Marvellous May

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May began with the creation of Fairy Gardens with Niamh (who was 3 at the end of April! Can you believe it?)

I was still enjoying the last of my tulip displays, although these were my least favourites of this year’s selection. T. ‘Golden Artist’.

During the second week we enjoyed the full late Spring wonder of Stourhead in the sunshine..

In the garden I decided to group all of my conifers together around birdbaths to encourage feathered visitors. It worked!

Winchester had been on my ‘to see’ list for a few years, so I was very excited about an overnight visit. I wasn’t disappointed…beautiful place. A small city centre with a wealth of history and beauty.

The following day, another one ticked off my list…Sir Harold Hillier Gardens.

By now we had reached Mid-May and the days were rushing by. We enjoyed an overnight stay with little Niamh and an early Sunday morning Ice Cream in the gardens of Shaftesbury Abbey…

Meanwhile Roses and other beautiful blooms were emerging in the garden. I have to keep reminding myself at this point that we are in mid May, because it looks more like mid June if you’ve lived in Eastern Scotland for 38 years! ;)

What’s more..by this point we’d had hardly a drop of rain since the beginning of March! But it came in the end and I brought some flowers inside to enjoy on a very grey blustery wet day. This rose is called ‘Gorgeous’. I planted it between a purple/ pink rose and a pale yellow and pink rose. Sadly it has far too much red in it and clashed uncomfortably. So now it lives next door but one with my friend Lynne and I’ve planted Princess Alexandra of Kent in its place. Someone needs to breed a yellow and purple rose! There just isn’t anything at all…can you believe it?

So by then we were getting to the end of my favourite month and couldn’t forgo another visit to Stourhead where everything was just as beautiful as ever…

And those massive Tulip Trees are in bloom…

At home, the olive tree is a mass of flower buds, roses continue to bloom and pine cones ripen in the sun. Yesterday was the last day of May and we ate all of our meals outdoors, which I think was a first ever in our 38 years together. Oh! And on May 27th we celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary. That seems ridiculous, but time is a funny thing!

We have new joys at the front of the house, as all the builders have left and the landscaping has been completed (almost) so the whole scene out front is turning greener and looking wild and natural. We have loads of birds singing and visiting, and it makes our home a lovely peaceful place to be.

Anyway, happy start of Summer everyone. I think June is going to be just as wonderful as May. We have so very much to be thankful for, and life in Dorset is absolutely lovely! Foreign holidays…who needs them? :)

• 1 Jun, 2025
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