My garden in March

March is when our garden starts to come back to life, and that’s great as I think our garden looks best in spring. It starts with the traditional spring colours of yellow and blue - the yellow of the forsythia and the blue of the grape hyacinths. These follow the daffodils, which this year we didn’t make the most of as with what seemed cooler than usual temperatures we weren’t out in the garden as we have been in previous years. This year our daffodil spotting was mostly from our conservatory window, but this month the weather warmed a little - at times! - so there’s more photos, and we started to work in the garden on those warmer days too.

forsythia in flower
grape hyacinths.jpeg

The phormium below looks a little crumpled this year, but that too has its own charm. It seems to have less ‘leaves’ than usual but does break up the ‘green-ness’ with its pink stripes, so it’s always a welcome addition. I’m hoping that the crumpled-ness is a normal thing, though this leaf looks like one of the frosts could have interfered with it.

a crumpled phormium leaf.jpeg

One of the larger pruning jobs we did last year was to severely reduce the euonymus, this seems to have helped the ornamental quince as it’s full of the prettiest orange flowers. These are intertwined with the yellow pompom flowers of the kerria, a plant which has migrated from our neighbours. I like the boldness of the two colours together, but then again this shouldn’t be a surprise as orange and yellow was one of the hair colourings I experimented on before settling on, what has become, my normal pink and orange. (It looks way better than it sounds, trust me).

ornamental quince and kerria in flower

Elsewhere in the garden there’s other signs of new life. The cherry tree at the back of the garden - the one that was hosting the vine and the grapes last summer - also has buds ready to burst out. The blossom, which is being blown about the garden as I type this post, is white and pretty, but not as pretty or spectacular as the pink cherry blossom that people flock to Greenwich Park for.

buds on the cherry tree.jpeg

There’s reminders of how hardy plants are. This primrose looks a little nibbled, but is steadfastly growing alongside a geranium which has died back over winter, while nestled in its pot in a sheltered part of the garden.

a slightly battered polyanthus.jpeg

Just along from the pot nestled at the base of the tree with its burst of burnished yellow is the new growth of the pyracantha. Its thorns sharp and ready to make their presence known, as I teased them back to the supports on the fence, and through the wire trellis to give some privacy.

new pyracantha growth.jpeg

The ground at least was soft so unusually we were able to get this spiral support in for the rose closest to the house, normally I miss doing this and the rose bends forward for the light and they end up growing more horizontally than vertically, which also puts them in peril of MOH’s lawn mowing skills.

training roses to grow through a circular support.jpeg

I’ve already shared photos from my garden in April, so head over there to see how things progress.

Scents and memories with Sussex Special Candles

This post contains items gifted from Sussex Special Candles

There’s something special about lighting a candle isn’t there? For me it’s a good way to treat myself, and make the time feel more special than a usual evening, lighting a candle while in the bath is a way of helping me relax more easily. And scent evokes memories, just as taste and visuals do.

Recently I’ve been trying these Sussex-inspired candles from Sussex Special. When I saw them I was struck by the idea of replicating scents of places that I’d been, or as you’ll find out, wanted to visit. These handcrafted candles are made with a blend of natural ingredients inspired by the elements of nature you’ll find in Sussex.

I chose the Borde Hill Gardens and Brighton Essence candles and for quite different reasons, but more of that in a moment. The candles are made from 100% natural soy wax which is non-toxic, plant-based and long-lasting.

And the candles don’t disappoint. They’re good value at £12.95 each and arrived promptly and well packaged. For me that’s always a good start, once I’ve decided to order a product I’m less good waiting for it to arrive, and when it does I want the packaging to not only protect my new item, but look appealing too.

What I didn’t expect was information on candle care to be included to help get the most out of the candles. For example, the first burn of the candle should be long enough for the entire top layer of wax to melt preventing tunnelling - I’ve had candles which just burn down the middle which is disappointing, but these don’t. The website also advises that natural wax candles burn slower and are more temperature sensitive than paraffin candles, and much more.

Ad borde hill gardens sussex special candle.jpeg
ad brighton essence sussex special candle.jpeg

Memories of childhood trips to Brighton

As kids growing up in South London, Brighton was our nearest seaside town and was frequently our Sunday afternoon trip in good weather. With us all piling into dad’s car for an afternoon by the sea - each of us wanting to be the first to call out that they’d “seen the sea” - something that still happens now, even though my parents live by the sea in Norfolk - it never gets old! Family traditions don’t, do they?

I’m sure our trips were full of the traditional “are we nearly there yet” type questions, and the challenge of finding a parking spot on the seafront and while tricky then I’m sure it’s nothing like trying to find a parking spot today. In fact I suspect cars can’t even park where we used to back then. We’d walk along the stony beach whatever the weather, we’d walk along the pier with me trying not to fall down any of the gaps (in reality there was no chance but I wanted to be sure).

We might wander through the Lanes, window shopping and then we’d head back to the car and back home again, often in traffic - but not like the traffic of today I’m also sure. Such happy trips, such happy memories.

