Well being a total animal warrior I avoid the drive along seafront in the summer altogether . There’s always a sad , feet burning into the tar 🔥 very very hot dog being dragged along after 10 am so I either get blinkers on or window down to shout loud “ it’s too hot for that dog “ I have been known to pull in for impact . I wrote “ how many fucking idiots have you seen walking their dogs after 10 am ? “ on threads to an absolute torrent of abuse . Heaven knows why when dogs are angels we all want to look after .

Anyway this particular morning I was early as can be as I had a hepatologist appointment at 8:30 . So I came toward the roundabout to take me back along the seafront and around to the hospital. I slowed to a stop,  jaw dropped and couldn’t quite fathom the sight .

In the middle of a lane of said fast roundabout was a chick . Very much alive but sitting stuck and hit by a car I presumed previously.

It was ( bless bless bless ) attacking the underneath of every car that passed over it centrally , literally fighting for his life !!

Oh how luck showed on every pass .

I couldn’t leave I couldn’t move sorry . I expected the next squash to be the one that would haunt me for a long time …I crept round onto the roundabout whacked my hazards on ..jumped out and held up my hands  STOP 🛑 . I went to grab that poor baby and his beak was a dagger ! I went to grab him again and there was blood under but his beak grabbed my hand …I bit my tongue and took him to the little beach garden at the side . Phew I said so did he I think …I went off to my appointment satisfied with my outcome . That’s all it is ! Being able to live with yourself  . That was a pretty horrific sight which took days to leave .

I’m eating a cheese sandwich 🥪….

Now I’ve got plans for next summers growing which involve which annuals and perennials have been coping this year . That’s my marker . Literally no dahlias if need be . I’m that mean 😂 .

Anything that has drunk gallons is off my list and I shall cut my big hydrangea paniculata phantom right down to maximise health . Lucky for me I have a garden which is mostly evergreens and seasonal flowering shrubs so we get pretty when others  can’t . Lots of snaps I’m going to sow as they have been amazing and zinnias and cosmos my absolute staples .

Popped along for an op , sadly I have type 2 diabetes that has only been brought on by a high dose of steroids over the last 8 months so the no food thing was an issue as I arrived. Now there was a neurodivergent lad who wanted to go home who was there as my joint first place . I was told he may win the first place . I reminded them again that I’m going to need to eat soon …so under I went . I had a type of ( never had one when I was in labour ) epidural for pain .

5 incisions and lots of bruising later I woke with blow up cricket gear on .

No sleep as it contracted and blew up all night but it’s a wonder against DVT .

It was a Pyeloplasty if you want to look it up . In and out in two days . Still sore at home but on the mend . No soak for a fortnight.

That’s the thing when you start getting scans and things , they notice other stuff ! Then before you know it you spend two years under the knife !!

I’m truly thankful and amazed at how lovely staff are . They are truly lovely . What can I say 👏 now where’s that gp appointment I need something very very important…can you guess ?

Hey please 🙏 leave a comment or a heart ❤️ if you found this a little interesting :) thank you X I’m very grateful, Nic x

So this was true ! Ever mastering the art ;  loving each season , helping others with hints and tips on my Instagram account and enjoying that afternoon nap that had been plaguing me for a good few years .

That nap became essential last summer so did my tummy troubles .

I’ll just treat this like gastritis which I’ve had before , avoid aggravating food and drinks and see how we go ‘.

Part 2 - this is where it went .

Living with Auto immune Hepatitis is not much fun . 2 Cat scans , 2 mri scans , 2 ultrasound scans , 2 nuclear scans , a trans jugular liver biopsy and a bone marrow biopsy and a year I’m trying hard to keep the pecker up . I honestly don’t think anyone can flatten it tbh I’m hard core. The garden and a few genuines

have bolstered me . I love the people who know me well and have just about helped me a bit because they know .

I’m on the rare side  - 1 in every hundred thousand has it . The good old antibodies go what can only be described as ‘mental’ and start destroying the healthy liver . Sounds bad ?

It is ..swapped the dying and jaundice ..or should that be the jaundice and dying for steroids and steroid induced diabetes. 2 stone heavier and absolutely chronic fatigue.

Where is she ? Asleep ! But very much grateful , not at all yellow and alive .

That first heatwave was glorious for the garden and so green pre June ! Marvellous stuff ..

