Be Careful What You Say...................!

Hows this for a headline to grab your attention on a Sunday morning! While reading the Sunday Times over coffee this morning this story had me rooted for a few minutes.It seems a blogger overstepped the mark by relating a story on his blog www.ardmayle.blogspot.com about a young couple involved in the purchase of James Joyce papers.It is the first time according to the report that a blog has resulted in a pay out, so dont say I didnt warn you! The paper goes on to say"The blog is in the form of a personal diary with observations on the arts,literature and sport.The author is not identified and the litigants may have got his details through his internet service provider (ISP)." This blogger has paid out a large sum of money so far for his mistakes so we all better make sure we are not doing anything that may have us in the same court so to speak! I think I will stick to blogging about inanimate subjects, much safer!

Brown Bread Baking with Aldi !

My sister recently recommended this bread mix on a post on her blog organicgrowingpains.blogspot.com. I decided to try it tonight and must say it does what it says on the bag! For the princely sum of 1.49 euros you get 3 loaves of bread. The only additions being a dessertspoon of sunflower oil and 800mls of light milk.The product is endorsed by none other than well known cook Jenny Bristow! I will have to freeze two while one gets demolished!

The end result 3 lovely loaves of brown bread! The white on top is just a sprinkling of white flour I put on before baking as I had used up all the brown bread mix.

Tea,raspberry jam and the home-made brown bread,delicious!Maybe the month on the mug should read February!

Garden Visit (3)

Okay these two guys live in my garden, the taller one was christened Jimmy by a nephew when he was first bought by my late Mother or Father and planted in their garden so now they are in mine and looking quite happy if I say so myself! Below are more photos of a garden visit I took a while back.The house is only 10 minutes drive from my house but it could be in another world ! The house is set back from a very busy road and is magnificent! These garden visits serve a dual purpose in letting us see how the other half lives as well as garden.....with help methinks!!!!

Chatter chatter everywhere!

What a burst of purple!

Pathway to the rear garden

Can you see the duck?

Blazing colour everywhere!

Would you like to live here? Is it not beautiful in size and shape and this is the back of the house!

Rhodedendron

Lovely Wisteria,growing all over the place!

Clematis, maybe the President?

Climbing roses

Time to wonder what its like to live here!

Click to enlarge picture and see the ducks!!!

Looking from the pond out towards the rear of the garden

Pond with live ducks!!!

Magnificent colour!

Who would not like to live here? This is the front of the house with the garden pavilion to the right of picture .

Heading towards the entrance gates.

More Garden Visits!

Here is another selection of snaps from a garden visit I made back in 2005 I think, it was to the garden of a very well known flower arranger/gardener. I remember she gave me Ist. prize in a competition held in our local flower and gardening club,my exhibit was called "dancing dahlias", as you can see from the pics she is a fantastic gardener and a lovely warm personality too!

Entrance table where donations are very welcome for charity.

Yours Truly and a Delphinium

Leafy pond

What a rear view!

Vacancies!

No takers for these colorful chairs....yet!

Something must be generating a lot of discussion here!

Garden Open Days

During early summer in May usually, there are an amount of gardens open to the public around the city and county in aid of various charities. I have been to quite a few in the past few years but did not always have my camera with me. This is a garden i visited a while back in 2005 and while i cannot remember now the exact location of it at least you can come on the tour and admire the colours and the variety of plants,shrubs and flowers.The beauty of these garden visits is that there is usually a chance to talk to the owner of same and ask questions of a horticultural nature,maybe a sales table with nice cuttings and plants, and of course coffee/tea and light snacks are also a feature. If you are lucky the sun is shining and after the tour a nice shady seat can be sourced from which to admire and plan for all those improvements to make to your own garden!

A seat with a view!

Hows this for a manicured lawn!

Lily of the Valley

Contrasting colours

Lovely Rhodedendron!

Comparing notes!

Gravel garden

Colour everywhere!

Stunning Hosta!

Plenty of interesting plants and shrubs

A fountain of water creating a ripple on the pond

Groups of people conversing in various parts of the garden

Beautifully manicured lawn with lush greenery and shrubs