Brighton Essence candle, sunglasses and best day ever postcard.jpeg

So having a candle that could evoke these memories and more is a great idea - and it smelt great too. There was definitely the fresh, salty smell which gave this the uniqueness that you’d expect. I realised that the majority of my candles are wintery type smells, the smells that evoke warmth and snuggling in front of a fire, but this candle was much lighter and in a sense, more invigorating.

New memories to make

In contrast the second candle I chose is somewhere I’ve not yet visited. Borde Hill Gardens has been on my ‘to visit’ list for a while yet, but somehow we’ve not got there. I mean, I know it’s not just going to happen but I haven’t made it happen either. It’s not actually that far from us, and even closer to where my MIL lives, but isn’t that so often the case? Places nearby are the places we never quite plan well enough to get to.

It’s an independent garden - which I always enjoy - and the gardens planted are as “living garden rooms” which I’m pretty sure will equate to plenty of photos!

As you’d expect this one has a floral scent, who wouldn’t want to smell the roses, but there’s also a mix of sweet and spice too. If the candle smells this good, then I can’t wait to actually visit the gardens. I’m definitely going to make this visit happen.

borde hill gardens candle, camelia petals, garden knife and well hello there postcard.jpeg

The candles are in pretty glass jars which are about 8.5 cm high and 6 cm square. This is smaller than candles I’ve had in the past, but with each candle having a 35 hour burn time, their reasonable price and sustainable credentials and with the opportunity to support a family business, I think they’re good value and would make a lovely present for friends, family or yourself.

* With thanks to Sussex Special Candles for providing these candles for me to try for the purposes of this review, all views and opinions are my own.

PoCoLo

Reflecting on my week #149

It’s been a while since I started the week with one of these posts, since the start of February to be precise. That’s most probably because weeks have been pretty similar this year - eat, work, sleep, repeat and all that - and there’s been little to say. However as the whole country works its way through the milestones of the roadmap out of lockdown we’re doing more - we’ve still not managed an outside pub or restaurant visit, nor do we really have any plans to. Up until this weekend it’s been too cold to do that.

We’ve not been total hermits though - we’re gradually going further afield and planning more, and it’s great to have some semblance of normality return, with more to follow. We’ve had haircuts, our second jab, had a flying visit to Norfolk to see my parents for the first time in six months and made plans for a UK break or two. MIL’s house move is progressing and MOH is acquiring childhood stuff from his family home, which is both interesting and challenging for all involved.

second covid jab jabbed.jpeg

MOH has started his new job, and we’re both still working from home. I’ve bagged the warmer of our two spare rooms while MOH has finally made use of the throw in his home office, and once or twice even turned on the electric heater. He’s still brilliant at bringing me tea and cakes/biscuits, and workday lunches are usually very planned or a bit ‘put together’ from leftovers in the fridge - aka Fridge Tapas - definitely a discovery of lockdown!

I randomly won a competition just by retweeting a tweet - if I’m honest I never thought anyone ever won those, but they do, as I have. My prize arrived this week and included these five jars of jam (or four jams, one honey), a bottle of rhubarb vodka liqueur, a morello cherry candle and an apple scented diffuser - all of which I can’t wait to try.

a shelf of tiptree jams.jpeg

I had a lovely week off at the end of April, which cannily ran into the bank holiday extending my time away from my day job for a little extra time - it was my first full week off since last October, which is quite a while. I’d had a few days off in between, but it was nice to spend some time recharging.

I was keen to make the most of my time off and so put some structure around my days, as otherwise I knew I’d spend most of the day wondering what to do - I have lots to do and some times the choice doesn’t help. I managed daily yoga sessions - these were short (and wobbly!) - and I promised myself I’d spend at least 21 minutes a day reading. I mean, it’s not a long time so it is surely something I could commit too going forward, and mostly I have. I also spent some time really thinking about things and finally posted my word of the year, yes just before the end of April!

During that week I also got myself back into a blogging rhythm which I’m hoping to continue with. I got out and about on foot and had a first session of craniosacral therapy, something that’s new to me and I first heard of in a podcast. Looking into it further I thought it was something that could help me overcome the stresses of lockdown, and it has. I’ve since had another session with a further one booked. After the first session I felt that my body was able to relax more, and for the first time in a long time got what was meant by ‘melting into the earth’. The second session was different bringing different feelings to the fore, but it also got me logging off an hour earlier than usual and out into the evening sunlight, which in itself is quite an achievement.

On walk home the evening was one of those with that glorious golden light and a sunset that would be worthy of any horizon, but if you look closely you can see the traffic speed hump in the foreground and a litter bin on the right hand side.

looking across blackheath in the golden hour.jpeg
sunset over the A2.jpeg

I’ve some more time off in a few weeks, and we’ll be heading up to the Lake District for the holiday which was postponed last year and I’m looking forward to that. That will be the last of my leave carried over from last year, and then I can start on this year’s leave! We have plans for a long weekend away in Sussex, which is basically us in a hut complete with a hot tub in a field, and another few days in the gatehouse of a walled garden later in the summer.

All that thinking means I’ve also had a realisation about living life, as I’m sure many of us have had in this past year, and while I’m going to do that annoying thing of not saying anything more right now, it’s been quite an eye opener and given me plenty more to think about.