small city and you can easily walk round it several times in the course of a couple of hours. A reminder of what a pleasant place is is to live...

Here's to summer evenings, health and happiness...

S x

Italianate grandeur at midsummer...

I started my day yesterday with a run - of sorts... Having not run for about 4 years it was more of a walk-run affair but it was good to be up in the early morning sunshine alongside the river and step 1 on the way to my target of getting back to a regular running habit achieved!

I met a friend later at Ickworth House, near Bury St Edmunds. It is a rather imposing building, the Georgian palatial 'folly' of the Hervey family, maintained now by the National Trust. It was such a beautiful day that it seemed a shame to spend it in the darkened rooms required for these buildings of conservation so we opted to walk around the vast gardens and surrounding estate.

Then today, I visited somewhere I have been meaning to for years. Known as the Secret Garden in the   shadow of St John's Roman Catholic Cathedral in the centre of Norwich, the Plantation Garden is the restored Victorian passion of a prosperous local upholsterer and cabinet make, Henry Trevor, who created a quirky mix of Italianate terraces, Gothic features and medieval style walls built from reclaimed bricks and stonework in the hollow of an old chalk quarry.

The entrance is quite unprepossessing and then this surprising space opens out in front of you...

A path leads up the side of the garden before steps leading down to the North end of the garden, where a small summer house tops the terraces.

And the view from the opposite end of the garden of the quite formal central part of the garden...

I loved these walls that look as though they are full of odd bits of interesting masonry and bottles and brickwork...

With opportune ferns sprouting from the gaps in the masonry...

It was very peaceful sitting here and then the sun obligingly came out from behind the clouds and lit up the garden...

I sat and watched this thrush for sometime - I was reminded of my childhood when the tap tap tap of the thrushes bashing snail shells against the patio was a common occurrence. I hardly ever see thrushes any more so it was lovely to catch this one - though it was so busy I struggled to get it in focus!

It was a beautiful space and a welcome place to sit and enjoy some peaceful sunshine...

Midsummers day...goodness, the months are flying by again...

S x

the beauty of nature...

Sometimes the simplest flowers and plants seem to capture the perfection of nature at its best. I love the blues and lilacs of early summer and the light dancing off spring raindrops.  A wander round Blickling Hall's beautiful gardens last month resulted in way too many photos of which I found it hard to select favourites. But I love the simplicity of these daisy-like flowers against the last of the bluebells...

And you have to admire the stamina of this little tree, smothered in blossom and hanging on at such an unlikely angle...

The woodland walk takes you past swathes of  frothy forget-me-nots...

The branches of wisteria drip with heady blooms...

I missed the main tulip season this year but I can't help loving this showy number in the 'cut-flower' border of the kitchen garden...

I have always loved the tactile leaves of Lady's Mantle, particularly sparkling with the last shower...

By contrast with the formality of Blickling, but just a few miles down the road, is my Mum's garden - 30 years of dedicated tending which has resulted in an eclectic mix of wilderness and clipped yew, traditional cottage plants and the odd exotic...

I have spent a lot of time with Mum over the last six months and I think this garden reflects her personality perfectly. She is a complicated mix of post-war 'collector' (she cannot throw anything away - so her home is crowded and chaotic and every plant she propagates she has to plant, even the weak ones that 'deserve a chance'!), lover of rituals and order (absolute rota for everything - from changing beds to cleaning upstairs and down to shopping) and acceptable eccentricity. The last six months have seen her deal with the challenges of ill health with dignity and bravery but have meant that, for the first time ever, she has had to entrust her very large garden to someone else. 

Early June has seen her selection of roses flourish - each has a meaning and a memory for her, which I can't pretend to remember. I have a slightly mixed relationship with roses - I do think they are beautifully formed blooms and some have a lovely fragrance but I'm often disappointed with the problems that come with them and, frankly, when not in flower they are pretty uninspiring (in my view!). However, whats not to love about a 'red, red rose, thats newly sprung in June...'?

And even just past its best, this pale pink rose which festoons Mum's has an appeal I can't resist...

By the back door, this rose has a complete bouquet on one branch, to my mind - whilst the oldest bloom is looking a bit ravaged, I love the range from pale to deep pink and the perfection of the buds and semi-open flowers...

And in the sun this apricot shade looks almost a bit too brassy...

Back in my own little bit of garden, the rose that drives me crazy because it grows so rampantly, reminds me why I can't get rid of it as its manic growth is festooned with these gorgeous sweetly fragranced beauties...

Back at Mum's there is a peaceful spot at the bottom of the garden where I took a few moments out to  reflect...

Before wandering back past the alliums with their infinity patterns...

And the maples glowing against the blue sky...

Life is so busy. And our family is going through some sobering times but I am reminded of the William Davies poem...

'What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare...'

So here is to standing and staring, to appreciating the patterns, colours and fragrances of the natural world and to taking time to think...

S x

Spring, anyone...?

I have been trying to be very strict with myself about unnecessary purchases but today the desire to have a bit of Spring won...

This has been a particularly miserable weekend and even my go to baking therapy was something of a disaster so I needed something cheerful to look at. I was experimenting with eggless lemon cake for a friend but mine looked nothing like the photos on the website! I suspect its that old issue of US measurement conversion - I appreciate for those familiar with it it must be a simple method but for those of us that don't have a supply of 'cups' (even assuming you can work out what size cup exactly you are supposed to be aiming for...or how full/packed etc they are) it has always struck me as a particularly haphazard way to bake and so much messier than scales! Give me ounces (or ok...grammes if we have to) and a very basic set of scales, tablespoon and teaspoon and I am fine.

Rant over. If anyone knows of a good, reliable and impressive eggless cake suitable for a birthday cake (and a recipe a middle aged Brit can interpret!) do let me know... :-)

S x