I WANT TO SHOUT!

I won!!! Yes,  I entered and won the giveaway on Penny's blog The Comforts of Home!  Penny is mailing me a copy of the Pierre Deux French Country Decorating Book.  This is so exciting!  I haven't ever won a prize in blog world and this morning I got up thinking about Penny's wonderful giveaway.  Just a few hours later Penny sent me an email saying that I'd won the book and nothing beats a great book.   Thank you so much Penny.  Just in case you've never visited Penny's pages, let me tell you about her.  She is an amazing mosaic artist and she lovingly creates beautiful, romantic home decor items.  She also decorates, gardens and connects with other bloggers.  If you haven't had a chance to meet her you should stop by and visit her at The Comforts of Home or Lavender Hill.

Thank you Penny!!

Ludwigs Rose Farm

Fancy A Nibble?

R IS FOR?




RIDICULOUS!

A little plant slipped into my supermarket shopping basket yesterday - a dianthus to replace the one that is looking very forlorn at the allotment. Could not believe my eyes when I had a closer look at the label.

Race over to ABC Wednesday to find out more about the letter R.

Dry Whatzit

 

Nikon F801s, Nikkor 50mm f1.8, Kodak Profoto 100.

Selecting a House Color

We have a colorful neighborhood.  My house is blue, and just next to me is a green house.  On the other side of the green house is one that is barn red.  My other next door neighbor is going to paint her house and she's selected a yellow ochre color.  She is from Sicily and she wants to give her home an Italian villa look.   Here are a few colorful views around my neighborhood.

Shades of blue

and yellow 

and purple,

beige and even orange!  Shades of green and brown are really popular too. 

One of the houses near me just sold and I'm really excited.  The new owner to be said he's thinking of painted his house a dark purple with gray and white trim.  It sounded luscious to me.  

My first blog stop in the morning is typically Marie Arden Pink Living  and it started me thinking.  The one color missing from our neighborhood color palette is




PINK!!!

Still on Tippy Toes

One more treat lay in store after the Malvern Spring Gardening Show and fortunately though still unseasonably cold the rain held off. As I don't do motorways (become even more of a gibbering wreck of a passenger) we traveled home via the A49 as usual. If you do not mind getting stuck behind the odd slow moving tractor this is a most enjoyable route taking you through some most pleasant countryside. There are some county towns en route which are great fun to explore including the country market towns of Ludlow and Shrewsbury. Not so far away though from where we stayed and perfectly positioned for lunch were the gardens at Hampton Court.

This was our second visit in May and I noticed that the garden was definitely running behind last year, when the tulips were already going over. This year they were looking quite splendid so with Shirl's Tulip Photo Fest in mind I was pleased to see these beauties ~





Pretty in various shades of pink ~





and some egg yolky yellows ~





Having walked round the gardens we headed off for lunch where who should we meet in the restuarant but none other than the 'Fab Five' ~ what a small world! Fortified by leek and potato soup at the recommendation of Patient Gardener, we headed back through the garden where we heard the Five's dulcet tones and giggles from deep within the maze. I believe that they have since escaped so no need to launch a search party I most relieved to say.

Chicken Farm

 

Nikon F801s, Nikkor 50mm f1.8, Fuji Superia film.