Saturday 22 July 2017

When Summer Rain and A Treasure Arrive at the Cottage

Hello Friends!

Thank you, and a heartfelt welcome, to several new followers who have found their way here in the last few days. I hope you enjoy my ramblings and photography, and I love it when you join in and leave a comment to say “hello!”

Before I share what’s happening in the garden, you may recall I mentioned that my favourite author, illustrator, and Happy Person, Susan Branch, has so brilliantly and thoughtfully arranged for her beautiful bone china mugs to be made available here in the UK for all her UK followers.  Well, it has since happened, and you can buy them from Nursery Thyme in Devizes {in person or online} and guess what? My Autumn mug arrived in today’s post! I could not be happier with it, it is so perfectly Autumn, and just a darling mug, both in pattern, shape, and to hold ~ as well as to treasure!  Do you see the attention to detail by continuing the pattern down the handle? Can you hear my squeals of utter delight? Although my birthday is not for a few more months, this is my very special birthday gift to me ~~~

Perfect companions! 
Always counting our blessings
attention to detail!

I’ll take a moment to gather myself before moving on!
~~~~~
Summer rain, sweet, soft, gentle summer rain has fallen for days across the garden, and sometimes it has been not so soft, sliding sideways like needles in horizontal torrents with a rare summer gale blustering in from the Atlantic Ocean.  There’s not much to be done when the weather misbehaves other than hunker down inside and wait for the gales to blow over and make yourself comfy and cosy indoors with a big pile of books and plenty of hot tea and cakes ~~~

Once the winds and rains have passed, it is time to nip out quickly between the showers with my camera to see what is happening. Some of you know me well enough by now to know that rain on plants is one of my favourite subjects, so this morning was another such excursion ~~~

There was a little damage, my poor Verbena Bonariensis were lying down and having a rest across the path as their whippy stems failed to keep up with the lashing winds, but they are now snugly tied back up using the hydrangeas as support. The Alchemilla Mollis is also flat, but once the sun comes out and dries it, it will perk up and be resplendent as ever. It is one of my favourite plants: it fills gaps in borders well; is very tolerant of both lack of care and too much fussing; its acid yellow makes everything around it come alive with colour; and it makes a pretty addition to any small arrangement of flowers. A most appreciated plant indeed.


Everything looks pristine, freshly showered and still sprinkled with raindrops, and yes, some raindrops on roses, but no kittens, not today, I think the rain has driven them away!




The Musk Mallow is looking very pretty indeed as it wraps around my ‘corgi’ which was a gift from a corgi loving friend.   The Monkshood {which is not doing so well this year} is one of my favourite colour schemes as it has a Bindweed {Morning Glory} twined up its spike, and I just love the striking contrast of purple, green and white in combination.

"IGRAINE"






The succulents, despite the rain and cloud cover seem to be preparing a few more blooms in the cluster ~ I am looking forward to this!


And in a rare moment of sunshine, a beautiful butterfly settles on a raspberry leaf to warm its wings while opportunity strikes ~~~



Until next time ~~~

~~~Deborah xoxo

33 comments:

  1. I get the impression that you like your mug? :-)
    Lovely photos , we had a nice fresh rain this morning, filled the water butts again

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  2. The Susan Branch books are beautiful I really must get them all from Amazon. I love your photography wish I could take pictures like you, you capture everything so beautifully xx

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    1. Amazon is about our only chance in the UK although one of mine came from a charity shop, and I am sure Sue in Suffolk found one too, but they are rare things indeed!
      Thank you, but remember, you only get to see the best of the bunch, I take, sometimes, hundreds, and discard fifty for every one that passes muster! xo

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    2. I found a Tasha Tudor book but sadly no Susan Branch.

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    3. Ah, yes, I remember now. Tasha is another hard to find authoress in the UK, as is Gladys Taber, another favourite.

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  3. Oh my goodness! I can hear one happy girl from Wales squealing all the way across the pond! So excited for you! I hate what damage storms can do to a garden but I do love to see raindrops on a flower or spider web! Beautiful photography as always Deb! Can you find out where your sweet friend found that Corgi? Love it ��Praying your Mum is doing well! Please give her a kiss and a hug from me!! ❌��❌��

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    1. Thank you Belinda ~ I'll see if I can find out, I've had it a few years now. Deb xoxo

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  4. Oh Deb, I just adore Susan Branch's new mug! Your's is just the one I would choose. I'm trying to retrain myself from buying them and so far so good. My mug shelf is full of Emma Bridgewater mugs that I adore as well. Susan means so much to me, I might have to give in!
    Lovely photos of your garden after the rains. We could use some water from the heavens as it is so hot here. Have a nice weekend and enjoy that beautiful mug! xoxo ♥

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    1. Oh, Martha Ellen ~ don't wait! Once they're gone, they're gone! I don't think there will be any repeat runs. I can't manage all of them myself, missed the first ones as they were only available in America, but am saving to make sure I get the four seasons as they are made available. Wish I could send you some cooling rain!
      Enjoy your weekend, remember it won't be hot and humid forever! xoxo

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  5. I especially love the photo of the white flower with the pink center. What is it?

