Soul Food

Things have been growing at amazing speed in the vegetable garden and I will do a proper update shortly.

Meanwhile, here are some gratuitous pictures of the flower garden, which is in full bloom. It is no Chelsea contender, and given that most of it has only been planted this year, it is still a little bare and lacks structure in the planting. The lawn is also a bit shameful. But it is coming on and I work to the theory that, if you have enough flowers packed into a fairly small space, you can't go wrong!

Gratuitous Flower Picture

Unfortunately I have no idea what the proper botanical name for this Camellia is. This is because I bought it two years ago as a cheap rooted cutting at Wilkinsons - not known as a beacon of horticultural excellence, admittedly, but at £2.49, my horticultural scruples flew out of the gaudy red and yellow automatic doors.

Excuse the terrible paint job on the windows - this is what happens when you skip the masking tape stage.

This is the first time it has flowered and I was kept wondering at what colour it would be. I am OK with white, especially against these lovely bright yelllow stamens. It is a little too hot for it on my kitchen windowsill, so once the flowers are over, it will go back outside. I might also treat it to a bigger pot and some fresh ericaceous compost.

Couldn't resist a gratuitous cat picture too - we have said goodbye to Jesabelle (because she's anyones) and Prudence, the cats. We were catsitting them while their owners moved house - they were excellent houseguests (apart from mistaking the fetching shagpile carpet for their litter tray now and again, but then it is an easy mistake to make) and we will miss them lots. It will be nice to have the sofa back though!