A Brave New World

A brave new world, pastures new, hurrah.

My silence over the past few weeks was firstly due to ongoing laptop problems, but more importantly, I have a buyer for my beloved home, and simultaneously, I have found a perfect home in which to start my new life. This new home is just across the fields in a neighbouring village - far enough away for a change, yet near enough to keep my good friends.

It is so extraordinary how, after the worst three years imaginable, everything has come good. Fingers crossed - as we hurtle towards a twin exchange of contracts on both properties.

A whole gamut of emotions has been flooding through me these past three weeks. One moment tearful, the next fearful, sudden rushes of elation, and moments of sheer relief that at last I can plan a future.

Needless to say, the ex threw a huge hissy fit and tried to put a spanner in the works. Methinks if he was hunkered down in connubial bliss with my replacement, he would be too pre-occupied to still be causing trouble with his petulance and spite.

I now feel as if my dear home and garden are saying goodbye to me - the garden has never been so verdant, green and beautiful. Despite the warm weather during April and the early part of May, there are few signs of drought here.

The roses are magnificent, in front of me on the kitchen table is a large glass bowl of sweetly scented Madame Alfred Carriere - this is one of my most favourite roses. It rambles slackly over fences, up trees, over walls, with thin stalks supporting lovely creamy heads blushed in places with the palest pink. The scent is of a quintessential English garden rose. It has taken many years to reach perfection in my garden and I fear that I will not be alive long enough to establish it in my new little cottage garden.

Tour de Malakoff is breaking its magenta/mauve buds, and my rambling Seagull is poised to follow suit. What a joy. My paeonies are big, blowsy, flopping over the borders, Duchesse de Nemours, one of my favourites, a clear white. One tree peaony, Davidii, dark small single magenta flowers with a yellow centre, has just finished, and my absolute favourite, Souvenir de Madame Cornu,huge,, heavy sweetly scented heads of yellow streaked with dark orange, just going over. There are clouds of Alchemilla Mollis, and many hardy geraniums, purple, white, such as Kashmir White, deep Johnsons Blue and many more. Spiking up through the borders are maturing drifts of Nectosicordum Siculum, cream Camassias, and cream Martagon lilies, known as Turks Cap. Exquisite.

Dear garden, how I shall miss you, but as moving day draws near, I shall be moving through this beloved garden with my trowel, spade and pots, lifting precious specimens to take with me to my new life.