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    1. I think that's a Musk Mallow. I had a pink one too but it seems to have disappeared. They are free self seeders and the white looks positively bridal.

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  6. Oh Deb, that is one gorgeous mug! The detail is amazing. You must be smiling from ear to ear. :-) Enjoy your early present. I saw the matching wrapping paper, oh how lovely it is.

    I always look forward to your rain drop photos. They are a favorite of mine, too. They are always so beautiful and magical.

    Love and hugs,
    Darlene

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    1. Thank you my Dear Friend! Yes, Susan is making matching gift wrap too. I hope, eventually, she might make some tea bag tidies too.
      Well, you know what it's like in Wales, got to make the most of the weather we get!
      Love and hugs right back atcha ~~~ Deb xo

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  7. Have you noticed that if you look through a raindrop the image is inverted?

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    1. I know! The first time it happened for me I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I long to get some of those amazing shots I've seen online. One day, I keep telling myself.

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  8. The mugs are being mailed? Really? Happiness! Joy! Oh, andyour flowers are lovely, Debs! Susan Morgon

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    1. Thank you Susan. Don't forget, my mug came from Nursery Thyme, the only independent retailer in the UK who sells them here, and ours didn't have as far to travel to the retailer as do yours! I think several of us in the UK have ours already, it's not often this happens, that we get ours before America does! Think what you have to look forward too now!

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  9. That mug is so lovely - who wouldn't be tempted - I certainly am! The books look interesting - such a shame they are hard to come by - I will keep a lookout in second hand bookshops.

    Beautiful photos of the raindrops on flowers. I love Alchemilla Mollis too especially after rain - it goes so well with other perennials in the garden. I can almost smell your rose :)

    Hope your back is a little better.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, my back is more or less back to normal now. So much easier to get things done and hoping to start tackling some weeds today!
      Much as it pains me to buy from Amazon, they are the primary source for a lot of hard to find American books.

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  10. I am so happy you received your first Susan Branch mug! Aren't they just darling? Happy early birthday to you *wink

    Love the photos of your garden...they're all wonderful! Especially love the white flower with the rain drops! <3

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    1. Thank you! I hope the Christmas one will be the next one delivered to the cottage. The white flower is a Musk Mallow, freely seeds itself and looks bridal when growing in drifts.

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  11. So wonderful to see your garden photos. Just lovely. And sooo excited for you to have your autumn mug! Your up close photos are wonderful, and the mug looks just spectacular! Can't wait to get mine! I pre-ordered the Martha's Vineyard (since that reminds me of my birth home!). Something to look forward to, indeed!! Hugs, Jane xoxo

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    1. Thank you, Jane. Yes, I think of you each time I see the Martha's Vineyard mug. I hope yours arrives soon. I can't believe we Brits got ours first, usually it is the other way around! Deb xoxo

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  12. Just wrote and looked back at my response to your last post. See I repeated myself. Alas, brain not too engaged at moment! Please forgive!! But then, again, excitement over Susan's spectacular mugs can't be overdone, can it!! lol :-) Jane xo

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  13. I am sod elighted I found your blog a few weeks go, And now Susan Branch thank you so much for mentioning her My daughter gave me a her Christmas recipe book 25 years ago, I love it and have never found anything else by her.
    I never thought to look for her using this machine (I'm not good with electronics) Your enthusiasm for the garden and the bea,utiful photos give me great pleasure, we have a 6 by 4 plot of grass and a butterfly bush!

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    1. Why, thank you, Denise! You have made my day. Keep persevering with your computer, you are doing fine, and, like everything else, the more we do things the easier they become. Even a 6 x 4 plot is big enough to grow things, and a butterfly bush is a beautiful thing to have. Deb xo

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  14. Oh I WANT this autumn mug! I am in a very autumnal mood, waiting for the season to arrive.

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    1. They are selling quickly, and once they are gone, they are gone! Follow the link to Nursery Thyme, above, and see if any are left. There are to be more but I know you, like me and many others, want this one especially.

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  15. I thought id left you a comment but must have imagined it! It's so exciting getting something lovely in the post. Hope the flowers recover. A similar story here after rain.

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  16. Oh how beautiful! Your rainy day books and tea sound lovely as we finally seem to have broken out of our 100+ degree weather.

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