Come Rain Come Shine ~ with a glimpse of blue sky!

Absolutely lovely, Sticki. Love NGS visiting. The photo of the smoke bush against the blue is superb, the sweet pea is stunning - never seen that before- and my mum used to have a set of plates like the one on which the cake is sitting.

I loved the tour Sticki......each place different and beautiful.....fave pic, the gorgeous sweet pea...fabulous!

I liked that waterfall - very original and an invitation for all sorts of things to appear between the stones.

Beautiful photos! Went to a local village on Sunday and the gardens were open for charity but it was too wet to take any pics (but I did buy 3 types of cake - generous slice of coffee and walnut, eaten there, coffee and walnut cupcake and piece of very sticky stem ginger cake to take home, yum yum!) Pity it was too wet because there was a lovely arbour that I wanted to take a photo of to "inspire" OH :-D

thank you tuesday, janey and steragram,
julie i like your style ~ 3 types of cake essential in rain!!

the open gardens events are really good i think, loads of ideas usually and they work so hard, its such a shame when the weather is not good.

Lovely blog - thanks for sharing

lovely pics, (sorry i have forgotten which century it was lol)
cant match your blog of the month Sticki, nothings better than that this month but some lovely visits there.
Ps is that duck in pic4 real?

thanks sheila and thanks stevie

well i cant remember numbers very well!! and i didnt want to get it wrong! i could have made it up!!

the dancing duck? no, its metal i think ~ i added a note near the wooden store for you stevie!

What a lovely blog, Sticki! Up to and past your usual brilliant standard. No-one would guess, looking at these pictures quite what a dreadful summer Britain is having this year. I have a Graham Thomas rose in my garden, but it has just one bloom left on it now, and is looking quite tired and sorry for itself - not like these beautiful blooms. Most of these pictures have been salted away in my "favourites" file. Thank you!
(I particularly like the sweet pea, plumbago and borage!)

What a great blog ST! Great pics you take! love it!

When the going gets tough the tough eat cake! Keep calm and eat cake etc etc :-)

thanks gattina, i imagine its just a tad warmer over there, hence your roses finishing earlier?
good thought bilbo, maybe they do, i know the people in the first garden had seats but they said they never had time to sit in them!!
thanks pixi
julie ~ i like that ~ must remember to eat more cake!!

Lovely, Sticki! Am feeling quite jealous - of the visits AND the blue sky. Thank goodness for photos to remind us of what it should look like in summer. What gorgeous plants in those gardens ( if that isn't called "fishing line" plant, it should be! ) What a beautiful sweet pea that is, with the lovely purple just outlining the petals.

Thank you!

Just a tad, Sticki. 41°c today, with a nice little breeze!

thanks melchi, i was really lucky to see the blue sky, it always makes me smile. do you have some NGS gardens near you? i just google NGS worcestershire, the NGS site is really quite helpful.

41??????????? more like 14 here ~ no kidding!!! and more like gale force winds!

Melchi i added a closer picture of the fishing line plant, sorry its not very clear.

Lovely blog and great pics Sticki like lots of others I love the delicate sweet pea NGS gardens are great to visit, our village has 5 gardens open later this month (not mine!) :o)

Very interesting to see these gardens. They are beautiful. I'm pleased you had some blue sky aswell :o)
That fishing line plant is Diarama. I've got one and it's a lovely flower, but I didn't know it's English name ... thanks for saying it :o)

Lovely Pics who did the first garden with the Auricula store belong to.

Very pretty gardens Sticki, so nice to 'nose' round other folks gardens isnt it? My brother opened his this year for the first time in Ilmington,Warwickshire, he is not far from Stratford-on-avon. I love that plant store, wonderful collection of Auriculas and yummy necatarines:)

Another, very fine set of pics Sticki. What wonderful gardens...love the cake fork...we have 2 cake forks!!

What beautiful places you get to Sticki...and proper Caaaaaayke too! :D Brilliant photos btw!

It's fascinating - I like those big grass plants. Thank you!

