Sunday 30 April 2017

Gardeners delight

Hello. And what a lovely morning it is, I shall be off outside soon. I arrived yesterday at Auntie Pat's for her plant sale, it was in full swing, plenty of people about. She is a member of the local Soroptimist group, and the plant sale was to raise funds to help women all over the world. Auntie Lyn (pale blue jacket), was busy flogging the potted plants. She ducked down when she saw my camera, but I got her. Lyn has been a keen gardener for the whole of her life, and worked in a Garden Centre. She knows a lot about plants. 
Plenty to choose from, all donated by the ladies of the group.


I made my choice, I shall be planting them in my beds this afternoon.

Raffle prizes all donated. Boohoo, I didn't win, but I was a bit cheeky and bought the cushion you can see, a cat wearing a pink dress, before they had the draw. It's for a special friend.  
Cakes to buy. There were more cakes in the kitchen but I forgot to take a photo of those.

Pat's late husband, my Uncle Stan, was immensely proud of his garden, and Pat has worked hard to keep it in pristine condition. He would be proud of her. Take a stroll through the beautiful colours.







Auntie Pat, far left, taking a break with two friends. The event was a great success, lots of money raised for a good cause, and a lovely social occasion for getting together with friends.

I had a couple of hours visiting my sister afterwards, and timed my journey home to pop into Tesco at 7pm. Sadly the yellow stickers had not had their final markdown, and I decided not to hang around and wait because everything looked a bit wilted, and I wanted to get home. I still spent £30 on food I needed, and filled my car up as well.

It was a smashing day. The weather is predicted to be sunny for the next four weeks, so it looks like I might be having a few trips out.

Today is the last day of the month, so this is a call out to the Walking Group. I hope you are keeping up with our 1000 mile challenge. Please come back tomorrow and let us know how you are doing. Don't be sad if you haven't done as much as you would like, every step you take is one in the right direction. I know some of you are steaming ahead, so lets get those numbers logged on tomorrow's post.

Thanks for popping in, enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

30 comments:

  1. I love plant sales and have run many in the past. Glad you made lots of money and a happy day was had by all. Pats garden is so pretty. Well done to everyone.
    I can imagine you are planning a trip soon Ilona now the weather is getting warmer, although it's very windy and quite cold in my part if the world.
    Enjoy the week.
    Hazel c uk

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  2. What a beautiful garden! Just what the bees need as well. I'm trying to cram as many flowers in this year as I possibly can. No space is safe!

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  3. A belting garden! Natalie

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  4. Tom particularly liked the Pansy display, his favourite flowers.
    Like the look of those cakes, lol
    Briony
    x

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  5. Looks like a nice wee day out Ilona, catching up with your family. Hope they're right about good weather for the next 4 weeks! I'm cynical, but you never know. Karen

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  6. An absolutely beautiful garden.

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  7. What a lovely day you had Ilona .I like such things.Your Aunties are very kind and generousl ladies-people like them make our country great.Super garden too.I've done a bit of gardening earlier ,the dogs been sunning themselves and one so happy she's been rolling over on her back one way and another for a while.They take pleasure in such small things.I go like a rag doll after doing a lot so I'm taking it easy .Lovely.x

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    Replies
    1. I've been out in my garden today, but it was very windy. The cats kept me company.

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  8. Gorgeous garden and nice to know that Auntie Pat is doing well after the loss of your lovely Uncle Stan. Which one is your blood relation?

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  9. A bees paradise there. Gorgeous and thanks for sharing it.

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  10. Hello Ilona,
    I'm alive, honestly! Catching up now, I've finished my dissertation- woohoo! That looks like a brilliant day, love the cat cushion too, your friend will love it. I'm glad you and the fur babies are well, your aunty has a gorgeous garden. I've just read that David Cameron has bought a shed for £25000 and I thought of your shed- his isn't anywhere near as fabulous as yours! Hopefully I'll be keeping up with you a bit more now that the degree is finished.
    Xxxxxx

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    1. Welcome back, it's good to hear from you. Clever girl, when to you get your degree?

      Isn't David Cameron's shed ugly, needs a lick of paint.