The second was a worry as June has always been a favourite month here !

Still , we live and learn …it’s cemented ( this year and last ) exactly what I’m growing from seed from now on .

This annual plant love that we all have ….needs to be completely sensible . Cosmos , zinnia ,some dahlias probably all singles and a few poms Poms , the ever wonderful hollyhocks , rocket for spring , Orlaya for spring , snaps ( bloody marvellous ) mallow , malva and malope common and uncommon are a must , Gazania , all geraniums of every sort …grand lemon bergamot and sages of all kind . What joy in these ! Also I’ve let a lot of established shrubs just be . I’ve put grass cuttings on borders and not weeded to save our soil . Saw one of our baby frogs today too ! In the giant teacup ! We are far south east so it’s officially a desert , with no rain since start of May .

This is a healer , I’m ill but there is promise and yesterday I found out my liver is no worse than this time last year . Oh jubilation ! Come for a hug ..lean in !

I have an operation next week as you see when you have sooo many scans other problems pop up !

I have a kidney that needs its plumbing sorted out . So after that ..you will find me in the garden you can be so sure of that , recuperating . It might rain by then . Now wouldn’t that be a treat .

Please treat me to a heart ❤️ instead of a hug and share this to others …we may find another!

Thankyou ! Nic Xx

I have left my spotless suet feeders out this week and topped them up when needed . Two mums have really relied on them this week . The week before I had 3 suet squares demolished for ease of the big fledgling feed , soon to be taken flight .

So back to it and the next doors great babies arrived very strong and loved switching it up with mum flitting from branch to branch . Their next box is under the eaves of their summer house and serves the families well year on year .

Today my blue babies fledged and one little chap has had me flapping all day !

Yes he did hang onto a leaf and have mum try and hoik him up a bit with her beak , then proceeded to nearly fall in the pond .

I was on red alert 🚨 until that chapter was over ..gradually moving up the garden and then in the undergrowth which was pleasing . Mum still kept up with the feeding, bravo mum 👏

. THE CAT .

Next door did move and they had the most tiger 🐅 like slinky naughty cats imaginable.

But they have gone , and I can’t really see the lovely gays getting any felines at the moment.

I walked up and a huge fluffy black and white tux cat was running away from the exact bush ..I dropped everything and set chase , imagining the little might in the cats gob !!!

Soon I heard the little call , I’d stopped the crow eating him , the cat , the pond and now we both rest . Mum doesn’t, sounding the cat alarms ..gathering food , sounding the crow alarms and constantly reassuring !

Day two comes …best get a good nights sleep !

So tired 🥱

Please , go on , hit the heart , like and share X

Now I need irises more in my life , a dark scape of iris superstition, or the Japanese water variety Ensata all compounding the need for those dark velvet eye catchers .

Jewels shone in all planting with a robust turn back to mixed colours , not all yellow but some yellow - perfectly pleasing for all .

As always some gorgeous ergonomic structures as centre pieces , with the odd nod to sparse , not so much about saving water but more about supporting each other and places of and for well being. This is great , we need a silent retreat or two in our lives .

A perfectly timed garden reflecting the need to discuss the specific cancers that affect women , Darren Hawkes Lady Garden foundation ‘Silent no more’ show garden allows the conversation of the 5 main cancers depicted with 5 sculptures as you move through the space . This is an important prompt to allow thoughts to manifest.

The bat conservation trusts nocturnal garden with its dark palette and Tack Pollards 10 foot high bat sculpture is small delightful space with a strong presence.

My last mention has got to be ‘She grows veg’  in the pavilion , a pure cacophony laid bare on the most colourful table setting you ever did see , stunning array of vegetables some common some not so …arranged in a tumble of green to the earth then a colourful co-ord balance for all to see . Such goodness from gorgeous would be very hard to replicate.

There really is something for everyone. And dare I say Chelsea has become a little bit more daring  and I like it .

Hit the love ❤️ share the love and as always big thanks . Nic xx

The bewildered amongst the would-be gardeners alway say on repeat I wish I’d planted some .

The constant gardeners trawl through the glossies in late August to ensure they get first pick . They store bulbs airy ( as they always always come too early ) turn frequently, like roast potatoes, and plant in-between frosts in November . So many viruses are either in the bulbs or in every one’s soil that you really have got to keep them cold and not wet .