Lovely gardens Sticki - thanks for sharing. It's easy to see why Dierama is commonly called Angel's fishing rod isn't it? Got one myself but it's not doing too well this year (grrr!).
Loving that cake fork! ;-))

Beautiful gardens Sticki, I love the pond with brick edging in the first one and the Auricula store :o)

What lovely pics Sticki, I really enjoyed them, even if I did go green with envy at the healthiness of all the plants. I have just had a depressing half hour in the garden, between downpours (torrential), cutting rot off as many plants as I could. A lot of my plants with blooms, are now begining to rot. It is so warm as well as wet. :-( Jx

lovely blog, Sticki - blue sky and plants and water, irresistable!

Could anyone give a botanical name for the "fishing line plant"? I've tried to Google it, but all I'm getting is "how to support climbing plants with fishing line" ditto "fishing line flowers"

Hi Fran, it's Dierama :-)

thanks, Muddy! thought of Shoot! - put "fishing line" in there and got several - Angels' Fisjjmg Rpds
http://www.shootgardening.co.uk/plant/search?q=fishing+line

Came back to post the link and saw your comment, I'd have checked it up anyway, but you confirmed I'd got the right one.

GREAT BLOG, ALWAYS AMAZING, STICKI:-)))))

Another delightful blog Sticki, like you I love going to ngs gardens there is always some feature or plant that sets the pulses racing - rather like that wall water feature but unfortunately the garden is too small to copy it.

thank you everyone ~ you are very kind

neellan, the open gardens i like best are when there are several together, villages and towns seem to be putting them on now which is great

thanks hywel, i do like blue sky and thank you for supplying the name of that plant

Brian, thank you, im sending you a PM

the plant store is good isnt it GM and well done to your brother, maybe i will visit his garden one day?

thats posh lulu, i dont have any but muddy made a comment about them the other day so i put the photo on!

thanks karen ~ it was good cake, you could have cream tea too if you wanted

i loved the grass too melchi

angel's fishing rod ~ thanks muddy, i loved that one, they were posh forks werent they!!

the first one was lovely annella, i shouldnt think they ever stopped working, the pond was lovely.

thanks jane, sorry its so bad up there ~ we are due to get that weather tomorrow!!

thanks fran and thanks muddy for answering, i dont know all the proper names and if i did i would never remember them all

thanks junna, there are some lovely gardens arent there

thank you stroller, i thought it was a clever idea but i rather think if it was mine i would want ferns or something planted in it.

There is an old stone viaduct which carries the A59 over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at West Marton (you can't see it from the road itself, obviously). It is covered with hundreds of aspleniums and is very striking. (I saw it years ago, when my parents lived on a narrowboat.) It really looks amazing. If you ever go on a canal you will see plants in the most unexpected places - in the middle of old factory areas, growing on lock gates - all sorts. Like railways, they are green routes right through the country.

your parents lived on a narrowboat? how fascinating! you would really see the countryside and wildlife that way! it never ceases to amaze me to see a dandelion or other native plant pushing its way up through a paving stone!

Yes, for 9 years. They adored it - we called them the boat people! They travelled all spring and summer, but many locks close for refurbishment over the winter, so there's not much traffic then. It's a hard life, I can tell you, and they were both in their 70s! They moved to a Park home after that, having sold the house to get the boat. (Dad said it was so spacious after the boat!!) It was just the life for them - they were a bit Bohemian! Sadly, Dad died a few years ago, but Mum is still driving and gardening at 86! (She's just redesigned her pond and built a rockery - not literally, she did have help! But she's still keen!)

good for your mum and dad!!! im sorry to hear your dad has gone but 86 and still so full of life cant be bad!! that outdoor life must have been good for them.

