A Mohawk, a Bouzouki and guess who came to dinner?

She never promised me a Rose Garden

She never promised me a Rose Garden.

 

My mother was a bit of a tease.  I always wanted to visit the Garden of the Rose and as it was in the county where my son lived it seemed a strong possibility, but somehow we never managed it.  Often it was the wrong time of year.

Then my mother stopped off at her grandson’s en route to the States and couldn’t wait to tell me she had been taken to see this special place.  She almost crowedJ

 

When my long awaited granddaughter Alice was born I was so thrilled.  We already had two lovely grand sons but never having had a daughter I longed for a little girl and remembered what a special relationship I had had with my Grandma.

Mum refused to get old – she already had six grandchildren including two girls but she decided to skip a generation and pronounced herself Alice’s Grandma.

 I was appalled.

‘You’re not her Grandma you are her Great Grandma!’

Mum was not amused and things started to get a bit stormy but MTL, as usual, calmed things down – quite firmly – and it was decided that I was the Grandma and Mum was Granny May.  (Great Granny May I muttered.)

 

Twenty one years later I got my wish and Alice, her Dad and I spent a lovely morning there.

The Gardens were opened in 1963 by HRH the Princess Royal sister of George VI and aunt to our Queen.

 It was a hazy sunshine day – and past the garden’s zenith so I am a little disappointed with the photos and discarded quite a few.  Still there are worse ways to spend a morning than drifting round fragrant gardens with my son and granddaughter.  FinallyJ

      

“The gardens were recently re-built by Adam Frost Landscapes. Recent re-planting was by members of the Board of Directors with the help of the garden team. The roses forming the History of the Rose Collections come from all over the world. They are a living illustration of the development of roses and rose-breeding trends, past and present. The beds trace the development of rose breeding, following along the broad grass walk, from the Albas and Gallicas by the species border through to the more modern Hybrid Teas and Floribundas by the Presidents' Walk. They include examples of rare roses, bred in Britain but lost to cultivation here, which the Historic Roses Group of the Society has recently reintroduced from abroad.”

 

See photo below

Garden of the Rose

Tom and colleagues at Buck Pal

Then and Now

 

Then and now

 

The other day I had a delightful surprise when I received a comment from Stuart Nimmo the son of my favourite photographer – Neil Nimmo who I worked with way back in the fifties.

 

Stuart - a writer and documentary maker who lives in Paris said:

 

Neil was indeed a very great success but always avoided his own publicity. Unfortunately he died 20 years ago, he had Parkinson's disease, but while I visited him we found planning his 1944 story a great project to tackle together.

 I know that he would be thrilled to hear that his photography is still appreciated, as I think it should be, as a photographer he had the two rare skills of being able to anticipate the exact split second when to trigger the shutter, and a rare ability with light and shade, his great hero was Rembrandt!

 

Neil was a RAF bomber pilot and on Easter Monday 1944 he was shot down over France by Hauptman Helmut.  Stuart has written a book Perilous Moonlight about his father's adventures and having read some of the reviews I can’t wait to download it to my Kindle.

 www.Perilous-Moon.com

 

Who knew the gentle humorous man I knew had been such a hero.  He would have been the last person to speak of it

 

See photos below. 

 

Then and Now

 Photo by Neil Nimmo - my favourite photographer.

Photo by Jenny Manwaring.

Five decades on. 

Just one of those days

Just one of those Days

 

I hadn’t realised just how often I look at my kitchen clock. I noticed it was ten minutes slow when we got back from Hertfordshire and my son adjusted it.  Now it has gone hay wire and obviously has come to the end of its lifespan.  Or does it just need a battery?  I’m afraid I haven’t a clue but am gearing myself to get it down and try to discover – it is high above the Aga

 

I still haven’t posted all the photos from Cheltenham let alone the ones I took on this last break so this morning I thought I would post – at least – the photos of grandson Tom at Buck Pal.  He wasn’t getting a knighthood – just invited to one of the Queen’s garden parties – courtesy of the firm he works for and something to do with umbrellas.

 Usually when I have difficulty – far too often IMO – Blogger gives in after the sixth time of trying, but today no way!

 

I went downstairs to make a cuppa and my newish Kenwood kettle wouldn’t oblige.  The blue light was on but no-one home.  In other words the electricity is working but the kettle is US.  Then I noticed there was a hornet on the kitchen window.

I know I’m just a weak and feeble woman but to Hell with it – I’m going to play Scrabble!