The absent gardeners are asking if they can still plant now ( get em in ! )

I have done a few of my own experiments over the years and it is all about how you care for any tulip bulbs once petals drop .

I have a very successful reel in good old insta which is heading towards 4 million views about just that .

I literally wanted to plant bulbs in a group and , lift them up as one unit . I knew that to fully replenish the bulb with important nutrients, you had to let the foliage die back into the bulb .

I also knew that to allow this on a high level the seed top needed snapping off and not to disturb the roots very much .

I searched for some kind of plant in the ground tulip basket . Could I find one ? No .

I decided to get some nice soft green garden mesh and create my own grid .

What a sensation ! Total game changer ! Come petal drop they were incredible easy to lift up with the grid as one ( few rope lassos. round the stems ) and hid them under the bush to die down . Marvellous!

I can now get my summer seedlings in their place.

I have limited raised bed space for my cutting garden so this is very important. If you need the  space back like me you will know what I mean .

Who in their right mind wants to watch withered tulips foliage turning white over weeks ?

Unless of course, you dig them up and chuck them out , or cut the green off not sure if you’ll see them again.

That got me thinking , if I’m taking so much care over these bulbs I’m definitely going to plant them again next year .

Were they perennial ? No . Did they put a grand show on again ? Yes they did ! Adding a small amount to them every year I’ve had 4 years from these old throw away bulbs !

Must be doing something right with these single earlies , as they return as bright as a button .

The grid idea revolves around a perfect cylindrical hole marked out with a bucket then dug , as deep as your trowel . The grid with its easy to reach sides , is then positioned in the hole , and a good layer of horticultural grit then covers as a drainage base for the tulip bulbs .

Tulips do like a deep hole , they grow lovely and straight and to ensure this you can cover with a grid too for them to grow through. This has to be carefully checked as the emerging shoots will need a little attention and adjustment on the grid to cut and make dome parts larger .

Pots with grids are particularly useful as long as your pot width is continually flared out , and not bulbous ( goes back inwards at the top ).

I find a good turn out after seed removal of both  tulips and daffodils is surprisingly self contained ! A wrap and tie in sheep’s wool padding is certainly enough to see them through the die back process, which again frees up those pots !

At the absolute peak of summer in the August dry I turn everything out on the lawn to finish drying out , then carefully bag up the biggest bulbs to store inside for planting in November.

The circle completes . The bulbs produce their stunning blooms and the whole process starts again .

Genius I hear you say ? I don’t know but maybe it is ! I’m definitely on to something here and gardening folk are saving their bulbs from here to fantasy island!

If you love this please re-stack ( share ) drop a heart , comment & treasure these ideas as it’s all organic and original . Thank you !

~~ A NICTORIAN_DIARIES PRODUCTION ~~

Picture this , two twenty somethings renting out their first just finished renovated home , chucked in their jobs , sold everything they owned to set sail on the trip of a lifetime . We had bought a perfectly sound early 1980s VW camper van , put a new reconditioned engine in it , I made new curtains for it , as you do , we gathered a thousand pounds worth of travellers cheques and left for the channel crossing . We said goodbye to our parents without a care in the world and off we went ! South France , Monte Carlo , Mont Blanc, Italy, Switzerland , Germany , Belgium and Holland .

Those days of course , pre Brexit bollocks , you were free . You bumbled about from France to Italy , from Switzerland to Germany and up to the nether regions without so much as a simple interference.. which is exactly what we did in the early 90s , exploring with our paper map up and down the mountains ( so that’s why the roads were so thin and wiggly ) in and out of borders taking in so many experiences for 9 months !

Washing clothes in rivers , not knowing where the next drinkable water was coming from and what on earth we were going to cook that evening . So exciting and very risky !

We had no breakdown cover of course and the good old camper made one cheap garage visit for some pipe that had split .

What a grand and wonderful experience…we ended up in Amsterdam checking in to a camping park in October . We applied for a tax status and for cleaning jobs at Schipol Airport which we were approved of , if only we could provide a tax number and address for the winter . Then the sad fact emerged that the campsites all shut up in November right across the city and beyond so no address , so very sadly we had to come home as we’d no form of income.

What a trip ! We dossed until we could reclaim our house and started a family.