It must have been :-))

Great blog sticki. Those gardens look amazing I'm green with envy.

thanks sam, do you have the yellow book of ngs gardens? i have the worcestershire one and some others but you can also find others from their website.

lovely blog sticki and pretty flowers and colour.
i love that pond its beautifull planting around it :o))

thanks sanbaz ponds are lovely arent they ~ i even like them when its raining!!

yes me to sticki, mine getting very full though haha

A lovely blog and excellant photos Sticki , we call the Diarama .. Fishermans rod ... 3 gardens in one day what a lovely day out , I knew Brian would be interested in the Auricula store ... ;o)

I was trying to sort out a barrel for a water feature and filled it up to clean it, then realised I needed to empty some out or there would be no room for the rain!

Thanks Amy, OH liked that store and he doesn't know what auricula's are!!

lol sticki, should have left it empty to see how long it to naturaly

Mel, I live about 5 miles from West Marton. Good pub there! Jx

That's a thought sanbaz! Wouldn't have taken very long last Thursday!

Just about walking distance then Jane??

Nice place, Janey! There's a lovely old tree there. I haven't been in the pub, but when Mum and Dad were moored there we went to a small restaurant down at canal level - it had something to do with the route from one abbey to the next - can't remember it's name! (Bishop's Rest - or something a bit more mellifluous than that!) I just remember it was raining cats and dogs . A bit like today, in fact. We had to wear wellies and change when we got there!

Beeb news has put out more flood alerts, so it don't look like it' going to dry up any time soon
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18722054

Janey - I've just realised that the canal is at East Marton. Not far away, though, is it? And the restaurant was Abbot's Harbour. Oh, the trials of dying brain cells!

You poor, poor souls! We've been watching the weather forecast and flood warnings for the UK this morning, and we've been concentrating all the (few remaining - you're not alone, Mel) brain cells on sending you a bit of our painfully hot and dangerously dry, and what happens? We've just got a thunderstorm!!!! Which is amazing and a great relief for us, but not nearly enough rain to save the lawn and vegetables (can you believe I've been standing out in the not-very-heavy rain with the hose pipe, trying to soak the beans and potatoes?) Any rise in temperature and relaxation of the rainfall over there? I'm sorry we're not doing better. :o((

The Environemnt Agency has a page, you can search for flood risk by postocde -
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/31618.aspx

pouring with rain here, hasnt stopped since 5.00 am !!

Same here, Sticki, and I've just found the front downcomer drain choked with roots, so the water is running down the side passage, under the gate and into the drain at the back!! Just as well that's functioning! Nothing to complain about when I think of the poor people facing floods.

i have a horrible feeling i saw weeds coming out of the double depth guttering along the kitchen roof ~ just dont fancy rain down the back of my neck and a soaking so im leaving it!!!

I'm sure it'll be ok! It was when I was hunkered down pulling out handfuls of mush (under any other circs, I'm sure it would be described as wonderful compost!) that I got uncomfortable - but it was soaked thighs!!!

i have a whole roof full of moss!!!

Which will be loving all this rain!

it never goes away ~ the moss or the rain!!!

Will it EVER??? (I can live with the moss - and I don't have much option but to live with the rain!)

i think we have swapped moderate climate for the rain forest [without the heat]

I drove into town earlier - ! Water everywhere in the gutters, pedestrians head down under umbrellas, trying to avoid tidal waves from passing traffic - just awful. Nobody actually looking where they were going! Fortunately, I was just dropping off son no.2, and didn't have to get out!

oh same here, i had to walk almost in the hedge to avoid the cars drenching me!!

Ugh, ugh, ugh! Hate it!

[i was eating a chocolate bar at the time!!!]

Washed down with a fresh but unpretentious drop of rainwater!

healthier that way!!!!

Yes, but not as nice as a fresh but unpretentious drop of Chardonnay!!

before 4 in the afternoon????

actually i like liqueur chocolates best of all

No, no, Sticki - would I ever....?

Sweet tooth then, eh? I must stir myself and get some food prepared. Steak and kidney pie this evening- OH has a cold (whisper it softly and say no more!) so I must provide some comfort food and TLC!

very sweet tooth

i have hungarian paprakash [?] in the oven ~ it says its a warming dish for autumn days!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know (well, I didn't, actually) isn't it ridiculous to be cooking these dishes at this time of year? Lovely, though!

refreshing summer salads didnt seem very appealing!!

