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Sunday 14 May 2023

A Tale of Gardens, Gardening and Poppies.

 Hi everyone, I intended to get to my blog before now but the weather turned warm and as well as taking time out with hubby we have also been on gardening duty here at our retirement complex.

Bridgemere - somewhere new to us
We should have been shopping but took a detour to Dunham Massey on Saturday




The tale of the debacle since Covid began is a long one so I will try to keep it short. In fact I have tacked this on to the end of my post I case you don't want to read it - it is a bit of a rant.

My page has an old tag, the background was a napkin and had additional paper from my scrap box. The page background was stencilled with either inks or by spraying. I stamped an Aall and Create poppy by Bipasha on either side of where I wanted to put the tag and coloured them then stamped the Bipasha bird onto some card, coloured it and cut it out. Finally added some Tin Holt words

I am happy to be joining in with Aimeslee's 'Flowers' theme at Art Journal Journey (where I also have some catching up to do)

I would also like to add this to

We Love Stamping - where the theme for May is 'In the Garden'

Stamping Sensations where the theme is 'Anything stamped with the option of to Add a Stencil'

After Covid our gardening committee was depleted, so a decision was made to start again...with two original members  - me and our 101 year old garden expert. A meeting was held for interested parties and the rest of the committee was then comprised of one lady who joined because her husband wanted to do some gardening but knows very little herself, another lady who arrived with a huge bag of bulbs(this was back in September)because she thought everywhere was a bit drab in front of her window in Spring,(she was too busy and not really fit enough to do anything herself), one man who doesn't know what a dandelion is (or any other plants) but loves to dig, another man who has an illness with good days and mostly bad days but does know a lot about gardening, and a man who had his own garden, knows what he likes and went off in March to buy some bargain plants which have only just been planted(well, the ones that survived after sitting uncared for in pots for that length of time) 

Bulb lady resigned - had a bit of a fall out with a couple of other members - just after the bulbs were planted (not in nice clumps but in rows that didn't stand up to windy weather) and the husband of the other lady hurt his back digging up a nice piece of grass instead of planting the daffodils in the grass - which was done while we were away in September.

Hubby and I have cut back hedges that were making wheelchair access difficult, transplanted some spare plants that we spotted on our walks around the gardens, pruned some shrubs before the birds started nesting and recently been doing lots of weeding to stop plants choking. Man who likes to dig said he was amazed at how a whole area he dug over last year was full of really big weeds - it is - thistles, nettles etc, and I am going nowhere near it as I had told the committee that I thought it a waste of time when it was providing seed heads for birds and flowers for insects in the Spring/Summer and wasn't really seen by anyone.

I'm not sure how long my friend and I can carry on without getting cross - no matter what we say they don't listen - after all I'm a woman and he is very old is what they must be thinking.

We did persuade them to leave some of the lawn uncut for 'No Mow May' which no-one(apart from us) had heard of!

Okay rant over. This is probably part of the reason for my not sleeping so well, but I'm not giving up yet! 

Thanks for looking, Chris  

16 comments:

Cloudia said...

Bless you for beautifying the area. Your photos are very enjoyable. Thank you. Have a good and safe week

HilaryJane said...

I love your page, such great colours and use of those stamps. Thanks for sharing the photos too, it looks like an amazing place. so sorry to hear about your gardening trials. Thanks for sharing your page with us at we love stamping and for joining in with the theme this month xx

Trillian As said...

I love your page. It is a beautiful composition.

Rita said...

What a lovely page!
Sorry you have not gotten people who listen or know how to help with all the gardening. I hope things improve!!

NatureFootstep said...

wow, you really found some nice places/gardens. Beautiful flowers and a nice tag to finish it off.

brenda said...

Some wonderful scenic photos Chris and I love your Poppy journal page, many thanks for sharing your pretty creation which fits our Garden option perfectly at We Love Stamping and stencil option at Stamping Sensations.

B x

Aimeslee Winans said...

Another wonderful stamped collage, Chris. So pretty! And what lovely photos of your excursions. As for the gardening group, sounds like an unwinnable situation. Good for you cutting back the shrubs, I would think the building maintenance would see to that as it's a safety issue! I guess just do what you can and let the rest go because all you do by getting upset about it is get upset. Not worth your happiness, XOX

Elkes Lebensglück said...

A beautiful design journal page. A pretty place! Thanks for these great photos of it. It's a pity that you have such difficulties with the members. Get angry too much it's not good for you just do what you can do.
Have a beautiful new week, hug Elke

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

Your journal page is stunning, I love how you put it together. Stunning garden walk photos. I should leave the garden to maintenance and just do what you enjoy doing, not worth the hassle and getting upset. Although I do know how you feel funnily enough. Thank you so much for joining us in our challenge at We Love Stamping. Good Luck and looking forward to seeing you again in our next challenge.
Faith A DT

Valerie-Jael said...

Love your gorgeous garden page with the lovely ta on it, really beautiful. Glad you were able to get out a bit. Of dear, the garden committee sounds awful, I hope you find a solution, but don't let it pull you down! Hugs, Valerie

My name is Erika. said...

Oh Chris. Your gardening "adventures" ( or should I say misadventures) sound like they'd make me want to throw up my hands and be done with helping out. What a mix of people. I hope it works out for you. And I am loving your latest garden visit also. The garden photos are as lovely as your most recent page. Adding the tag gives a real focal point. I am loving the images and the colors. I hope, other than the garden group, your week has started off nicely. Hugs-Erika

Rajani Rehana said...

Beautiful blog

Fiona said...

this is fab, great layout and perfect for our challenge.

Thanks for sharing with us at Stamping Sensations.
Fi
x

Empire of the Cat said...

I wish you luck with your gardening committee, if I was there, I would join for sure! It doesn't sound like the people who joined up have much experience which is a pity, maybe you could teach an easy class on beginner gardening? Sorry I just saw your comment. Happy belated T Day! Elle/EOTC xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I can't believe how far behind I got. Those are beautiful garden photos. I always love it when you take us to Dunham Massey. Nice to see one of Bridgemere, too.

I am sorry your gardening group is so small and don't know much about gardening. Since that was in autumn, maybe you could put out another call for those who might like to join the committee. It would be nice to get some real help.

I adore your AJJ page. It is nice to be able to recycle a tag and have it fit so seamlessly on the page. his is a beautiful entry for Aimeslee's theme at AJJ, dear Chris.

Neet said...

Such a beautiful page Chris.
I love that yu took time out from shopping to visit a place that you love.
I hope it is not too long before we can visit Sizergh together, sorry I have been so ill and delayed it somewhat. Perhaps some sunny day?
Hugs, Neet xx