Just a bit of this and that....garden stuff, and some news stories for your comment.

This is one of those haphazard bits of planting that abound in our garden. We have this small, oblong bed alongside the terrace and in spring it is full of mini tulips, with pointy petals of vivid orange and red, and green leaves striped with deep reddish brown. When they have gone, the wayfarer appears... don't know it's proper botanical name. It was taking over, as these things do, so husband removed it. As you can see, not all that successfully. But the brilliant thing is... that once the tulips have gone we put a wooden tub there, wherein grows the dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff', and these remaining shoots of wayfarer grew up around it. He asked did I want it removed, but I rather like the juxtaposition of the bright yellow flowers and green foliage of the wayfarer, against the deep almost black foliage of the good old bish. So it stays.

This is SIDNEY BEAR, a present from my husband for the tenth annniversary of my transplant, back in the mid-90s. He was, like most bits of statuary you buy, pristine.. but now he is mossy, and bitty. Birds use him as a stepping stone onto the bird bath, at the foot of which he reclines, sometimes covered in wild violets and ivy, other times I clear it away so he can see, and be seen.

Another of the daft bits I have around the garden is FLOWER POT FAIRY... no explanation of the name needed! She has an alpine in her little pot, but I am always forgetting to water it, and it's not one of these that seems to like being deprived of water, so it shrivels up and you are hard put to see it now. Note to self... maybe plant something else?

Chocolate crocosmia. Well, I had heard all the hype about how yummy it smelt, that it did indeed smell of good, dark chocolate, and even though I don't eat dark chocolate, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the enticing smell of it. So after wanting one for years and never getting around to buying one, this time I didn't resist when I saw it in the local garden centre. And it does smell divine... no plug intended for a certain chocolate brand honest, though if anyone from the company should be reading this, all donations gratefully received! We also have a large, old, very dark purple-flowering buddleia, one of many in the garden, which also has the most delicious smell of dark chocolate, no wonder we have happy butterflies and bees! And how do I know they are happy? Well, because they're smiling of course!

In amongst knitting for the swap I am taking part in courtesy of Melanie, I did a bit of hand sewing. Allow me to introduce you to PEGGY PINNY. I know, mad woman naming a pinny.... but she is for those times when I may have a little hand washing to peg out, or just some towels, and don't want to bother with the peg bag. I stuff the pegs in her capacious pocket you see. She is made from a piece of calico I had lying about, with felt applique and contrast stitching around the edge. Just a bit of madness..... I blame it on the heat myself.

Round Britain on a plate, is the title of the below still life. Here we have produce from ESSEX, WORCESTER, LINCOLNSHIRE, SOMERSET... and Norfolk. That'd be my contribution then, the lettuce, from my raised bed! I know there are some of you, and you know who you are, who will be able to show pics of plates full to bursting point with your own harvestings. Well, I only have a high raised bed and two lower ones.. the latter have climbing beans and purple sprouting broccoli in them, but rest assured, I shall be showing them off when the time comes! May not be much, but 'tis all mine own.

Several things I saw in headlines today, or heard on the news, caught my attention. One was that two police dogs allegedly died from exposure to heat after being shut in a police car outside a police station in Nottinghamshire. When they are banging on about us not leaving pets unattended in cars in this heat and so on, a bit of an embarrassing situation this. At one of the local country shows around here, the local police were patrolling the car parks, checking to see if any dogs had been left in cars, and if they had, then they had the powers to break the windscreen and take the dogs to the RSPCA creche on site at the show. Do you think a member of the public would have got away with breaking into a police car to rescue their dogs?

It seems that fresh calls are being made for the prescription charges to be stopped, that this is just another tax really, because the money goes into the government coffers rather than to the NHS. And since we are soon to be the only part of the United Kingdom who has to pay, is it time they were dropped?

Ronnie Biggs seems set to end his life in prison, or in hospital, since Jack Straw refused him parole. Was he right? His argument is that Mr Biggs has shown no remorse, that he hasn't served his sentence for the crime committed. Is this still relevant to a man who is old, and frail and in bad health? Should his family be allowed to have him in a home nearer to where they live?

You can't escape the Michael Jackson news stories either for they seem to still dominate our news programmes. Do you think there is too much fuss being made? Should the news have been reported and then that's it.... move on, there are more important issues to broadcast?

I would just like to say it was sad news to hear that Mollie Sugden had died yesterday.. what a wonderful Mrs Slocum she was!

Hope I have given you some food for thought....enjoy the rest of the week and have a good weekend ladies, and as usual, thanks for dropping by to both my blogs this week.