The Garden Ramble

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Phew - it's been awhile 😯 

For today's flowers we have a lovely vase of Iris's.

 I have a huge clump of these in my garden which I intend to divide up once they've finished blooming.

Also my very first picking of Roses for the year - mine are later to bloom this year, which I don't mind at all as many people's have already finished their first flush 🌹

Looking towards the street                                             Looking towards the Studio at back 

On November 2nd we had the Garden Ramble at my friend Gail's home.  After a great deal of dreadful weather leading up to it, the day turned out beautiful, the sun shone & the sky was the bluest blue.  

Gail has a wonderful urban garden, very deceiving from the street frontage.  You come through the side gate, down the pavers, then there is a large private back area.  People were surprised & many said "Oh gosh - there's all this tucked away down here, you'd never know". 

It was a lovely day - busy with constant traffic from 9 am til 4 pm when it ended.  People were enjoying themselves & so in good spirits.  We both saw lots of faces we hadn't seen in many years & it was lovely to catch up with folk again.  

I worked for Gail in her Giftware Store for just under 20 years ... so you can imagine the faces that were familiar.  (Some of course, you would not want to catch up with again ) 😉

I loved the way Gail had hung a large mirror on the back fence to give the illusion of extra space.  

A cute little cane seating area outside her dining room doors.

She had half the house open for viewing as well (just the living areas, kitchen etc, not bedrooms) & people could sit on these couches & remove their footwear to go inside.  

Several years ago she had this Studio constructed where there was originally a barbeque area.  We set it up as a shop to display our wares for sale & some of Gails artwork.  People were interested & had a good browse, we both had good sales.  

Gail sews the cushions & childrens jackets from vintage wool blankets & I sold my potpourri, mushrooms & seedling packets that I've shown in previous posts.

The Garden Ramble was a yearly fundraiser for our local Altrusa Club & they sold 400 tickets.   At $30 per ticket they would've raised $12,000 which they donate back in to the community. 

 I've had my garden in the Ramble twice before (tho' the last time was 8 years ago now) so I was more than happy to assist Gail with hers.

She has a large raised veggie garden that was bursting with produce.  

This is a small succulent garden outside her bedroom doors.  The mosaic heart was made many years ago by my friend Carolyn.  Gail had broken a precious Vase of her late Mum's & commissioned Carolyn to create this heart from the pieces.  I loved it.

In the corner opposite the veggie garden she has a large enclosure that she uses for potting up & sometimes as a cattery when she is looking after other peoples cats.  

She shut her Ragdoll Cat Lily in there for the day as she is not friendly & quite "swipey" to folk.  Lily repaid her by sitting at the grate crying all day long, getting sympathy from anyone possible & became quite an attraction in her own right.  Gail let her out about 3 pm when it quietened down a little & she swiped the first lady that tried to pat her!  She is a true Princess 👑

I did not get any photos of the interior on the day (I forgot) but I snapped these two last Monday when we were at Gails for craft.  She has set up her Christmas decorations & it looked magical.

This is her formal lounge - she has two generous sized living areas.  

And Yes dear friends, I have nearly finished my own Christmas decorating as I have friends & groups coming to view this weekend.  I finished my deck table yesterday, always one of my favorite areas to decorate - I have a tall wire tree to go at the end but this area is currently housing a large ginger furry decoration that I am reluctant to move (!!) 😉😖

Thank you for staying through this photo heavy post - I hope to post more regularly from now on but knowing me - anything's possible!!

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,