An irresistible hibiscus

Almost too irresistible, but also so very beautiful and delicate. This beautiful hibiscus was one of our gifts at our 110th party the other weekend.  It's also known as a rose of China and is a tropical plant which is tender here in the UK, most often seen as a houseplant in conservatories or greenhouses. They're plants I look at in wonder whenever we visit the big houses with these, but now we have our very own.

It's beautiful, and it's blooms are exquisite.  The leaves are waxy like a camellias, but shaped more like a rose - it's a crazy, mixed up kind of plant, I guess.  And one that's been enjoying the warm spell, so long may that continue.

The flowers only last a day or two, and with the weather last week it's thrived in our garden. 

However, it looked as if it could do with a larger pot.

And, I had one in mind. One that while it was full, it was full of self-seeded plants. It wasn't long before these were moved into the compost and the hibiscus was planted in their place.

I think it looks great in this pot and it's flowers add a real pop of tropical colour right at the edge of the patio. Reading more about its care I suspect I'll need to repot it so I can bring it inside over winter, as while that pot also needs protecting it's normally dragged under a nearby bush and covered in bubblewrap, and I don't think that'll work now.  

The buds start as tiny little things nestled in the leaves, and our plant is covered in them.  As they grow the flower develops and becomes visible bit by bit.  And then boom! the flower is revealed.

Once the flower has faded, all that's left is the unfurled bud, and the intrigue as to which bud will flower next.

So hours of fun for me watching this plant develop, and a really thoughtful gift - thank you.  And a new plant to learn how to look after, if you've tips for caring for a hibiscus, then let me know.

Love this #75: The story of us from Twenty Fingers (+ offer code)

You'll know that we're celebrating this year - I've mentioned it once or twice here on the blog already, but in true Fawlty Towers style, I think I've got away with it so far.  But I'm not done yet, and I think you'll forgive me for today's post, because this papercut artwork - because I really do think it's a piece of art - is just gorgeous.

When Lana from Twenty Fingers got in touch, I was intrigued. I'd not seen anything quite like this before, and I knew fairly quickly that I was keen to review one of their items. Browsing the site I was spoilt for choice, but as soon as I saw the "story of us" timeline, I was sold.

The tricky thing was working out - and remembering all the dates, especially the early ones. I knew when we bought our house and when we got married, and I knew MOH proposed on Valentines Day, but what year?  After some careful questioning and secret collaboration with MOH I had the dates I needed. 

Ordering was easy, as you simply enter the text you want and the dates online as well as being able to suggest the images to go alongside each date. You choose the artwork colour and the frame colour; there's a range of colours and frames available, and while I love colour, I wanted this to last and not be tied into a colour scheme that we have now, and may not have later.

There was also an opportunity to review a proof and make any amendments necessary.  I'd already explained the shape of my engagement ring and was pleased that my description translated, but I did ask for a change to the image that went with buying our house. You've not seen the outside of our house, or not all of it, and that's on purpose. It's also not very exciting from the outside, if I'm honest, it's more distinguishing features are inside and the most obvious one is our spiral staircase.

I was keen for our story of us to be something to help us hold our memories - as well as be something visual that MOH can easily check our wedding anniversary date on - and so I sent Twenty Fingers a picture of our staircase asking for a generic spiral staircase shape to be included.

What they did was fantastic. They'd taken my photo and used that as the basis for the papercut. It is our staircase, with the patterned balustrades, and it's that personal detail that's made this so special. Just look:

The photo below really shows it. I'd like to say this shot was planned, but only noticed the (real) stairs' reflection when I was editing my photos.

Enjoy 10% off at Twenty Fingers

I've a feeling that this will become a cherished item and will prompt plenty of memories in the years ahead, especially when the time comes to leave this house.

I'm pretty sure that you'll find something unique and clever on the Twenty Fingers site, whether that's for your or a gift. I know I'll be keeping them in mind for those 'occasions' gifts where you want something a little different and special.

You can choose from family tree artwork, new baby artwork and much, much more - and I've an offer code for you, so you can enjoy 10% off your purchase, by entering save10 at the checkout - and don't forget to check them out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And don't forget to let me know what you choose.

Keeping cool under our parasol from Rattan Direct

One of the saving graces for our party last weekend was our new garden parasol. At three metres across it's larger than our previous one and that's a good thing, as it means it's easier to stay in the shade. In this weather, I think that's the most important, and sensible, thing to do. Although I like the sun, and have mostly been enjoying the weather (except for when I've been melting) more and more I've found myself opting for shade.

When I was speaking to Rattan Direct about this parasol, I wasn't sure whether to opt for it in black or cream. As it turns out I think I choose well, as I think cream would show dirt and dust more than the black.

Sitting under a back parasol still concerned me though. Would it attract - or absorb - the heat? It seems not, we've not noticed any difference because of the darker colour. And even our party balloons were keen to take shelter.

It has a couple of features I want to tell you about. First up there's the tilt function. Something I thought would come in handy, and I'm sure it will as the sun changes position as the year goes on - assuming we'll still see the sun, that is. When the sun's lower I think this feature will come into its own, but one word of warning: make sure the base is secure before you tilt the umbrella, otherwise physics will take over.

The outstanding feature for me is the crank system, to give it its official name. Between you and me, I'm more likely to refer it to the wind-y handle, which is descriptive if nothing else. Being able to wind the parasol up and down easily is great, although it's meant that if we're not sure if we need it up, it'll be down before we know it rather than us moving our chairs.  And even with the three metre span of the umbrella, it's easy to manoeuvre. 

I'm a fan of the base too. When full it's heavy, but the carrying handle comes into play, as it's easy to use to move the parasol into the optimum position. And we've been doing a lot of testing for that. I think I've cracked it now though and handily there's a small square paving slab to help us find it again. Of course you can't see it in this photo as, well, because the parasol base is covering it.

Taking delivery of the parasol and its base is probably one of the best deliveries I've every experienced. Despite not getting my delivery slot until the night before, when I got my slot the communication was fantastic. Not only did it arrive in its timed slot, the driver also phoned and texted me his location and that worked well. So too did the tracking device provided, it was regularly updated and I was able to leave work when it was close by and arrive home almost at the same time as the parcel. It's rare for that to happen, so it's worthy of a mention.

So the umbrella has been a bonus, although I wasn't so sure when it arrived as its arrival was immediately followed by a spell of heavy rainfall. I thought I'd tempted fate, but it seems it was just the weather - phew.

How are you keeping cool during the much warmer than usual weather?

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.