The Magazine for Those Who Value Friendship, Creativity and Wellbeing.
A Troubling Start.Our cottage is centuries old. It is a 'listed' building; meaning that is has protected status and modifications cannot be made, externally. This ensures the building retains it's historical appearance. It is timber framed and all of the original wood beams remained in place. That is, until we discovered that the cottage was... Continue Reading →
What an icey start to the year. this was! We started with snow and it went on for a couple of months. This was pretty deep and the snow drifted on the land around our cottage, here by the Suffolk coast. We had moments of seeming reprieve, when it seemed at last that the thaw... Continue Reading →
I'm afraid I don't have many photos of the garden, from 2017, that are just of the garden. Most are filled with family and friends who came to enjoy time with us. Still, as you will see from the gallery of photos, below, the garden started to take shape. This is the first time that... Continue Reading →
With so much focus on infrastructure in the previous years, this year became a year that focused on 'beautifying' the garden, so to speak. The year began without the snowfall we had become accustomed to and, while I love a heavy snowfall, it was actually a welcomed change. I wanted to crack on with progressing... Continue Reading →
With the hedgerow now well established; formed predominantly of hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, hornbeam and wild rose, we saw increased varieties of wildlife coming to the garden. In the gallery, below, you will see that a beautiful barn owl became a regular visitor to our garden. This would be a transformative year in the garden, for... Continue Reading →
This was a year in which we started considerable planting. The year had started with another period of snow. The dogs had now reached an age where they were very feisty and challenging; 'the terrible twos'. This meant they were full of energy and play and that they would delight in digging up the garden.... Continue Reading →
This was a year which started with quite a persistent snowfall. I tend to dread the onset of snow, because it has always brought prolonged cold that causes me considerable physical pain. I was still pre-Parkinson's diagnosis, though I much suspected Parkinson's, in 2013. Yet, I was still living with the symptoms and these were... Continue Reading →
(I can’t find garden photos for 2011, but if they turn up, I will make a post about the garden in 2011).From my post about our garden in 2010, we sadly had to put our beautiful dog, Fred, to sleep in January 2011. His loss was absolutely enormous and we were utterly heartbroken. To this... Continue Reading →
The white winter of late 2009 had stayed with us until well into January of 2010. There were also snow flurries in the February. Suffolk was akin to the wonderful, fabled Narnia, from the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It had started to feel as though Jadis herself; theWhite Witch from these chronicles, had... Continue Reading →
My then partner, Kevin (now my husband) and I moved into our Suffolk cottage, which dates back to the 16th century, in 2009. It was October and the first thing we knew we had to address was that the main private garden, at the rear of the cottage, did not have a complete fence. This... Continue Reading →
Focused Friends 