Fast forward 30 years , let’s revive that impulse to travel , get a beautiful camper and re create the road life !! We could do this ! Let’s use it as much as we can and then the day will come when we can in fact travel more !

Absolute beauty purchased ! It was ten years old and very expensive.

After 4 trips it was back in auto trader for sale .

What an expensive pastime ! Tens of thousands to buy , mots to get through, tax , upkeep , service , storage fees, new sat nav’s  for lorries ( even then they got it so wrong ) then when you went , diesel ⛽️ to haul you ( don’t be thinking about France ! It’s twice the price !  ) camp site fees ..around 400 quid a week ( for a grass square and a socket !  )

Everything is slightly compromised if you don’t plug in as you run off solar and gas , not the most powerful of sources. …you literally cannot park anywhere !

She was 8 meters long and pretty wide so we just couldn’t get around the lanes , if you needed anything you walked . Honestly ! Cliff walked 4 miles to get some bits on trip 2 . We were slow but actually slowly realising…… take heed !

My poor old dog , I think about him every day , it was an awful decision to make as he still loved to play you see but at 14 he had Degenerative Myelopathy for a good year , I’d nursed him and his doggy dementia for 18 months and didn’t want him at the state of BCC Border collie collapse, which would have meant emergency . I had arranged with the mobile vets to come . This is incredibly important as I have had the most difficult but beautiful experience with a good mobile vet . I must stress that every one should go along this road when it comes .

Time was arranged. Tears were flowing. They arrived. It was the end of July . I managed to splutter he was in the garden , which he was with Cliff , on blankets in the sunshine .

These precious ladies were angels , truly angels that day .

They whispered and acted like beautiful vet fairies..we’d asked for a sedative as we wanted a calmness . They popped that in the moment they came and then set up the cannula. Quiet and humble they left and sent the most gorgeous bouquet weeks later . They just were vet fairies , who have my heart .

Bless him I loved that boy with everything in my body . I still feel the pain as sharp as it was , now ..but it’s a whole lot more manageable at home than that awful drive to the scary vets . Cheaper too .

RIP MAC THE KNIFE . Buried very deeply at the top of the garden . Always there for a tear drop .

Shortly after , mid September I had a few worrying symptoms.

After having Gastritis a few years before , also a sliding hiatus hernia , I started a caffeine free diet , zero spices and hoped I could settle it .

It actually got worse playing nasty games with my bowels too .

Saw a doc , all the test were done , and it was in fact a h.pylori infection . My liver was actually sending out distress signals as well , which was a different thing . Antibiotics for the infection and ultrasound for the liver .

The infection was rid but the liver was really suffering. I was actually turning yellow .

My eyes were yellow my face and body were taking a Mrs Simpson tinge .

Two mris , two ultrasounds , two ct scans with contrast die , a stay in AnE before Christmas where I slept on a chair for two nights and three days ( quite interesting really as I was night nurse also two elderly folk on either side , getting them organised ) a fluid drip that they replaced 6 times …a bone marrow biopsy for Lymphoma and many tears and frustration and fighting leads me up to today . I have probable AIH which is auto immune hepatitis. It’s very rare , only 15 out of every 100,000 people have got . It’s when , for no apparent reason your antibodies get the need to attack your perfectly healthy liver . It’s not viral , you can’t catch it and it’s nothing to do with alcohol. Now the liver doesn’t just clean the blood . It oversees the digestive tract and the bowels . Digestion , energy, immune, waste. It can regenerate, but only if it’s not scar tissue ( cirrhosis ) I’m waiting to see how badly my liver is affected with a biopsy..  but I’m so pleased  and so are the team Nic’s health, that I feel so much better on steroids. Hope now to go into immune suppressants.

Absolutely nothing to do with alcohol. I can’t have a glass of bubbly now , but you know what ? That’s fine too . I had two or three glasses a year as my dad died an early death from alcohol abuse so I’ve never drunk much .

Got a lovely nuclear ☢️ scan in my kidneys on Friday so I think I may have had everything they can use to see inside 👀 bar an autopsy !

Still , I’m so happy x gives me a new outlook on how precious life is . Enjoy the waking up and the dropping off , it means you’ve been blessed with another day on earth .

Thank you for reading , if you comment, love , restack or give it your best shot , thank you so much .

