Topiary at RHS Wisley

On our last visit to RHS Wisley, in February 2020, I saw something there I’d never seen before. You’ll know how much of a fan of topiary I am, so this discovery was a good find for me. A whole ‘alley’ of differently shaped and perfectly manicured topiary.

There’s little more that I can add, so sit back, scroll down and enjoy the fantastic shapes.

Unfortunately for us, Wisley is a little too far to be counted as ‘local’ for us during lockdown, but it’s somewhere I’m keen to get back to when the time is right. It was one of my Visit Seven gardens last year, and it was good to be able to get there once. I’ve not celebrated my 8th blogging anniversary here yet, which probably is indicative of the last year too. I’ll get there, I just need to work out how I’ll do that, as choosing eight places to visit, let alone gardens, feels ambitious right now!

Post Comment Love 19-21 March

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here this week we’re pleased you’re here.

This week we’ve had workmen in the house undertaking some work in our bathroom. They’ve been very good with the Covid restrictions, but the work didn’t go quite to plan and took longer than they anticipated. I took their arrival on Tuesday as my cue to move to my new desk on the top floor. It’s worked pretty well for me, though I haven’t quite cracked the leave work on time aspect yet - still.

What has been amazing is just how many of my colleagues have noticed - and commented - that I’ve moved. So much so that in some meetings, it’s become part of my hello, especially in a couple of workshops I’ve been in this week. We’ve all become familiar with a small part of each others homes via our regular Teams meetings, so it’s not really surprising that people are noticing.

RAILINGS IN LYON

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Lyon, lunch and loos

We were fortunate to have a final trip abroad before the madness of 2020 kicked in, you’ll remember that we went for a few days in Lyon where I think we ate at least twice our body weight while we were there. I’m not kidding, the food was gorgeous and it was definitely a gastro trip, so much so that looking back it’s a surprise we could actually run through the airport. The incentive of potentially missing our flight must have helped.

When we’re away MOH always scours the area for good restaurants, and his searches rarely disappoint. One day we decided to head out for lunch instead of an evening meal, and the plan was to head for an authentic ‘bouchon lyonnais’. He settled on the Café Comptoir Abel and we set off on foot - well it was the least we could do, but in truth barely scratched the surface of any calories we were about to consume.

The red and white table cloths and traditional wooden furniture are typical of an authentic ‘bouchon lyonnais’ along with the typical dishes of Lyon. Once we arrived at our destination we knew exactly what the website meant. Even the walls in the corridors we were led through were red and white checked.

And it was a glorious setting. Just look at the top of that bar.

Unusually I even managed to remember to snap pictures of our food, or our starters at least. MOH opted for the salad lyonnaise, while I went for the saucisson chaud aux lentilles, which was lovely but huge - we could have shared it. I’m pretty sure chicken supreme followed, but usual service resumed and no photos exist.

But still, that bar - I got a closer look. Every time I look at these photos I see something new.

It’s only now that I’ve realised that an old cigarette machine has been repurposed as a miniatures cabinet. It’s a great use of a vintage piece, especially if everything else is lost.

On our way to our table I’d spotted these stairs, but it was only later that I learnt the loos were up them. And you know I wouldn’t miss a look at those.

They didn’t disappoint, though I’m not sure what face I’m pulling in the photo below.

And as you’d expect, it was so very French. It’s been a bit of a bathroom filled week. Our rearranged bathroom refresh took place this week, and it didn’t go quite to plan, but that’s for another post, another day.