June Garden Vignettes

Hi there everyone 😀

Whilst I’ve shared our June garden visits with you … it’s been a little while since I’ve let you know what’s been happening in our own garden at Number 27.

You will know that we started off strong back in the spring and, I’m pleased to say, we’ve managed to keep up the momentum …

The reseeded grass area is doing very well, we’ve painted one of the raised beds, the majority of the fencing and one of the sheds and the majority of the patio area has been jet washed. We’ve also dismantled and waved good bye to the old arbour … which was very much past its best …

There has been a lot of planting and organising of pots and we have started to try and tame the crazy amounts of wild violets that have completely taken over one of the borders and even seem to have managed to find their way into the newly seeded grass.

June has been glorious here and we really have been able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labour … with lots of lazy afternoons just sitting and chilling in the sunshine, or a shady spot when it’s just been too hot. 

There really has been plenty to catch the eye and here are a few of my favourite ‘vignettes’ …

BBQ Ready …

The Raised Bed … 

The Generous Gardener …

Hemerocallis …

The Brick Planter …

The View from my Shady Spot …

The Plantstand …

Self Seeded Poppies to come …

The Tin Bath …

Another Rose …

We’ve definitely come a way from when the only colour in the garden appeared in May … then it was just all green for the rest of the year. 

I’m looking forward to seeing what July brings 💜

🌺🌷🌹🌺🌷🌹🌺🌷🌹🌺🌷🌹🌺🌷🌹🌺🌷

PS … the other poppies have now started to flower and were not what I was expecting at all …

I just love a garden surprise 😃

🌹💐🌺🌷🥀🌼🪻🌹💐🌺🌷🥀🌼🪻🌹💐🌺

Sunshine & Flowers at Felley Priory & Calke Abbey

Hi there everyone 😀

As you probably know we love a garden visit and, for us, visiting in June really is the best. With blue skies and sunshine, borders bursting into bloom, plenty of time and the best of friends for company … it really does make for the most perfect and laid back kind of days.

Last Friday was one of those days. We’d had the date in the calendar for an age and Jackie and I had been watching the weather forecast with everything crossed hoping for sunshine … and we seriously got lucky …

First Stop: Felley Priory
We started the day at Felley Priory, tucked away in the rolling Nottinghamshire countryside. It is just off the motorway, but you wouldn’t know it … it’s such a peaceful place, and from the moment you step through the gate, you can’t help but feel a little more relaxed.

Martin and I have visited several times. The last time being in June 2020 … when the Covid lockdown was being slightly relaxed and the garden was open for private booked visits … now that really was a treat.

This time we arrived we arrived not long after opening and, for a while, we did pretty much have the garden to ourselves …

We were a little late for the peonies and the allium but everywhere looked stunning … beautifully structured but still soft and inviting, full of roses, delphiniums, and plenty of tucked-away corners to explore …

We took our time, wandering slowly. Enjoying the sunshine and admiring the mix of formal planting and cottage garden charm, with the lush green landscape beyond the garden as the perfect backdrop …

The topiary was looking smart, the herbaceous borders were just full of colour and the promise of so much more to come meant that we would definitely have to visit again …

Lunch in the Sunshine
After our wander, we headed to the tearoom for lunch — and that was a real treat. We found a shady spot outside and enjoyed a very leisurely bite to eat. It was so nice to be able to eat outdoors … it’s something we don’t get to do that often so we really made the most of it. We could have sat there all afternoon.

Of course, we couldn’t leave without a little mooch around the plant nursery — it would have been rude not to — and one or two plants may have just made their way into the boot of the car.

Onto Calke Abbey
As we’d started out reasonably early and the weather was so good we decided to move on from Felley and make our way to Calke Abbey — with a view to taking in the walled garden for another fix of floral inspiration.

It was looking glorious, full of early summer colour …

… and a wonderful jumble of planting …

It’s the kind of garden that has you leaving full of ideas and itching to get home and get planting.

We wandered, we chatted, we took it all in … before finishing our visit with ice creams.

It really had been the loveliest of days and we are already thinking of where to for next time.

For now it’s back into our own garden for a bit of planting and a little project for Martin using us a few bits and pieces we had lying around…

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Lodge Life :: May 2025

Hi there everyone 😀

We had a couple of weeks at the lodge in May … with no visitors and a real mixed bag on the weather front.

We started off with a run of four glorious days and we really made the most of the good weather. We didn’t go far … just bimbled around locally, swam in the pool and just generally enjoyed the warm weather and the sunshine.

We started off with our usual short walk at Trefor …

Another day and we parked up in the sneaky spot under the railway bridge …

… and walked down the lane alongside the river …

… for a wander along Abererch beach …

… to the holiday park … where we had a brief pit stop …

… before paddling our way back …

We had a ride to Criccieth to see what the annual May fair was all about …

… and had a drink in the sunshine at Dylan’s …

We had a visit to another local garden open for the day under the National Garden Scheme (NGS) …

… and a quick call in at The Gallery in Llanbedrog to take in the view and have a look at the gardens …

The weather then took a bit of a turn and we had a couple of lodge days or just a ride out to a local garden centre for lunch …

When the fine weather returned we had our big day out to Dolgellau and Barmouth …

For our last trip out we spent a couple of hours in Y Felinheli …

Y Felinheli is a lovely little village right on the bank of the Menai. It’s just off the main road from Caernarfon to Bangor and we stumbled upon it almost by accident, but have come to really love it. 

There really isn’t much there but it is such a beautiful spot. We normally park up along the front …

… and have a bit of a wander to the marina …

This time we carried on a bit further and found ourselves at the harbour, where we found the perfect spot outside of The Swellies for a pit stop …

After a quick drink and promises to most definitely return another time for lunch we headed back …

It had been a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon. 

We finished our stay with an evening in Criccieth …

… where this time we tried out Y maes, which has just opened …

… and enjoyed al fresco pizzas in the sunshine …

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