Lyn gardening 1976

1976 was the year of the long, hot Summer I believe. The year I met my husband-to-be and I remember warnings not to have bonfires, BBQs and never throw a cigarette end away in case the fields caught alight ! Feels a bit like that down here now, brown grass, leaves crunching underfoot ... lol ! You had very, very neat edges there ! : o )))

Hi Shirley Temple ..er ..tulip! Now I am showing my age.
Yes, the dreaded summer. It was also accompanied by fires breaking out on heathland and our daughters' car caught fire in Salisbury. Fortunately they saw smoke coming from under the bonnet and didn't get in it, but called the fire brigade. Up here in Cumbria this year we haven't had much of a summer at all. There was a short run of fairly hot days in June, I think. Almost every day is cloudy and wet part of the time. I haven't seen a clear starry night for months - too much cloud.

These photos were taken on my husband's camera, an old Iloca Quick and had to be scanned into my computer. That was the last summer we used it due to the bad quality of the photos. I think I treated myself to a little Kodak.

We have a 'thing' about edges and had tools to help achieve the effect we wanted. i.e. a long scaffolding plank as a guide and a curved edge cutting tool for straight ones and we used rope placed on the ground in a wavy way, to make gentle curves. Simple!

I used to love visiting National Trust places years ago.

Temple, Bassey, Valentine, they're all Shirleys too ! Most Shirleys I know are abou 10 to 15 years older than me, what were my parents thinking of ? These days, it seems to be the preferred name for the dumb blonde/tarty blonde/scatty blonde in every sit-com going ... lol ! I like to think I'm none of those. Your mention of a curved edging tool reminds me that I have one in the garage somewhere, I really should find it ready for the Autumn. : o )))