It seems to take me most of the day on a Friday to feed and dead head , always something to fuss around. I’m trying to clear the green house a bit as it’s bit of a storage solution ..but he’s given me another two big shelves in the shed for gardening . I did say to him , the garden is more active than diy at the moment,  so it really does make sense . Not sure if that went down well or not .

Bleached honesty that needs peeling and strong bags full of clean washed pots , draped in spiders webs . Won’t take long . I so love it empty !

The mildew is getting right on my tits tbh . It’s in the spacious pots too ,  so it isn’t my fault for packing them in so densely..Come over early as we’ve all noticed , spread to every tender leaf possible and now I’ve removed half of them to the bin , it looks like a long legged dry not-cared-for forest . Too soon , as it normally looks like this in October.

I don’t feel I’ve had enough dahlias yet , but I have had loads BUT not a dahlia gluttonous summer yet . I want to rip it up and get something else in already ! I’ve sprayed a strong solution of bicarb and Castile soap which is , in fact , marvellous …turn your back though and it on the greenest growth again .

Have you had ?

Also forgot a spring spray of Xen tari on the box , so we’ve been munched . So annoyed with myself but all box caterpillars dead and new growth again . Made me a bit emotional today seeing it fight back once again .

I have the pinks of sedum happily blooming and those reduced perennials I bought by the masses are giving me soooo much joy .

My god them zinnias are good this year , I could quite happily turn into a zinnia field grower . I’m not too good at cutting them for the vase though , thinking I’m saving all the seed as they are beautiful and the bees are so endlessly entertaining them , but when they turn browner I chop them off so I’m struggling to gather seed . I’m a seed saver by accident really .

So I grow a whole ,  wide border from seed every year , mostly hardy annuals with a few biennials in the mix . This year it was over by mid July ..so was the soil . I pride myself in my soil . I mulch several times a year with a fantastic amount of home grown compost so I raided the bin , saved the soil and replanted….what though ?

Reduced perennials ! That’s what ! I Literally took full advantage of all the un Chelsea chopped perennials in the reduced / clearance section in the garden centres and gathered my bounty !

Of course my borders look marvellous again now a month on ..bees have returned and even the driest salvia has chucked up new flower spires to delight and contribute.

Thank you very much green fingers ..green pockets too with all the dollars I’ve saved .

Chat again soon I promise x chutney making commences and a lovely family late summer gathering with the ceramic hot egg ..with phat burgers , spicy chicken and homemade cheesecake tomorrow x

Those of you who garden garden fully all year know . Are you one of those ? Or are you a ‘my god the birds are in fine tune now , let’s get down the garden centre‘ person ? I’m sure as eggs is eggs not , in fact I try to avoid them places in spring , simple reason being I grow perennials and annuals from seed . Don’t get me wrong , I have a passion for saving ‘ clearance ‘ twigs and sticks out of season and ‘fleecing’ seed heads in November .

Now you see me tending to recently sown cosmos dahlias and zinnias , like the majority I suspect , difference being I have a small patch of earth left and 400 tulips to process to enable the space to be freed for my great replant . I have one beautiful ‘grown from seed’ wide border that’s rammed with autumn sown young plants and a holding bed that’s rammed full of autumn sown young plants also .

Trust me I am waiting .

THE GREAT TULIP RETURNERS .

I have no claim to being an expert on tulips , you won’t find me in gardeners world amateur magazine, I know little about their history bar they were introduced in the 17th century and were more expensive than a stately home , but ..I have had a lot of success with tulip bulbs .

It doesn’t really matter which variety to me , I treat them all equally.

7 large tubs and pots and 5 raised beds full of healthy wonderous tulips . They will all be processed the same way .

It certainly doesn’t involve composting them , that’s for sure !

After petal drop they will be snapped off under the seed pod . They will be fed again and after the rain there is no time to waste . You see I grid mine , sometimes top and bottom , but always bottom ! A plastic grid cut to size with garden mesh which sits underneath them before the bulbs are set for the winter .

They are then carefully lifted as one unit ( they grew as one and will die back as one , which is why I always plant them like sardines ) labelled ( normally on a garden plan ) wrapped or swaddled sometimes undisturbed in sheeps wool and string and placed in their sleeping spot under the shrubbery to die back as one . Until a hot late July afternoon when the white crispy leaves and stems fall away , the dry cocoons they are in break open like an egg and the bulbs are then laid out to dry some more .

