21.08

Cider-with-Rosie-RHS-Wisley White-and-pink-flowers

Days that involve flowers, and patchy sunshine, and afternoon cake, and day trips to places that fall under the ‘RHS’ umbrella- don’t they just feel so quintessentially British?

A couple of days back I took a trip over to Royal Horticultural Society Garden Wisley, to spend a few happy hours taking photos of flowers and bees on flowers and flowers next to flowers. It’s the sort of activity that probably about five or so years ago, I would’ve avoided like the plague. Walking round a giant garden all day? ‘Ugh. No thank you.’ I’d have said. But now that there’s the appeal of being able to take endless photos and be creative and fiddle about with exposure and macro and focus on my camera, I’m all over it! My Aunt, Mum and I headed over to Wisley mid-morning, and spent most of the day alternating between cooing over the beautiful gardens, sniffing roses, and stopping for coffee-and-cake breaks. It was just about the loveliest way to spend a late summer day you could imagine.

There are so many different gardens that make up Wisley, that it’s pretty much impossible to get bored. There are huge vegetable patches, orchards, rose gardens, wildflower borders, and a glasshouse full of tropical plants. The vegetable patch was my favourite- rows and rows of onions and savoy cabbages the size of watermelons and beetroots and lettuces, all ready to be harvested and taken over to the kitchens. It’s done nothing to curb my dreams of living somewhere more rural…

Rhs-Wisley Dahlias

^^ Dahlias for days. Isn’t that apricot colour so beautiful? The whole of Wisley was a riot of colour, even though the peak season for most flowers is over. ^^

Yellow-and-black Echinacea Cider-with-Rosie-Wisley Rose

^^ These roses smelled divine, and brought back happy memories of making rose petal perfume with my Mum when I was little, from the roses the grew outside my childhood home. ^^

RHS-Wisley-latte Tabbouleh-&-chicken

^^ Lemon & thyme chicken with harissa yoghurt and tabbouleh. Delicious, and so fresh tasting! ^^

Beetroot Apple-on-tree Raspberries

^^ Kind of glad that fence was there to stop me reaching out and picking a raspberry. They looked too tempting! ;) ^^

Chard-Wisley Wisley-Glasshouse

After a stop for lunch (& coffee and cake, of course) we headed in the direction of the beautiful Glasshouse. Isn’t it impressive? Apparently they hold a butterfly exhibition in the Glasshouse once a year, where they fill the space with all kinds of beautiful butterflies and you can walk amongst them all! Doesn’t that sound incredible? My Mum signed up to become an RHS member whilst we were there, so we’ll most definitely head back next time there’s an exhibition on.

Banana-trees Behind-the-waterfall Cider-with-Rosie-Wisley-Glasshouse

I’d highly recommend it as a day out, if you’re into all things horticultural! Oh, and just a little FYI- Queen Mary Berry herself is going to be signing copies of her new recipe book on the first day of the Wisley Flower Show on the 2nd of September…

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Posted in FLOWERS

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19.06

Cornflowers Cider-with-Rosie-cornflowers Cider-with-Rosie-cornflowers-macro

Cornflowers ::

Purchased at our local flower market for a happy 1.99 a bunch, they might just be my favourite flowers we’ve ever had in the house. I love the contrast between the delicate petals, and that screamingly bold blue colour. Most are sat all wild and wispy in an old clip top jar on my kitchen window sill, and the rest (a tiny bunch) can be found bringing life to my bedside table from inside a vintage milk bottle.

{ Post inspired by the ever wonderful Rachel, whose blog I love and can’t recommend highly enough }

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Posted in FLOWERS

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24.06

Cider-with-Rosie-Planting-mint-and-thyme-8

I bought some herbs on a whim the other day, in an effort to become a) at least a little green-fingered, and b) more self-sufficient in the kitchen. I’ve killed every living plant we’ve ever had in this house (orchids, poinsettias, basil plants- you name it, I’ve drowned it) so I’m doing my research this time to try and keep these ones alive longer than two weeks. There are plenty of stones in the bottom of the pots to keep the roots from sitting in water, and I’ve pruned both plants down quite harshly to encourage new growth. The mint offcuts are now sat in a small jug in the kitchen waiting to be added to Pimms when we’re feeling flash, and water when we’re not, & the thyme cuttings have been tucked away in our freezer for pasta sauces and soups.  Continue reading

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Posted in FLOWERS, FOOD

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18.06

Cider-with-Rosie-Blossom6

The tree outside our house has blossomed (bloomed?) so late this year. The flowers are only just opening up. I wouldn’t have noticed how late it is if I hadn’t found a picture of it I took over a year ago, when it had been in full bloom since early May. Spring seems to be lingering, doesn’t it?

I hope that really sunny week we had isn’t summer done over and done with. I just can’t get on board with another washout summer, it’s too depressing for words. I had to give myself a stern talking to the other day because I caught myself starting to think longingly about winter already, when cold weather like this is justifiable. There must be warmer weather coming soon though, mustn’t there?

Cider-with-Rosie-Blossom5

In other news, I collected my essays from uni yesterday…and I’m pretty happy! My dissertation was a bit of a skin-of-the-teeth job, but hey! That’s okay! Unless I’ve totally flunked my Drama and Witchcraft exam (not likely, but possible) I should be on track for a nice comfy old 2:1! And thank GOODNESS for that!

In other OTHER news, I popped in to see my Grandma’s next door neighbour on Sunday afternoon, and she told me that the lovely old garden centre over the road from their little row of cottages is going to be demolished. That garden centre has been a family institution for the last 15 years, and I’m more upset than I care to admit to think it’s not going to exist anymore. Cesca quite literally learnt to walk at that garden centre when she was a tot, and it never really feels like Christmas until we’ve made our annual trip to the Christmas department to choose a decoration to hang on the tree. Though I promised myself I wouldn’t, and *couldn’t* bear to go there without my Grandma, I think we’re all going to have one last trip there before it gets knocked down. It is the end of an era, after all.

Cider-with-Rosie-Blossom4

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Posted in FAMILY, FLOWERS, SPRING

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