Long Mizzle Garden

 Hello m' ginger snaps,  It may look like I'm moving house, with all the boxes and tissue wrap...but I'm not! The local weather man warned us storm Arwen would bash the UK's South West coast, and it duly arrived on time on Friday night. This was my resulting Saturday morning 'to do' list - Re-oraganise chintzy bone china cups and saucers Go through wardrobe - dig out favourite 'Scandi Noir' jumpers (fill bags for the charity shop - a girl only needs so many winter jumpers) Look through the Alpine Garden Society's seed list - make a 'wish list' Drink lots of tea, using one of said chintzy cups, whilst trying to look moody in Scandi Noir jumper of the day. Below are cups and saucers from Royal Albert Bone China (1977) Provincial Flowers series.  They illustrate - Left:  'Mountain Avens' (Dryas Octopetala), arctic alpine flower Right:  'Lady's Slipper (Cyprpedium reginae), said to be the rarest orchid in Britain.  *I can report t...

 Hello m' foxtrots, Do come in, I've got t' kettle on and I'm raiding the biscuit bunker.... I wonder if those in the northern hemisphere are missing garden programs on TV? It is always a sad moment once I've watched the very last Gardeners World and Beechgrove Garden of the year on BBC iPlayer. Monsieur, on the contrary, does a celebratory dance. He feels like he has his TV back for wrestling, horror flicks and guitar shreds. Oh how I dream of a straight forward 'job for the weekend', such as simply planting bulbs in pre-prepared pots full of  fresh crumbly compost. My version of planting bulbs involves a big shuffle of many steps. 1) Make room in the greenhouse for the overwintered cannas:  Old pots are tidied away into the storage box (this hides behind the greenhouse).    Some plants come into the house, such as the ginger and the chilies.   On a side note - I am feeling pretty smug that my ginger tuber, brought from Wilkos for just a couple of pounds b...

 Hello, do come in, it's a bit damp, but I've got t' kettle on and it's going to be a beautiful day... In my art school wanker days, there was one set of images that gripped me more than anything else...and to this day they still haunt and fascinate me. They are the 'Silueta Series' (1973 -78) by Cuban born sculptor, video and performance artist Anna Mendieta.    Mendieta used primarily earth, sometimes flowers, twigs, blood and fire in a ritualistic attempt to create a sense of belonging and re-connect to her exiled homeland. She says she was 'ripped' from her childhood home in Havana (her father was politically imprisoned for eighteen years and Mendieta, along with her sister, were then shuttled between orphanages and foster parents in Iowa, America).  Although at first glance, some of these ephemeral images may seem morbid, it was in Mendieta's culture to see blood as a powerful thing and the muddy process was meant to be regenerative. The keen ga...