Bessa Can’t Dance

  This is part of a novel I am slowly working on that reflects the theme of ‘honey and vinegar’, and looks at the role of kindness from others in building a life.     Her parents had such a lust for life no one was around to pick her up from dance lessons or […]
Read More »

Around the Mound

Overheard from a window opening onto Edinburgh Fringe… Debbie did something amazing yesterday and the pain went away.  We be both cried. -How are you feeling? Me? -I feel like I want to tell you all my problems Why? -After you said what you did by trade I am not a practicing therapist though -Who are […]
Read More »

Flower Power

I found pressed flowers in the attic during a clear out and these dusty first few pages of a novel that look at the power of a flower in a theatre.   A closer view of the stage can be found here!   The school Jack once studied at stood in Edinburgh like a tombstone in evil grey stone. […]
Read More »

Palermo Palms

      Villa Julia in Palermo sits facing the coast and uses the brisk sea air to make the perfect environment for the arid plants that thrive in this botanic garden.  The forest garden techniques of planting vegetation at different levels (the oldest technique of horticulture) are referenced with Palms standing as sky scrapers […]
Read More »

Sorrento SOS

  That lost tourist on a Naples Street is me. Porto Molo Beverello is ahead not behind me. My left right zigzag hit a dead end because I cropped the pop out map, now swapped for Espresso and invasion stories crafted by cafe owners.  Here I find a new friend; true Napoli.   Enjoy more 50 word stories […]
Read More »

Jardín de Aromáticas

Originally posted on Arcilla y fuego:
Placas para plantas aromáticas Placas para plantas aromáticas Placas para plantas aromáticas Placas para plantas aromáticas Placas para plantas aromáticas Placas señalizadoras Conjunto de placas cerámicas destinadas a señalar los distintos grupos de plantas en un jardín de aromáticas situado en la provincia de Guadalajara. Arcilla roja decorada con…

Brogue!

A Song for Garden Lovers to the tune of ‘Vogue’   “Oxford, Edinburgh, London Too Buckfast Abbey we love you! Gardens with an attitude, Fountains that were in the mood Don’t put heels on, let’s jump to it Wear a brogue brogue brogue!”     In addition to communities who support Physic Gardens through the ages, […]
Read More »

Cowbridge garden

  Speaking English at school was probably a good plan in the long run but native language does mark a difference between who I am now and who I was when I stopped speaking Welsh as a child.   There was a Welsh speaking school near Cowbridge, which was too far for me to travel to […]
Read More »

River Garden

Funny what you can find beside a river; The Chelsea Physic Garden was founded in 1673, as the Apothecaries’ Garden, with the purpose of training apprentices in identifying plants.  The river proves a good transport route so by the 1700′s a growing botanic garden seed exchange system was established, putting the London Physic Garden on the map.  The […]
Read More »

Taxing Taxes

Reviving gardens that grow plants for healing properties is a lost art.  Financial and political obstacles have historically been an issue. Dunstable Priory had a taxing time in the middle ages.  Henry VIII imposed a new 10% income tax on all church lands in 1534.  Dunstable’s Dominican Friary surrendered in 1536 and the Priory later […]
Read More »