I quite agree - I'll save those for November!

next to a blazing log fire!!!!

Lol! Or perhaps not... who knows?

nothing is predictable any more!

:-))

Hi girls, just got in from the market, strangely enough there were NO customers, can't think why. Before you worry, I am indoors. Abbot's Harbour is still there Mel, but I've never been. I haven't walked to The Cross Keys, either. it would be a tortuous road walk and there are these things called cars.........................lol.
The rain is really soul destroying now. My garden is suffering big time. Anything with any bloom is rotting - and I don't know if it will recover.The sheer force of the rain has crushed nearly everything else. I probably spent about £250 on plants this year, what a waste. Am gutted. The trouble is, it's actually warm, so it's a bit like a tropical climate, wet, humid and horrid. There moan over. Jxx

ouch jane!! it might have spoiled the flowers for this year but it wont have killed them.

Annuals, it has Sticki. I have NEVER seen rain like last nights. The sheer ferocity of it, has stripped every single rose (luckily the rambler still has buds and is a toughy). Anything else with blossom has been reduced to a soggy mess. I know I shouldn't really moan, as there are so many people who are really badly off, but i feel like moaning........................so there!
Jxx

oh no :-((

unbelievable.

we had this last thursday but somehow things have survived, i dont know how. the sky was literally as black as night ~ never seen that happen before.

Same here. And it doesn't look like stopping. Am going to play with some glass, to make me feel better. Jx

thats a very good idea, creating something always helps i find. when we were on holiday i visited one artist studio, he was working with clay and glass, putting a colour into the clay bowl, adding clear glass which then almost melts into the bottom of the clay bowl but takes on the colours from the clay, im sure you will understand it better than me. i was fascinated.

I would be too. Jx

his mother lived in shetland i think and was also working with clay and glass ~ i reckon its viking blood ~ he had brilliant blue eyes!!!

mmm!

;-)

No I haven't got the yellow book sticki. I don't really have the time to go at the moment. If we get dry weather I want to be in my garden not someone else's lol. There is one exception I'm planning to take my nan to johns garden at ashwood nursery on the 21st (I think that's the right date). Really looking forward to it fingers crossed its dry.

Floods round Stafford today several roads closed or impassable. Luckily I came home via a fairly dry route only one major puddle. When will it end????

hope you have a wonderful time at John's garden, dont forget the camera!! his garden is lovely even in the rain but its so much easier and better if its dry.

when will it end???? i cant even imagine it being sunny any more!!! but according to google, there are not any rain drops on the forecast for here on monday and tuesday [no sun either] but they often get it wrong ~ who knows!!!

According to the met office, there are no dry days in Yorkshire (at least my bit) for the rest of July :-(

oh no. i really hope they have got that wrong [they often do]

:-( They didn't in May or June :-(

they got it wrong for my holiday in june! it had said cloud and rain in fact we got no rain at all.

well that was good, and looking on the bright side, it can't get much worse, well wetter anyway. Am just in a bit of a down mood, due to the soggy nature of my now aquatic garden Jx

i agree, it surely cannot get worse.

Muddy, what sort of ground does your fishing rods grow in? do you think one would be happy somewhere that was usually pretty wet all winter?

Sorry Steragram - I know that was a serious question, but I've just had a mental picture of all the fishing rod plants waving about happily all over the country - and catching fish out of submerged flowerbeds.

that made me laugh melchi ~ does your mind work in images too? i love that!!

It does - except at motorway service stations. I hate it when there are only pictures on the signs. By the time my brain has made the connection between a strange outline and "cars this way" I've sometimes missed the turning. Yet I read all road signs and directions almost subliminally and never miss one. Strange how the mind works!

and that makes me laugh too ~ i never find the information i want on a road sign ~ now if only they would do red roads, green roads, blue motorways the same as the maps i would be fine!!!

i have gone round roundabouts 3 times before now till i find where i think i should be going

[i have NO sense of direction]

how did we manage to get from NGS gardens to road signs??

i can manage NGS signs !!!

