This week

It's been half term here this week and it's been a busy one. The weather's been grey and drizzly for most of the week so there hasn't been a lot of gardening going on. I have been out to admire the roses and poppies which are blooming at the moment.

Those colours do stand out, even on a dingy day.

 However, there have been times when I've been able to squeeze in a bit of creativity.The blooming of the roses means that it's time for me to make rose petal shortbread, so I went out on a dryish day and collected some scented blooms. The darker colours tend to have a stronger perfume, and therefore taste better when cooked. They do look pretty together.

Once picked, I discarded the damaged petals and checked for any bugs which may be hiding in them. Before cooking you need to take out the bitter 'heel' of the petals. It's the lighter bit where they join the flower base. This bit can be quite time-consuming!

I then chopped them quite finely in a mini-chopper so that they look like this.

After trying several recipes, I always use this one. I add a teaspoon or two of rose water, but it depends on how strong you like the taste to be. You can buy it in most large supermarkets.

I roll the dough out and cut it into flowery shapes.

 Once baked, they don't last long in our house!

I also managed to have a creative afternoon with my friend Jane. We've known each other a long time, as well as working together. Now that our children are growing up, we take it in turns to go to each other's houses in the school holidays to spend an afternoon being creative, chatting and eating coffee and cake. It's very relaxing and we both come away feeling inspired. 

I've started a summery patchwork, and Jane's been making machine embroideries, below. You can see what she makes here and here. 

 It's been good to find moments to be creative and to stop and enjoy the season. Hope you've found time to do the same x

A Country Garden

Back in March we visited the Walled Garden at Mells. Set in a pretty village full of stone cottages and sweet gardens, the 17th century garden is very beautiful with views over the nearby rolling hills. It's a popular place, especially at weekends.

There was some very pretty early spring planting, like this wheelbarrow.

It was one of those days that surprise you with their sudden warmth at the end of a long winter. There wasn't a lot happening in the beds, but the structure of the garden was easy to see.

Lots of hellebores and primroses were out, but most of the perennials hadn't got going yet.

These white periwinkles were very striking in a shady hedge.

I went again last weekend with a friend, and we spent a warm, sunny afternoon there. Just look at the difference! The perennials had filled out the garden in a flurry of colour.

There were the most gorgeous ruby red oriental poppies, translucent and glowing in the sunlight.

The fruit trees were in full leaf, and plants spilled pleasingly over beds, creating a lovely patchwork of flowers and leaves.

This single peony was gloriously blowsy, eye-catchingly pink in the sun.

The beds had swathes of purple alliums running through them.

The flowers are globes made up of lots of little stars.

Dotted here and there were features such as bird feeders and wrought iron ornaments and screens.

There was also a plant sales area where you can buy the varieties of plants grown in the garden.

We sat at a table in the shade of a tree and had coffee and cake. I was so busy enjoying myself I forgot to take a photo! This is how the cafe area looked in March.

 After that we wandered and looked at the flowers some more. This wonderful blue iris stood out so well in the mixed borders.

 And this peachy-orange rock rose had lovely crinkly petals.

I looked at a centaurea closely. Those long lavender-blue florets are like a lot of long twirly trumpets.

You can't beat a country garden in the summertime, and although we're not yet officially in the summer, it certainly felt like it that day. 

Henry James put it perfectly: 'Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language'.

Think I'm inclined to agree x.