instagram

I've just joined Instagram. Yes I know I am on the ball yet again. Always one step ahead of the game. Finger on the trigger and all that. 

Before I joined Instagram I had a preconception about it being pretty much just close ups of people posing and photos of frothy coffee and the like but I'm actually really enjoying it, some peoples photos are absolutely incredible and really inspiring, I was so wrong. Anyhoo here are a few snaps I've taken so far...

If you would like to follow me on Instagram, or join me on there or whatever Instagram folk say, you can do so here. Also if you're an avid Instagram fan and you have any recommendations of good people to follow, please do let me know. 

In other news me and Allsy are going to look at a little kitten tomorrow, hopefully another addition to our happy little brood. She's a little black female and she is stunningly beautiful, every time I see her photo I get an overwhelming desire to hold her close to me and squeeze her tight. A little creepy perhaps but I really am so excited.

I hope you all have lovely weekends, it's my birthday on Tuesday so me and Allsy have 5 days off in a row together, woop woop!!

reasons to be cheerful

Sorry for the maudlin post the other day. Am feeling much chirpier now I'm glad to say. 

There's so many things at the moment that have combined to make me feel positively cheery. What a difference a few days make. Here's just some of the things that are currently making me smile...

The pretty pink Apple blossom forming on the trees outside our bedroom window.

The Chelsea Flower Show is here! Which means this week I shall be seeing far too much of Alan Titchmarsh in my front room. 

I'll also be getting to see lots of lovely gardens. My favourite so far has been Jo Thompson's 'Stop the Spread' garden. The planting is so beautiful and inspiring.

Image of Jo Thompson's 'Stop the Spread' garden - link

Our home is full of pretty flowers.

The garden is starting to change quite quickly now, Summer almost feels like it's on its way.

Seedlings are growing.

And plants are starting to flower.

Verbascum

Allium 'Purple Sensation'

Lilac

The later tulips are in flower.

I think that 'Angélique' could be my most favouritest tulip. 

Although 'Spring green' is also a strong contender.

Bootsy Cat looks as adorable as ever, is it wrong that whenever I see him I get a strong desire to squidge him. Possibly. 

Queens of the Stone age have a new album due out, I have been playing My God is the Sun on loop!

And last but most certainly not least my lovely boyfriend Allsy has been practising the guitar and bass lots of late, he is such a talented soul and it makes me very happy to listen to him play. He's also putting up most admirably with the Chelsea Flower Show coverage, god bless him. 

So all in all I am a very happy bunny.

garden daydreams

Well, I survived my first day back at work. 

After ten days at home with very little social interaction I found it strange to be back at work around lots of people, all heavily into their 'banter'. I'm getting worse as I get older, Allsy is a bit of a hermit and I've found I'm getting the same. I've tried my best today though, I've smiled and laughed a lot, despite me feeling like I wanted to go back home and get into bed so hopefully people don't think I'm too much of a miserable bugger. 

Come the end of end of the day though I couldn't wait to get home, I feel so safe and happy here with Allsy and Bootsy Cat, it took a long time for me to settle in but now it really does feel like home.

Anyway, so here I am, my cheeks sore from all the smiling I've been doing all day, snuggled up in bed with Bootsy and it's still light outside.

(Sorry for the naff quality of the photo by the way, it was taken on my laptop.)

So to cheer myself up I have been day dreaming (a lot) about how I'd like the garden to look this year...

Image via here

...I would like it to be jam packed full of beautiful plants like foxgloves and delphiniums and I'd like them to be so tall I could get lost in them.

Image via here

...I would like lots of grasses intermingling with my flowers and I want to hear them gently blowing in the breeze. 

Image via here

...I love white flowers and I would love a whole sea of them so that I can pick loads to go in vases to scatter all around the house.

Image via here

...I want great clouds of cow parsley and towering stalks of fennel.

Image via here

...I want yet more cow parsley just because I love it so.

Image via here

...I want flowers that smell delicious.

Image via here

...I want the pla to elegantly sweep and collapse over the paths and lawn.

Image via here

...I want a little wildflower meadow.

Image via here

...and finally I want a seat that I can sit upon and admire the view (the pretty blanket and chocolate wouldn't go amiss either).

spring is here

Today finally felt like spring had arrived. 

It was lovely and sunny and Bootsy Cat loved it, he kept doing roly polies on the path.

Then he basked for a bit.

I however had things to do. 

I finally tidied out the front porch, it's been an absolute tip all winter and me and Allsy have nearly tripped over the mass of shoes on several occasions. I also tend to use the porch as my potting shed (as mentioned in a previous post I hope to do up the shed for this purpose) so it's a less than glamorous entrance for guests.

The contents of the front porch

After tidying it and scrubbing it clean though, it looks much better. Allsy says that it looks that good he could live in it!

After all that spring cleaning I had a wander round the garden with my camera. The garden feels like there's something new to look at each day. The worst thing about working full time is that I miss lots of its little details, it's been lovely wandering around it and finding all those little moments...

It's also been lovely today getting to be outside without a coat (or jumper!!) on. It's been freezing inside our house though, it's always way colder inside than out. Allsy's been sat in our living room with two heaters on!

I do owe him a big thank you though, he stayed up with me until late last night helping me make changes to the new blog so has spent today catching up on his own things. I am extremely happy with how it's starting to look though, I hope you are too.

Chelsea x