Lolol!! (I can just picture you going round and round a rosebed wondering which path to take!)

through the middle of course!!!

Just as well you can read NGS signs, then!

they are yellow thats all i need!!!

! :-)

remember i was 'early years' trained!!!

There's no answer to that! That's why I'm good at road signs - lovely lower-case letters! The font is one of the things I really like about GOY!

its not a bad one is it!

i found a nice new font recently 'delius' ~ free!!

I must look for it. I love handwriting. I used to do a bit of calligraphy, but I'm afraid I haven't got the patience for all the ruling up. My sister passed on a lot of books (she hadn't the patience either!) and I love looking at them and kidding myself I might just do some of the projects!

i love that too!!!! sheilabub and bampy also like it.

i would love to try to do some of those illuminated letters! i have some books ~ in fact if i put everything together i would have a whole cupboard of projects i will do when i have time!!!!!

They are fabulous. I love Celtic patterns as well - and no, I haven't made any of them! I have heaps of books. When I was ill, and recovering, I used to colour them in - it's amazingly therapeutic because they are so absorbing. Creative work apparently occupies the other side of the brain from the part we use to worry, which is why it provides such a release. I think that's why gardening can be so relaxing even though it's hard work. The worst activities are the thoughtless and repetitive ones which just act as a background to worries. That's my excuse, anyway!!!

i didnt know that about creativity being opposite worry ~ it makes sense and explains a lot of things though ~ thanks for that!!!

colouring in is definitely therapeutic!!!

worst, thoughtless, repetitive = ironing, washing up, cleaning etc etc

Definitely! Playing Patience (on the computer) I also found most unhelpful, oddly!

oh i forgot that one, i used to play that for hours!!! not sure why ~ must have been putting off doing something else worse!!

.........that was before GoY!!!!!!!!

Lol! We must have addictive personalities! So it could be a lot worse!!

but never addicted to ironing or cleaning!!!

Lord no! Speaking of addiction, I really must drag myself away!!! I shall hope for better weather tomorrow. I can see the moon, full or almost. A glimpse of the sun in the morning would be good ;-)

Can't see the moon here!

Let's hope for sun tomorrow !

Lovely Sticki, thanks for the tour. It's wonderful looking round others gardens isn't it, can always spark ideas. I too am mightily impressed by the proper, robust pastry fork. I could have appeared completely normal at Malvern if I'd had one of these...nothing bad would have happened.....I would have been my usual cool and composed self:-)

You are welcome BA, glad you could come! I agree I really like this scheme.

And right again, of course it was the lack of proper cutlery that made you feel uncomfortable! Next time we will take our own and then you will be the lady at the table as you normally would be! I don't have any of those forks though, do you?

I bought one of those 40 000 for £29.99 sets of cutlery from a magazine years ago, and it had cake forks - not as nice as these, though (as you'd expect!!)

I collected a set of cutlery when we got married, saved up and bought the wooden box too but it had a plastic insert for the cutlery, that bit is broken now so the box isn't much good, most disappointing.

Our offspring got together and bought us a really lovely set (not in a box) for our 40th. It is lovely and heavy, and my pride and joy! I still use the cheaper stuff most of the time though - lol!

Hmmm 40th? Be 35 this year for me but I only need the insides of the box!!

Oh - it'll be 44 this December (I was a child-bride!)

Wow! Well done you! I was a child bride too! 21 and 6 days!

Oh you beat me to it! I was 21 and 4 months! (Where did the time go?!)

This blog isn't long enough to answer all that! Some good times (having my two boys at home also meeting new friends) and other times not so good, I guess that's life?

I guess it is ;-)

:-)

20 and 3 days...must have been mad!:-)

i had no idea!!!

Just like my mum - I was her 21st birthday present! (well, almost!)

just wish i had gone to college first.