The time between the start of May until the end of July their bulb blocks are watered periodically and ignored. The foliage dies back and replenishes the bulbs and guess what ?

Yes …all these tulips you see here are at least 3 / 4  years old .

Does it work ? Yes it does . After drying they come indoors in a cool atmosphere ( top of my bedroom wardrobe) to be searched for and sorted to plant late November.

Every year as they first show their little sprouts in late Feb I think …what will they be like this year ? Blind ? Fire ? I add to them j i case , but each and every old bulb comes up beautifully .

Self confessed tulip whisperer ?

Maybe !

If you’ve enjoyed reading this please leave a heart and it would be amazing if you shared  . Thank you x

As a cut flower grower , a personal hairdresser to the shrubbery and an Aquarius barer of water , I live for the garden . I’ve created from scratch an ornamental , contemporary cottage garden reaching a maturity at 10 years .

Being far south east UK , the climate is temperate desert . We are the last to get rain , ( far from the Atlantic front ) and enjoy to the fullest , summer .

To get the green fingers put away is incredibly hard . The reason for this , honestly, is because I’m really good at growing from seed . I’ve discovered this over the last few years. now of course I have a dilemma on my hands . When  not to sow ?

The gardening year really is a gardening year and I’m not sure how to curtail it . I’m really not sure if I want to tbh either , I seem to be hook , line and sinker . Sow ( pardon the pun ) it seems there is always something to sow . Winter spring , autumn ( definitely ) and summer .

The love for those pincushion flowers , the pull for Orlaya , the thrill of larkspur…all pulling and pushing my mind until those seedlings rise again . Then the care and innate nurturing to bloom is brilliant fun .

So we start this gardening season but not the year of course, because it’s a circle . It’s a roundabout that only stops when you let things die , or lose interest. I honestly don’t think I could bare the former and the latter isn’t on the cards . This joyful journey of mistake making and achievements is now honed , to be a bumper sized pastime of petals and bees .

‘ Gardeners live longer because they are always planning for the future ‘ she says as she pops some claw-like ranunculus into warm compost.

What is going in the raised beds this spring ?

No Ai fine tuning in this piece as you can tell . Ten years we’ve been in our ‘quick turnaround’ small house / large garden .

We had a dream , you see , and a well researched and rehearsed plan ..

Renovate cheaply , take on all the diy , climb the ladder , raise the boys , don’t take on debt , pay off the mortgage , sell everything and fuck off . So ..after two full Victorian renovations, we sold the large , detached , third house which was in the sought after Avenues after a long 18 months and down sized in preparation for the quick exit to Europe ..to a  ‘doer upper’ semi , with features and fields out the back . T’was  a squeeze, and we got the keys just before Christmas , 10 years ago .

We didn’t extend it , just made it beautiful. We worked so hard for those first few years , both working , kids , one at uni ..hardscaping the garden , ripping the kitchen out , which took months and the bathroom ( yes we did have a bucket for weeks ) , rendering the back of the ground floor , rebuilding the front facade of the house ourselves…all ourselves. No corners cut , never any complaints when you buy one of our renovations . It is the best it’s ever been .

Then Brexit happened. Hoping for a breakthrough in how Europe view the uk citizens, we ploughed on . Then Covid hit .

It didn’t get better , we aren’t really welcome . We both had our health , granted , but our prospects of living a carefree life in south west France or Spain full time with our investments and pensions, were out of our control.

I was fuming , no , I was seething . I still am to be perfectly honest . What on earth did we think would happen leaving Europe ?

It was so easy just to bimble about abroad before Brexit , no time constraints as long as you could feed yourself..we did ! For a year in a vw camper in our 20s !

Anyway , as this new year starts , I have optimism.

I’m always striving for the adventure. Always . We don’t want to take on another house renovation in the south , it wouldn’t be a good use of cash , so we will see .

In the meantime I will love and enjoy my finished house and the beautiful ( now mature ) garden , and literally see what happens . Right move has always been my favourite , and that’s not going to change . You never know what’s round the corner .

Until then I very much count my blessings and grow flowers from seed and feed the birds .

Average age for a young person to get on the housing ladder today is 35 .

I know we’ve had life changing events in the markets over the last 5 years , but it seems consecutive governments have been selfish . What’s new .

