THE BELLS ..... THE BELLS ..........

St Mary's church is just behind our house ..... the 15th century Parish church is in the centre of the conservation area and is surrounded by listed buildings but is the only grade 1 building in the area. The church is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. The present church was built between 1418 and 1448 and was probably rebuilt after it had fallen into neglect after the Black Death. It is a fine example of Gothic architecture and the beautiful, almost Dickensian location and the church's wonderful acoustics helped to make the choir { of which our son was a choir boy from the age of seven and who went on to a career in music } congregation, booming organ and brass ensemble the most atmospheric building for many an event. 

I took this video last evening ..... the peeling of the bells is a regular occurrence .... from bell practise to weddings ..... and it is lovely to hear when sitting in our garden.

XXXX

TAKE the TIME to SMELL the ROSES ..........

At the risk of boring you with more photographs of flowers in our garden, I'm going to bore you with more flowers in our garden !!!

We have just put this rose in ... it's called Mortimer Sackler...  graceful with a lovely Old Rose fragrance with hints of fruit.

Penny Lane rose ... large, fragrant, honey-champagne blooms , scrambling over our arch, inter-twined with Viticella Alba clematis.

St. Swithun rose ... Very large, many petalled, saucer-like flowers of pure soft pink ... strong, pure myrrh fragrance ...

Blush Noisette rose ... pretty clusters of small lilac pink flowers with a rich, clove scent ...

... and, do you remember the little plugs of gypsophila ' Gypsy Deep Rose, that got battered by the wind and rain ? Well, here it is now ...

It's going to be a scorcher today ... 33 C ... that's 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit ... time to strip off I think !!!

Don't forget the suncream.

XXXX

image 1: via pinterest, images 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: via me, image 9: via this is glamorous

GARDENS ARE NOT MADE BY SITTING IN THE SHADE ……..

Today was my first day of the year gardening ….. PROPERLY ….. I was out there for eight hours and, as always, at this time of year, I ache all over !!!!! …… and, as always, I have a massive blister on the palm of my right hand from the trowel !!!!!

I know that there are many of you out there that garden all of the year round but, I'm afraid that I'm a bit of a fair weather gardener.

Have you ventured out and weeded the beds yet ?

….. a bit of light pruning tomorrow, I think !!

By the way, that's not all of our garden ….. it goes on ….. and across ….. hence the aches and blister, just in case you think that I'm moaning about nothing !!

" And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden ….. You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden. "

Rudyard Kipling

image by ME !!