I'd just left...(met OH while I was a student)

i didnt have the option, cos i was a girl! mum and dad wanted me to go out to work

Commiserations. How the world has changed - for the better, I think. I have been watching "Time to Remember", the old Pathe documentaries from the 50s. OH and I were agreeing how amazingly patronizing the attitude to women was then. Do you know, in the 70s I went to arrange the rental of a VCR from the Granada shop in town. I did ALL the business, only to be told - at the end- that OH would have to come to sign the agreement, despite the fact that I was a professional woman, with my own bank account, and a homeowner! So some things have changed for the better!

ridiculous isnt it. i am not into womens lib at all, more whoever is better at the job, but i do think its sad when people dont have the confidence or the opportunity.

Yes, I agree - I'm not into any confrontation, really. But I don't think it would take too many experiences of being on the receiving end to get my hackles up!

mostly i get on well with builders plumbers etc, i love it when they come round but the exception is the one who insists on talking to OH only even when its me that understands the problem not him!!

! Oh yes... fortunately, the local garage man and our builder understand that it's me that has a handle on these things! (OH can't stand cars! -though he does do his share of the driving!) Oh, that makes me sound so bossy - I'm not at all, really, we just do what suits us! To **** with what anyone else thinks!

thats the best way to be!!! convention gets in the way far too much!!

local garage man is very helpful and doesnt charge for every little thing which is very good.

Oh yes - keep on the right side of him!

only a little place but 2 or 3 working there and you can just pop in with a query ~ they dont charge for that ~ only the major services, also i can walk there so its very convenient

That's the best kind of garage - we can walk to ours as well. What a lot of trouble it saves!

absolutely and of course i am happy to keep going back there and recommend them to others! pity they dont all work the same!

Indeed ;-)

I had the same thing with a double glazing firm. My money, my decision (OH worked away from home a lot), half my home, but they still wouldn't even come out to measure up for a quotation without his voice over the 'phone giving authorisation. You can guess who didn't get given the work!
We still get a fair amount of condescension towards women here in Italy: this is MY house, only my name is on all the relevant paperwork and bills, OH scarcely speaks a word of Italian, but he is STILL regarded as the "Head of the household". When we get telesales calls, asking for "Il Signore", I explain the situation quietly, and say "No thank you" and then, when they insist on speaking to him, I pass him over without further ado. They don't call again.
As for garages - no I'm not technical, but the local garage blokes know us now, and really look after us well and patiently. We get the best service ever. We feel part of the "family" and they know we would never be tempted to go elsewhere. They've even learnt to speak clearly and loudly when I telephone them!
We hit our 43rd anniversary in a fortnight, and I definitely wasn't a child bride!
We have three very full, heavy, old-fashioned sets of cutlery, two of them still in their mahogany/oak boxes, (inherited) and one fairly posh set of our own (wedding present) several separate sets of pastry forks, fish eaters, salad servers, etc, but we still use a set from Ikea.
I LOVE calligraphy, and used to dabble a bit when I was much younger and didn't have so much to do, but haven't done any for about the last 45 years. Did anyone see the programme on BBC4 last night about the mediaeval kings and illuminated manuscipts? My jaw was dropped for most of the time - the detail! The gold, the colours! the incredibly intricate workmanship. How many people went mad/blind creating those things?

As you can tell, I haven't been on site for a few days, and am playing catch-up with all your comments. I shall go back under my stone now for another half-week!

oh i missed that program gattina ~ what was it called please? i might be able to get it on iplayer??

I can't quite remember, Sticki - something like "Mediaeval kings and their illuminated manuscripts", I seem to remember, and it was on BBC4, I think, at 8.00p.m. UK time. Well worth searching for. This latest episode was the best so far. It's a series with some 12-year-old (well, excruciatingly young, anyway) history professor with a Spanish name and wearing too much eye-makeup. There's at least one more episode next Saturday evening, but it may be the last, since it takes us as far as the Tudors. Let me know what you think of it!

ok, thank you!!

does this look like it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h3g2

Breathtaking, aren't they Gattina! Such skill and artistry!

found it and watched one, absolutely incredible, so beautiful, thanks for that gattina

I can remember, back in the 60s, if a married woman had her own bank account, the bank sent her statements not to her, but to her husband. and if a couple had a joint passport, he could use it to go abroad on his own, but if she wanted to she had to get a new passport of her own.

