VICTORIAN FLORAL BIRTHDAY BOOK:


I mentioned this the other day and thought it would be nice to say more about it. The story is that a Victorian floral birthday book was found abandoned in an attic and some years after having it restored, Bernard - being an artist - decided to interpret it in his own way. He begged, borrowed and stole the flowers, plants for the 366 days involved and after a year, his book was published. This was 20 years ago when he was my neighbour near Sancreed, in West Penwith in Cornwall.

Here's the cover and apologies for the little rip in top l.h. corner (that Yang is a naughty boy!)



Here's the lead-in page for March



here are the first three days of March......just a little taster. I hope by the time Blogger uploads this that you can click on it and magnify it to see the really intricate painting and read the words.

If anyone reading this would like me to scan and post their birthday flower, just let me know.

OCTOBER HEAT.

After a month of regular storms and heavy rain in September, here we are, a third through October, with temperatures around 29C and needing the fans on at night in the study and bedroom. So winter seems a long way away.

All flowers and shrubs are enjoying a second lease of life, while the fruit trees are losing their leaves and it's a constant battle to clear up after the winds. We've been having a new drive laid, preparing new things for the garden in the coming months, so I haven't been paying much attention to the blog. And here's part of the new drive. All the greenery on the left hand terrace is the hardenbergia we put in in the Spring. No lovely purple flowers yet though.


Sue in Milan has asked me to join the GARDEN BLOGGERS RETRO CARNIVAL,
i.e. to repeat a post I'm fond of, and I can think of nothing better than one in February this year when the temperatures were climbing, Spring had arrived and I was just recovering from shingles. It's a comforting thought, facing winter (whenever it arrives in Spain) that it will be short-lived and the February post reminds me of that.

We've had a grand burn-up today, as this month is the first we've been allowed to since end May. Tuesday and Thursdays are the officially approved days so I opened the door this morning to the smell of bonfires all around. What a wonderful aroma.