All the ‘ kids ‘ live at home , in their adult shoes with their adult ways . It’s the same country wide .

I once picked up a market place find up the road , a typical cul de sac full to the brim with cars . A ‘same ager’ answered the door and we were chatting away and it suddenly dawned on me . We are all living together rammed . That’s why I hopelessly drove round and round searching for a parking space . Every ‘child’ has a car . Every suburb has car jenga . That first house unobtainable unless the ‘rents’ cough up a huge deposit.

Don’t talk about building on farmland , think we have zero choice. Especially 70 miles southeast of London .

I’m not bitter , just as a parent I feel challenged.

So when my 28 year old , 1st Class with honours left his london job to move home with every intention of buying his own property, one can safely say it filled me with anxiety.

During Covid the south east coast market went insane. There were scuffles in drive ways , house hunters chasing estate agents branded peugouts , prospective buyers knocking on doors direct when sale boards went up .

Huge explosions of extortionate bidding wars ..the list goes on . It’s settled a bit now . Just . But property is still mind bogglingly inflated.

He saved hard , he’d made the commitment and decision not to rent rooms anymore , not to live with mates , not to have pokey flats but to try his hardest to get his deposit. We helped of course and as time went on and a promotion came , we saw his drive and it seemed within the realms of possibility.

Now to find somewhere within his borrowing limits .

This was a huge challenge in the south of UK . Months passed , months of viewing property with horrendous various issues . He pushed his budget and made a cheeky offer on a two bed flat , of which the lease costs were hefty ..but the purpose built lofty apartment was gorgeous enough to cope with the sacrifice. I say sacrifice because, let’s face it ; lease holding is an undetermined challenge of which you have no control ultimately . If only he found a nice freehold ! It didn’t seem possible.

Then the dreaded email came .

Two months down the line the mortgage company weren’t too pleased on lending against a property that had been flagged up with possible subsidence issues , of which there would be 10s of thousands of extra pounds ( determined by the freeholder of course, later down the line ) to rectify the structural issues. The solicitor didn’t discover this information, the lender did !

Back on right move .

A house came up with rather an odd viewing arrangement ; all views in one day and all interested prospective buyers were to put their bid in .

We viewed, bid , then bid a bit higher and it was ours !

A little cottage  ..bijou I think the term is , 160 years old with lots of issues… one of which I just couldn’t get my head round . The next door neighbours had moved the boundary garden fence / line to give them access to their back door on their extension . They’d built their extension on the boundary line and the door was on the side ! Go figure?! Needless to say because the fence had been moved over by 5 foot we couldn’t have accessed our drains at all . Twinned with the mortgage society wanting a full timber and damp report before lending..sadly pulled the plug on that one .

Round three ! Would he ever get that first set of keys ?

All we wanted for this hard working , talented young man , in the prime of his life with an annual income to be proud of , was to be able to have his own home .

Millions of parents all over the country face this dilemma.

That very same night we viewed an ex council house on our local estate and left deflated. I resumed my search immediately and there it was …

A smart 1960s terrace that had just been uploaded ! Great price , great location, sturdy and solid with a front and back garden and a good roof ..I phone immediately and was put through to a call centre. The messages from the entire family through several phone calls during the next 12 hours were countless ! When the estate agent met us at midday the next day he knew all our names !

Asking price .. Excepted !

He’s just got the keys . My heart is bursting ! It needs a new boiler and gutting but , the Christmas pride lights up all of us so brightly , I’m sure you can see it from Mars .

I grow flowers with pure glee , which I’m sure you all do , that complete joy when petals first flick open , then surprise you at the next visit to show their smiling faces .

This wreath building is cathartic for me especially with my own gathered blooms . I’ve popped them to dry through various months through the growing season , just remembering to collect one or two of everything I’ve grown which I managed this year . My drying room hasn’t been available this year so they’ve been dangling around my husband’s head in the shed , transferred to my sons ‘office’ ( he’s moved home to buy his first house , just waiting to exchange) to flake and spill around , catching him on passing. We’ve all coped as they know me !

I have an ancient coppiced hazel which I continue to cut from year on year ; so always build my wreath base when it’s lovely and long , green and bendy . So enjoyable sitting on the grass crafting and weaving in the warm sunshine.

Yesterday I made time for myself , lost in Icarus and a hot cuppa I spread myself out on the floor with all my dried garden gatherings , snips and wire for a couple of hours ..and created .