I always sign my letters "Ms", as I don't think my marital status has anything to do with anyone else: got a letter back once, in a barely-legible scrawl, addressed to "Mrs or Miss". Once I'd deciphered it, it went straight into the bin - how *dare* total strangers dictate to me how I define myself?

Even on some websites, when you submit a query, finding "Ms" on the "title" list can be hard work: one had only "Mr, Mrs, Doctor" I put myuself down as Doctor, and told them that I wasn't but I objected to their assumption that every woman in the world was married.

I sometimes find people talking to the person I'm with, rather than to me - this might be because I'm carrying a while stick - "everybody knows" that every disabled person is mentally deficient!

Oh I'm so glad you found it, Sticki - wonderful, wasn't it? It makes me want to go and find some vellum and some quills. Oh yes, and some gold leaf and gesso. There's a village near here called Gesso - I wonder if that's where it comes from - there's a lot of cement shale and clay mined round these parts.

I must look into this prog on medieval calligraphy too ; OH is in charge of programme planning ( it works better that way , but drives our daughter mad , she thinks that I am underpriveliged ) , and he would never tell me that something like that was on .
I agree with you Gattina , "gay " young professors with too much of everything are hard to bear !

I wouldn't say "Gay", Driad - she's a she.
Fran, sometimes I wish pre-pubescent UK telesales people and nurses WOULD call me "Mrs" instead of using my first name. I have absolutely no wish to be that matey with them! No.one here would DREAM of addressing an elderly, relatively unknown lady as anything but "Signora" - there'd be an international scandal if they did. Even unmarried daughter gets addressed this way. It's a sign of respect. Nobody but close friends or family would ever call me "Jan".

thanks for that link, Gattina! I've just watched the prog, it was awesome. I don't watch TV, and don't watch much catchup on the PC, mostly because I don't know what's on but also because I'm a bit wary of watching BBC catchup and accidentally straying over a legal line. That prog was excellent, hope I can also catch the "next time"!

OH HATES being addressed as "Mate" by young men (usually cold calling!) He's always very tempted to call them "Son". (Except, he wouldn't...!)

lol it might work if the offenders were able to understand. sadly, I suspect that few of them would have that much working brain

Perhaps he should try "Boy", Mel - that'd have the moggy in among the pigeons! We once watched a table full of young South African men addressing the hotel serving staff that way when we were on holiday in Jamaica: needless to say, they were studiously ignored, got no breakfast, and were completely shunned by all the other guests, of whatever nationality.
I'm so glad other people have been enjoying the manuscript programme; I thought I was the rare, strange bird who appreciated stuff like that. :o)

! I bet it went down like a lead balloon!

Oh, MUCH worse, Mel. It was one of the few times in my life I have been TRULY shocked.

I quite agree, Gattina - very nasty. A friend of ours went to S Africa many years ago. Sitting round the pool, watching her hosts' dogs swimming in it, she innocently (and rather naively) asked if the servants used the pool when the owners weren't there. There was a shocked silence...

Have you seen the film "The Help"? Quite an eye-opener.

No, I haven't, Gattina, although I vaguely remember it being on television some years ago. Wasn't it set in the States?

Yes, but this is a fairly new release, and I'm fairly sure it won't have been on television yet. It has only just gone to dvd. It's won all sorts of awards and plaudits.

Oh right - I might well be thinking of something else altogether.

rather than "son", how about "sonny"? that makes it a bit more obvious!

I can't beleive anyone would call a grown man "boy". lol that's one of the reasons I resent "girl"!! I only use "boy" when I've just been called "girl"

UK English is lacking a suitable useful word here - you can't really use "Sir" or (worse)"Madam" these days without sounding sarcastic or servile. The Americans have "Ma'am" which is rather nice, and most other languages you just use the equivalent of "Mr" or "Mrs" without problems, but "Good morning, Missus!" sounds a bit like a doorstep hustler offering to tarmac your drive at a bargain price, and is akin to "Evening, Squire!".
Anyone got any bright suggestions?

