BB

No not Big Brother - Butterflies and Bees! That's what it said on the packet anyway. I've got a bed outside my house which used to be filled with old, nasty conifers and I dug them out and burnt them at the end of last year. Since then it lay fallow, but I had a plan. I was a little bit busy during the months of April and May, but towards the beginning of June, I finally managed to sow my butterfly and bee experiment.

It seemed to be a big let down.

Nothing happened for ages - although that may have been because the weather was so dry. I thought I'd left it too late to sow. I thought it was going to look terrible, but I persevered and I watered it lovingly with a watering can, and chased away my cats, who discovered there was a lot of fun to be had rolling around in a dust bath.

But then - to my surprise - almost it seemed overnight - there was an array of flowers!



It just got better and better - more flowers appeared, and in the middle, like a great big surprised exclamation mark was a huge sunflower, which I'm sure wasn't in the packet. And all day long it's busy with the hum of bees and the movement of butterflies. It really does what it said on the tin!





And then one morning recently, I was upstairs and I saw a couple walking along the road. And they STOPPED OUTSIDE MY HOUSE! They stood admiring my flowers! It was brillant! I could hear them saying "oh isn't that lovely!". Then a couple of days later as I was getting out of my car my next door neighbour was there, and he told me that he liked to just stand and look at the flowers first thing in the morning (bit weird, but hey, I'm not complaining). And he said that my flower bed was the talk of the street. Well, I have to say I felt a bit chuffed. I probably can't tell you what half the flowers are - and at the end of the day it was just an experiment, but I think it looks just lovely, and it's obviously brought some pleasure to other people to. And that's what it's all about.

The Graduate

Recognise this place?
















Yes....last time I was at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich I was wearing something a little more, shall we say, ivory, than the batman cape I had to hire on Graduation Day. Tim and I had our wedding reception there in August 2004 - it really is a beautiful place.

Graduation Day was brilliant. I was much more nervous than I had been for the wedding - I guess it was because it's not something I've done before! I loved the whole thing - and the atmosphere was so happy.



Here's me and Pam, my best friend. The sun shone, everyone was smiling, and it was nice to see David Carey and Robert Holden representing us on the teaching side. It was very hot in the chapel and everyone was fanning themselves and looking very shiny but none of that detracted from the joy of the occasion. It was a very fitting end to our hard work and recognition was voiced for the difficulties we had all been through to get there. It was a time to be proud, and to thank those around us for their help during the dark days of masterplan, Tom Turner, sketch designs and model making (has anyone still got theirs?).

It was great to see everyone, albeit briefly, and I hope we can all stay in touch, one way or another, through the blogs or just regular gettogethers.

Next blog - my butterfly and bee border in the front garden - which is attracting comments from the neighbours! Anyone would think I know what I'm doing, garden-wise!

Hampton Court the Sequel

As I was saying......went back to Hampton Court to help Fern and Heidi to dismantle the Hadlow garden. It was hard work, but amazing to see the garden, and those around it, being deconstructed. During the show they look as though they've always been there, and then, within a few hours, they are reduced to empty spaces, just plants in pots and piles of rubble.






We carefully lifted all the lovely wild grass and stacked it in bread trays to be taken back to Hadlow.


It was a very interesting few hours - and working on the garden next door were Tommy and Kirsty from Groundforce. I tried not to stare or rush over and gushingly say I'd always admired his work. What a fine figure of a man. We had to borrow his wire cutters at one point and I went a bit trembly in the knee department.

Anyway - it was a good laugh and nice to see the other side of the show garden coin.

Next blog......Graduation! How we laughed! How we sweated! But that's all to come.