I cannot think that, in those ranks of little herb jars in the supermarket, I have ever seen lovage. We grow it, and I am more and more conscious of its virtues. All I can possibly say about it is that it is somewhere between mint and coriander and celery, unlikely though that sounds, but […]
There’s something special about begonias, a translucency which gives the flowers an extraordinary, because lucent, depth of colour. I have liked them for a long time, and do a pretty fair job of keeping them year by year — if, that is, the slugs don’t get them first. But although I was bringing on several […]
In the course of last summer, the ride-on mower died, in a somewhat operatic fashion, a bit like a Triceratops or something of the kind. Signs of life … no. Aha! … back and roaring … er, sort of. Etcetera. It was coaxed along with the expert assistance of Miss T’s Dad, but eventually […]
The latest addition to the Toy’s Hospital has the melancholy distinction of being the single most luckless plant I have ever encountered. It is a nice little shrub rose called ‘Bouton de Neige’. First of all, I planted it in too shady a spot and it didn’t flower. So, after a couple of years, […]
A Learned Friend sent Miss Best Friend a card yesterday. It declares the following:
A labrador is the best dog in the world
A yellow labrador is better than no labrador
A black labrador is better than any yellow dog
A black labrador is the very best dog in the world.
This is almost a baroque syllogism, and moreover […]
I have just staggered back out of the garden, having called a halt to the last round of a major campaign of attrition. The summer before last, I had a repetitive strain injury in my shoulder which prevented me from reaching forward. Last summer, I was almost unbelievably busy. This spring, was late and […]
We passed a definite milestone today. In the chemist. ‘I think’, I said, ‘I need reading glasses’. The Professor and I both wear contact lenses (I have had mine since I was sixteen, not the same pair, I hasten to add). But the last time I was at the optician’s, my eyes were showing the […]