A Very Very Special Day

On Wednesday I walked to the cashpoint - nothing really unusual in that, I often walk into Sudbury, but it is a very lovely walk.

I walked along the river edged with froths of cow parsley, to get some cash for a very special day.

Back in December Mum had told us she'd had a special invitation but it wasn't straight forwards as she was also going into hospital in February for a hip replacement operation. Cue master planner (me).  On my weekly visits to North Norfolk to visit them (amongst taking them home cooked meals and cakes, doing the  cleaning, gardening and a miriad of other little things that become big worries when you're elderly) we:

• bought a dress and I altered it
• bought a jacket
• bought a bag and I altered it
• bought shoes
• bought a necklace and I altered it
• hired a suit for Dad and the shop altered it
• booked a hotel and altered the booking
• booked a restaurant

Why?

Because Mum had been invited by the Queen to a garden party at Buckingham Palace as an acknowledgement of her 20 plus years of volunteering at a local museum, True's Yard (I've never been, must alter that!).

From 6pm I was standing outside the front gates of Buckingham Palace waiting for them.  Dad had been worried I wouldn't find them but I knew I would. 

I spotted them immediately they came out and was so proud - proud of Mum for her volunteering and so proud that she'd been totally determined to recover from the op in order to get there and enjoy it pain free.  

We went for a meal afterwards - a perfect end to a wonderful day, they look so happy :-)

Bursting into Life

I do love this time of year, a few sunny days and everything bursts into life.  Today I noticed that one of my Cedric Morris irises - Benton Deirdre had opened. If you're watching or visiting the Chelsea Flower Show next week look out for them as they are appearing there for the first time in many years.

All the aquilegias have opened this week too, mainly self sown and I tend to leave them where they chose to be unless they're really in the way.

and some more clematis have opened too, the one on the left is called Vino, the one on the right is some kind of montana that was here when I moved in.

Two roses have opened this week, the single chinensis rose 'Mutabilis'

and Abraham Darby.

There's still a lot of blue around as the ceanothus has opened (sadly I think it'll have to come out when it's finished flowering as it's leaning across the path and I have to scramble under it to get past)

But I'll leave you with a photo not taken in my garden but at Arger Fen, a Suffolk Wildlife reserve which I called into after work one day last week.

And I heard a cuckoo, black caps and willow warblers as well as seeing the bluebells :-)

Lots of Blue and White

There's a lot of blue and white around at the moment, both in the sky and in the garden.

First of all, the whites:

clematis avalanche

dicentra spectabilis alba

exochorda

variegated white honesty 

white lilac

Next, the blues: lots and lots of forget-me-nots

forget-me-not

camassia

iris bud

It's not all blue and white though, the sky sometimes goes dark dark grey and the garden has splashes of other colours too.

cerinthe

Cerinthe self sows all over my front garden, and in the back there's more dicentra

dicentra spectabilis

 and the late flowering narcissus tresamble.

narcissus tresamble

But before I go, I must just share with you a tulip, now fully opened and all frayed and pretty -

Tulip Huis Ten Bosch