BACK

Inspiration

Getting ahead again

At very busy times with a lot of people trying to read the blog, it can take a while for images to load – they can remain grey. If this occurs, please try again later or make sure you are on a very fast broadband connection! Apologies if this is happening today.

I heard on the radio yesterday morning that unless we have some serious rainfall, a drought is to be declared within weeks. You see? It doesn’t rain nearly as much as we think it does. And I have been taking advantage of this dry, warm new year to get ahead – again.

It was another weekend of beautiful sunshine in Dorset. Last night was a bit of a remarkable wipe-out, dinner with Edward and Jane Hurst, with whom it is impossible not to have a fun time, and which ended up with me having an unexpected sleepover, and only returning to the Old Parsonage this morning—blinking at the brilliance of the extraordinary day, and finding it a little strange to return home to find the curtains drawn and the lights burning.

Was it penance or pleasure to spend the day working hard in the garden? A fine line between the two perhaps. I am wondering if Gardens are in fact like a Communist gulag.  They require you to work, hard, from dawn until dusk. Occasionally you are allowed out for other activities – intermittent travel abroad, or a weekend with friends, but all this basically makes you feel guilty. You spend your hours digging, sifting stones, planting. There is no rest. All the while you are doing this in order to feed other people. I once thought of writing a little book on the subject, which might be called ‘The Berlin Yew Hedge’.

Yet as much as we are trapped by our gardens, is there anything nicer than that feeling, at the end of the day, of knowing that things are in order, waiting for spring; the potato bed is dug, and mulched with well rotted manure; the last tulip bulbs that I discovered hiding in a corner are planted, obviously late but probably just in time; the asparagus bed has been cleared and raked, the artichokes have been cleared, and cloches cleaned? No, there is not; combined with that happy, tired, feeling of having taken a lot of exercise—but doing something, so without the futility of exercise for its own sake, which always feels a bit of a waste of time to me. It is feelings that like that promise a good night’s sleep.


A little while ago, I wrote about garden pinks. In fact, looking back, about the bunch of flowers that Jane & Edward, who I had stayed with last night, brought over to me. I hadn’t forgotten those pinks. And so a week or so ago, I made an order with Whetman Pinks Nursery, which shipped this week. They arrived in perfect condition.  Oh dear, far more than I had expected. It was time to pot them all up. Having no greenhouse, the cold dining room bay window is having to suffice this year. In their trays, they somehow reminded me of a moment from a Ravilious watercolour. I will plant out the pinks in the vegetable garden this spring. I have good feelings about these pinks.

 

 

Best Sellers

  • An English Vision - Traditional Architecture and Decoration for Today - Signed

    Vendor:
    Ben Pentreath
    Regular price £ 45.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 45.00
  • P&H London Souvenir Tea Towel

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 9.50
    Regular price £ 0.00 Sale price £ 9.50
  • 'At Home With Ben' Greeting Cards - Pack of 8

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 8.50
    Regular price Sale price £ 8.50
  • Diana Soap- Basil & Neroli Blossom

    Vendor:
    Bridie Hall
    Regular price £ 22.50
    Regular price Sale price £ 22.50

Latest Arrivals

  • 18 "Emerald Izmir" Ikat Lampshade

    Vendor:
    Melodi Horne
    Regular price £ 395.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 395.00
  • Bernini's Foot

    Vendor:
    Nicholas H Wood
    Regular price £ 125.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 125.00
  • Greek Urn Print - Eau de nil

    Vendor:
    Bridie Hall
    Regular price £ 50.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 50.00
  • A 19th Century Brass Newel Post Cap

    Vendor:
    Rebecca Christie-Miller
    Regular price £ 280.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 280.00
1 of 2
1 of 4


Best Sellers

  • An English Vision - Traditional Architecture and Decoration for Today - Signed

    Vendor:
    Ben Pentreath
    Regular price £ 45.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 45.00
  • P&H London Souvenir Tea Towel

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 9.50
    Regular price £ 0.00 Sale price £ 9.50
  • 'At Home With Ben' Greeting Cards - Pack of 8

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 8.50
    Regular price Sale price £ 8.50
  • Diana Soap- Basil & Neroli Blossom

    Vendor:
    Bridie Hall
    Regular price £ 22.50
    Regular price Sale price £ 22.50
  • Bloomsbury Tray - Large

    Vendor:
    The Lacquer Company
    Regular price £ 375.00
    Regular price £ 0.00 Sale price £ 375.00
  • P&H Long Luxury Matches

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 10.50
    Regular price Sale price £ 10.50
  • Pastel Box Candle - pack of 12

    Vendor:
    True Grace
    Regular price £ 45.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 45.00
  • The Bible of British Taste: Issue no. 3

    Vendor:
    The Bible of British Taste
    Regular price £ 20.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 20.00
  • Rocque Plan of London, 1746.

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 300.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 300.00
  • French Grand Antique Marble Patterned Paper

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 6.50
    Regular price Sale price £ 6.50
  • The P&H Great Creamware Candlestick

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 350.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 350.00
  • P&H Large Creamware Urn

    Vendor:
    Pentreath & Hall
    Regular price £ 225.00
    Regular price Sale price £ 225.00