"Boy" is the way white Americans addressed black servants/slaves - that is why it is such an insult.

On consideration, it strikes me that the problem arises from trying to impose formal protocols onto an informal society. In formal situations, it's comparatively easy. Going around door-to door, it probably isn't!

lol the first time I went into a shop and the assistant called me "Madam" I thought he was being sarcastic.

I usually say "dear" - might be a bit over-casual but it's non-gender!

I just grin!

Lovely pictures. I would love to grow plumbago but sadly, don't have a conservatory. Such a beautiful colour.

thank you fuchsia fan, i love it too but cant grow it here either ~ i have to enjoy others instead!!!
i think its the colour i love most too!

The British Military use Ma'am to address women politely , it's quite comfortable ( I want to say "nice " but it doesn't cover it .)
I was using "gay " in its pre-war context , Gattina , which we don't use any more ; we've lost a good word there .
Sticki ' we've hi-jacked you blog a little , sorry !

Thanks Driad, I was a bit worried where this was going ~ but I wasnt quite sure how to address you all correctly????

Lol!!!

Ah isnt natural wonderful
thank you for sharing the pictures.

you're welcome watchitgrow! ~ what do we call you for short?

I should think "Oi! You lot!" would fit the bill, Sticki - I can't speak for Watchitgrow, though :o)

Im no good at saying that to adults gattina, [although i can manage something similar if im teaching!!!]

Surely not ;-)

i can be quite creative with children ~ including how to say oi!!!

Quite right too!

;-)

Gardens first....... lovely, we get a great deal of pleasure visiting other NGS gardens, (and we get in free) so we make sure we buy LOTS of cake and plants to compensate lol all so different, that is the beauty, and you had such good weather, all that blue sky!! You do have some wonderful countryside around, remember it well.
We hate being referred to as YOU GUYS!! I do not object to people using my christian name, just as long as they ask first.....kind or lovely lady will get them noticed too!!

thanks DD, i am very grateful to everyone who works so hard putting on the open gardens, i went to another couple this weekend, more blue sky ~ and the cakes were fantastic!!! oh and excellent plants to sell too

Don't know how I missed this earlier in the week sticki...a lovely set of pictures and descriptions - as usual of course :)
Liking the discussions on names....in the Philippines - atte (Rhyming with Satay) is the address for an older lady and koya (like Koi with a) for males anything else would be frowned upon too! Even in families these words are used to address someone older than you as a sign of respect. e.g. I would be atte angie by my younger siblings.
When I was in hospital having my son - they were insistant on calling me Mrs. Despite me telling them 100 times (I was in labour for 2 days) that I was not ashamed of being unmarried. Nobody listened!!

Thanks Atte Angie

I suppose it's a bit like adding "ji" after someone's name or title in India as a mark of respect - "Ghandiji", "Auntieji". I'm not entirely convinced by "Angieji", though.

I wouln't object to being "Miss" if there were two titles for men, so we could tell if they were married or not. lol I'm after equality, whether we have one title or they have two, so long as both sexes have the same!

I object to over-familiarity, strangers using my first name as if they were my friends in an attempt to ingratiate themselves so I'll buy something off them.

I also object to people shortening my name, or using variations of it: my name is Frances, and that's what I want to be called - one can't choose one's name but one can choose which form of it one wishes to be known by. I';ve been called Franny, Frankie, and so on.. Here I'm Fran, but I chose that in my nick! But if someopne tells me they're Michael, or Susan, that's what I'll call them, not Mike or Sue. Their name, their choice.

My OH is Peter, and although loads of people shorten it (unbidden), I have NEVER, EVER been tempted to call him "Pete". That's my Brother's name.

My OH is Peter and I have never ever, ever called him Pete, lots of other names though lol

lol DD, know that one - a long-time married woamn said, she'd often thought about murder, but never divorce.

:o))))) Bin there, Done that!