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  11. Thank you for the photos of the beautiful garden, really lovely to see all the flowers and all the care that shows!

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  12. Looks lovely.
    I've just made it into 2016!!! Will have caught up with you before long, I hope. But reading the more recent entries as well as they pop up in my emails, I think there are some sad times ahead.......
    It interesting to see the regulars commenting too, but then suddenly one will disappear. I wonder whether they just stop reading, or something worse....... I have noticed one or two that pop back up after a break though, sometimes quite long ones!
    When I came across the post that had been deleted, which I think was to do with being trolled judging from the comments on a few of the following posts, it was just like coming across a missing chapter in the middle of a book!! Now I'll never know who did what to who!!
    Anyway, I'm off back to Jan 2016.......will be back later :)

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    1. Well done, Karen. Sorry about the missing chapter. I think that was the only post I deleted. The troll thing has gone quiet now, hopefully it will not rear it's ugly head again.

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    2. Can I just say it was not a matter of ''who said what to who''.It was clearly someone intentionally bullying and harassing Ilona.Hopefully she has gone now.Sometimes it's best to remove them from our lives. Ilona really does have the bestest blog!

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    3. Oh I totally understand why it was done. Just found my own reactions amusing, the feeling that I'd missed something important! Or that I was the only person in the room that didn't know what was going on :)
      Really don't understand what people get out of trolling.......
      Anyway, all gone now hopefully.

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    4. Hi Karen-sorry if I sounded a bit sharp, my annoyance was directed to the troll .I have been harassed myself x

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  13. What a gorgeous garden! It must take a lot of work to keep it up bt she should be very proud of it. I love it when charities get people to open up their gardens for viewing - it's so amazing to see what people can do. Glad you had such a lovely day out and a good visit with family.

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  14. Karen Smith, I lurk, I read every day but just comment now and then. Maybe others do the same. It's interesting that you notice patterns while catching up. Any way today I just wanted to say what a beautiful garden Auntie Pat has. A real credit to her and Uncle Stan would be proud.

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  15. I did think David Cameron's shed was really dull!
    Exam board don't sit til the summer and the graduation is in July. I won't be attending, it's from a university down south and it's not worth the expense and hassle of travelling there and paying for it all. I've done two graduation ceremonies already so I'm not fussed this time round. They'll post it to me. I have photos from my last two and to be honest I look the same, so I'll just say one is from this time. Nobody will ever know, hehehehe! Xxxx

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  16. What a great day you had Ilona. Love the idea of plant stalls supporting great causes (and of course the bees!).I am always on the lookout for plants that have been propagated by gardeners rather than the ones available in the big shops. They are so much more healthy, grown with love and so willingly shared. The communities that grow around gardening (no pun intended!) are wonderful- generous, knowledgeable and very supportive. Your Aunty has done an amazing job -it is obviously a labour of love. Thank-you for sharing. Glad you had such a good day. Cheers. Jo (in Australia)

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  17. What a lovely, lovely garden. Certainly one to be proud of--thanks for sharing your pictures of it. It sounds like a fun event. I always love to see what other gardeners are growing.

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  18. Hi Ilona, What a beautiful garden. Wish mine looked half as good!
    My total walking miles for the year to date is 298.

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  19. Happy May Day!
    Sonja, from North Carolina checking in with April miles for a total of 111.
    Thx, Sonja

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  20. Hi,Been working on my garden today .You give me such a kick up the bum,lol.Dinner for us to ....n some will be freezed...stewing beef from Aldi....my hubby likes his meat.....But the rest was carrots,onions,turnip,parsnips,n tin of salad beans from2016.All made into a stew with half a can of Guness,handfull of value frozen peas.And it was lovely.The Guiness was half a can left over from Saturday.Dont waste anything.Love to follow your Blogs,Debi,Leic,x

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  21. Someone told me many years ago to drink Guinness because of the iron content as I am vegetarian.I didn't like it at first but persevered for my health sake.Then I loved it too much and decided for my health then to stop completely x

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  22. What a beautiful garden! We have been working really hard to keep on top of ours as we got bogged down last year and it was a bit messy. It's like a summer fete in the garden - love that kind of event.
    Jane

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