Category: Flowers

Birds · Flowers · Inspiration · Lighthouses · Nature

A tale of lighthouses, swimming and wildlife.

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A lighthouse, yay! On a spring day filled with bright sunshine, blue skies and a breeze that could bite the ears off you, we walked the short distance from the small Fife town of Elie to the Elie Ness Lighthouse. 

After another bout of covid, and our planned holiday abandoned, it was the perfect way to enjoy some fresh air and (a little bit!) of exercise.

Built on what used to be known as ‘Fish Rock’ in 1908, the engineer was David Alan Stevenson, cousin of the author, Robert Louis Stevenson. The lighthouse was deemed to be necessary as in bad weather sailors couldn’t see the lights on the Isle of May or Inchkeith. 

Crossing the small bridge, I felt as if I was approaching a castle. The tide was out and the black rocks surrounding the lighthouse were smooth: Elie Ness being one of at least a hundred extinct volcanic vents in East Fife.

Sea Thrift
Scurvy Grass

Of course I took the time to check out the wildflowers: Sea Thrift and Scurvy Grass, the latter being a new discovery on my ‘Seek’ App. 

A heron set off on its majestic flight and a skylark’s song accompanied us (thanks to the Merlin Bird App!) as we followed the grassy path along to Lady Janet’s Tower.

Now there’s a story.

This puts wild swimming in a whole new light!

Apparently, Lady Janet Anstruther’s father (or husband) had a changing room built in 1770, on the beach so she could go swimming/skinny dipping at Ruby Bay. Whilst she was in the water, a servant rang a bell in the town so no-one would go near and when she had finished, she had the tower to ‘relax’ in afterwards. 

Now that might tempt me to go wild swimming – the prospect of having a cosy room with a fire to thaw out in after an icy dip!

Lady Janet’s Changing Room

Walking back along the beach, we searched for Elie Rubies (pyrope garnets), didn’t find any but it was worth a try!

Buoyed by our visit to Elie Ness, we travelled along the coast to pop into Pittenweem (lovely wool shop!), Anstruther and Crail. 

As it was such a beautiful evening, we sat outside to enjoy fish and chips in Anstruther with a superb view of the lighthouse and enjoyed walking the harbour wall at Crail. 

Anstruther Lighthouse

What a time to travel around Scotland! Laden boughs of pink cherry blossoms, magnolia trees with their white or pink flower cups, tulips of every colour looking so perfect as to appear almost unreal.  The cheery yellow of the gorse in the hedgerows and the sunshine patchwork of oilseed rape in the fields. Lambs sunbathing. What a beautiful country. 

And finally, isn’t there always a last word? Well, it has to go to this yarn bombed postbox in Elie. Couldn’t resist popping a postcard in.

I am reading (and loving!) ‘Corvus’ by Esther Woolfson – might have popped into Toppings fabulous bookshop in St Andrews!

I recently visited the Louise Bourgeois exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery and would highly recommend it, so thought provoking and inspiring.

Have also been inspired by my daughter, Katie’s fundraising for Teenage Cancer Trust as she trains to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in August.

Flowers · Garden · Happy

Every Garden is a Story

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Social Media Perfect? So beautiful but all is not what it at first appears.

It seems to me, every garden is a story. Home to memories made and filled with hope for those to come.

I look around our garden and each tree, bush, flower, everything has its own history. From the many lavender plants – because I find it hard to leave a garden centre without one after happy days spent at the Norfolk Lavender farm, to our five cordon fruit trees, a gift from my parents.

In our garden peony flowers grow. Their perfume intoxicating, their beauty surely undeniable.

But, as a child, peonies never really entered my world. It wasn’t until my sister-in-law included them in her wedding bouquet did I cotton on to how stunning they really are.

Now, the peonies in our garden have their own story. When my parents moved house, they changed their new front garden around. As they did so, they offered me any plants I would like to take. Well, you can imagine, there I was, trowel and spade in hand! Our car was soon filled with straggly plants in bags and pots.

So, back home, I popped the peonies in the ground. I had no idea really what they were or whether they’d take to our colder, north eastern temperatures. Were they herbaceous? As it turned out, they were a triumph of hope over knowledge. The first year one large pink bloom appeared (and I learnt they are herbaceous) then, each year from then on, more and more flowers have appeared.

But, all was not perfect in the garden.

I love these big, blousy blooms and even more, I love where they have come from and the memories they’ve given, and continue to give, me.

This year, when my daughter asked me what ‘those pink flowers’ were called, I was able to share my limited knowledge and my story with her.

A bit of support is needed.

So, yes, now I’ve realised, we all have a story with certain flowers. And the stories can bring so much joy in the sharing.

Which flowers do you have a special story with?

Super visit to the Aberdeen Art Gallery exhibition of work by Quentin Blake.

I am reading: White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link.

The Tale of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carroll.

Books · Flowers · Friendship · Happy · Hope · Inspiration · Nature · Writing

A Six Step Starter Plan / Winter Warmers

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I don’t know about you but 2022 , well, I can’t decide if it got off to a slow start or is just flying on through.

I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago but had a few technical issues (the format of the photos changed and I didn’t know what to do!), anyway, I decided just to post it. After all, so much of it can apply at anytime. Hope you have a good day!

Sometimes I think I have magpie tendencies. I like nothing better than to gather together bright shiny strands from all parts of my life. This then, helps me to build a sort of collage picture of hope.

I don’t think I’m alone in finding January and February a bit challenging but this is the recipe I’m using right at this very minute to help me and I hope that in some way it may help or inspire you too.