It was like old friends meeting again , I knew each story … as I chose partners to compliment.

So fulfilling and soul warming , to see larkspur and Orlaya , poppy pods giganteum and Ammi visagna goblets , strawflowers and bluest hydrangeas.

The celebration wreath of summer long .

As the cold and ice return this will remind me of what’s round the corner .

We fought our way through the teenage years , as everyone did in the eighties , worked hard in many jobs and this first house was pure magic ✨ to us , to do what the hell we wanted to . Financial help didn’t really come into it . We had what we had . We always have fought hard .

So the house was being held up on acros , and we were waiting delivery of our steel to go from one side of the house to t’other .

We had enrolled the help of his dad and brother to lift the metres and metres of steel girder off the lorry .. I remember them stepping backwards along the road trying to take the strain ..like the world strongest men . Furrowed brows and red faced they angled it through the front door and …stopped ! They couldn’t make the turn ! It had to be stepped up the staircase and swivelled . I heard cries of ‘it won’t go in ‘ , ‘ can’t hold it ‘ can’t lift it’ .. oh my , what have we done !

The slow motion set in , as they inched round scraping and scratching against the sides ( 1/4 of a tonne it weighed ) and at last it was at the right angle to be rested . Phew ! The step ladders were placed , and up he went with one end . The other two heaved up to a steady hold , as it precariously balanced on the steel squares 5 mil thick as gap fillers on top of a 4 inch reinforced concrete lintel set in the outside wall recess .The step ladder was switched to the other end and the steel was heaved up into place .

Quite a feat !

Fire proof plaster board and we were good to go !

Only when we sold up some years later ( 13 ) did we have to gain retrospective planning permission for the sale to go through , which was gained with our structural engineers drawings and an inspection by the planning officer.

We lived very happily in our new open plan cottage , and in a recent ‘on the market ‘ listing , it’s billed as modern , airy and open plan living .

It still stands bright . The DIY novice house . We went on to colour-drench the kitchen black which I can assure you , was way before anyone had ever seen colour drenching ! But that’s another instalment.

My goodness we were brave , using gusto and ambition and the cost of a steel . So to the next renovation . We can do anything !

Here’s my first of 4 . It was a very long time ago …

Trust me , the gardening garb will come later , but for now let’s go back in time .

We bought our first house because it was cheaper than renting our flat over looking the sea (behind the turner centre in Margate.) That was it .

The most dodgy solo estate agent in Cliftonville called Barry sold it to us , along with an endowment mortgage. We were 21 , with a grand savings ..100% mortgages in those days .

Beyond excited..braced with homeowners keys and hope,  we opened the door to the 1874 terraced cottage in Grotto Gardens , number 13 .

An interesting street name I hear you say , well let me explain the mystery.

At the bottom of the gardens is a fascinating shell grotto :

~“ all the surface area of the walls and roof is covered in mosaics created entirely of seashells, totalling about 2,000 square feet (190 m2) of mosaic, or 4.6 million shells. It was claimed to have been discovered in 1835 , but its age and purpose remain unknown “ ~ wiki tells us . The saddest thing is that it was lit by gaslight for a century and this has blackened the colourful seashells , which originated from the four corners of the earth . Allegedly .. they have been analysed and they aren’t from these shores . What a mysterious little cavern it is !

So we moved into the cottage , unpacked and one of the first jobs on the agenda was to strip the awful wallpaper. Obviously the walls came off with the paper and so we took all the lathes and plaster down downstairs… here lies the renovation journey - hard style lesson , boot camp first house . The calls of ‘how much is plaster board a sheet ?’ and ‘omg lets take out all the walls down down stairs ! Let’s make it open plan ! ‘ reigned loudly .

It was a two + plus kitchen down stairs , and a 3 bed , loo and bath up , and we couldn’t imagine it [ once we’d started ] any other way than open plan  . It stuck fast .

With no internet to guide us we paid for a structural engineer to pop round to draw up plans for the steel . This steel was to go from one side wall of the house to the other side wall of the house , supporting the entire first floor and roof and ..let’s be honest , the entire house !

Steel ordered , acrow props in , we were ready to take the internal walls down . ‘How are we going to get the steel up there ?’

‘We’ll lift it ourselves’ he said ….