  1. Taking a look around the garden and spotting this sedum popping through.
  2. Lighting candles and then taking time to read.
  3. Going to the Zandra Rhodes exhibition – an absolute explosion of colours, pattern and inspiration!
  4. Listening to a podcast. At the moment my favourite is Viv Groskop’s, ‘How to Own the Room.’
  5. Writing, of all kinds.
  6. Going for a walk.
Me at the Sandra Rhodes exhibition

At times like these, when the dark winter days are slowly, slowly changing to the brighter days of spring I remind myself it can be a good thing to think small to get started with. Progress doesn’t have to be big to be effective. So it was interesting for me to read the title Anya Hindmarsh chose for her autobiography: ‘If In Doubt, Wash Your Hair’. In fact it made me laugh as, over the years, I’ve developed my own wee routine for those days of doubt.

So here it is, my six-step plan. For the days when I wake up and don’t know where to begin.

Any order.

  1. Brush my teeth
  2. Have a shower
  3. Go for a walk
  4. Do the dishes
  5. Make a pot of soup and then eat a big bowl of it!
  6. Phone a friend/ family member.

These indoor hyacinths had an amazing fragrance

Is there something you would add to make it super-duper seven step plan? (Or should that be ‘souper-duper’?)

Bonus soup recipe – with thanks to my Mum and most, likely, the Woman’s Weekly.

  • 2 mugs red lentils – rinsed
  • 1 onion – diced
  • 5 carrots – peeled and diced
  • 2 pints of water
  • 2 tins of Heinz tomato soup

Optional: fennel seeds, celery – any old vegetables you have to hand.

Put everything in a large soup pot except for the tins of soup. Cook for 45 minutes, add in the tins of soup and heat through and it’s ready to serve! This also freezes very well.

  • Book: ‘Do One Thing Every Morning to Make Your Day’
  • Poem for Every Night of the Year’ Edited by Allie Esiri.
  • ‘Hawkeye’ by George MacKay Brown.
  • ‘The Moon Sister’ by Lucinda Riley.
  • TV: BBC iPlayer: Around the World in 80 Days
  • Song to dance to: Madonna – ‘Hung Up’.

NB. Please note that there are many great organisations out there ready to help. There is a really helpful list

here.

Books · Flowers · Garden · Happy · Latin names · Tea

Kaleidoscopes

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I took a long hard look at my website recently, wondering if now was the time to make dramatic changes. Is it too muddled, are there too many themes I wondered? After all, there’s this blog; Picture Book Reviews, Gardening, Latin names for flowers and Cup of Tea Books. Quite a variety. But no, not at this time. This is me. This is who I am. A person of many interests and this Blog brings me joy and time for reflection and the opportunity to merge these interests. I hope it will bring you a moment or two of calm too.

Thank you for reading and wishing you a safe, healthy and very Happy New Year!

I am reading Americanah by Chimomanda Ngozi Adichie and Friend Me! by Sheila M. Averbuch

bees · Flowers · Garden · Wildflowers · wildlife
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There are leaves scattered on the grass. September is a time of change. It is a time when people leave and scatter. This is a natural process, one I, as others do, have to learn to live with. Change can be a forward movement, exciting, often nerve wracking but energising too.

We’re in the middle of a ‘tropical plume’ as the radio DJ called it – very warm this week but today there’s a smirr of rain. It does bring out the shades of green in the garden. After seven years it’s a much more mature garden.

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Comfrey – Symphytum officinale

The sunflower peeps over the fence, hopefully making our neighbours smile. Usually I plant the seeds in the vegetable bed so we see the sunflower’s bright, cheery faces too.

This year our small vegetable plot has really been taken over by the giant muppet-like monster that is the comfrey. I am totally taken with it – the bees have loved it. Apparently after a bee has drunk the nectar, the flower produces new nectar in two minutes. I’ve used the torn up comfrey leaves as slow releasing feed, ripped up on the base of the tomatoes plants and in the bottom of planting holes and, as the plant itself likes to do, I’ve spread the message far and wide!

Good Earth Dahlia

A giant pompom dahlia flower is bobbing its head at me from over in the corner, chatting to the enormous daisies which were a gift from a friend. The garden has a wild, overgrown look at the moment but I much prefer the soft lines of this to one that is too clipped and severe. It reminds me of the Oscar Wilde fairytale of the Selfish Giant.

Are there any particular flowers you love in your garden?

I am reading ‘The Salt Path’ by Raynor Winn and the poems of Emily Dickinson.

Flowers · Garden · Seasons

Let Spring Bring Hope and Peace

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Nothing is so beautiful as spring – Gerard Manley Hopkins

Birds are singing. Landing on the fencepost they pause, check all is clear, dart to the feeder and back to the post in the blink of an eye. A robin, blue tits, chaffinches. Magpies launch themselves at the fat ball holder, blackbirds peck at fallen seeds. Two pigeons, one fat, one thin, drink from the pond.

Flowers are opening, welcoming the sun. Crocuses, hellebores, cowslip, primroses. The tulips are appearing, still wrapped up tightly.

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Primula vulgaris in the garden

Glossy green leaves of the Laurel gleam in the shining sunlight.

The first giant bumblebee of the year buzzes past my ear.

Frog spawn wobbles in the pond and we stop to watch two woodpeckers on our walk.

Spring is here. The seasons roll on.

Wishing you all good health and peace.

 

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Spying a heron when out for a walk.

 

 

I am reading ‘The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland’ by Catherine M.Valentine