The Gallery: My Back Garden

The past few weeks have been dull and dreary, following an early burst of summertime. I'm desperately hoping that we will have more Summer, especially for The Boy's birthday in a fortnight. I am panicking about the weather, it makes a change from panicking about the patio furniture and tableware. However, we're lucky because generally the weather in June is good and we have a lovely back-garden in which we can have many a party. No fuss and nonsense in soft-play centres for us, not until I discover the reason why everyone goes there (I suspect that it's because hosting a party is expensive and messy, I'm yet to find this out).

Tara is also obviously feeling the need to celebrate our own little patches of turf or bark, patio or railway sleepers.

I thought it was time we give our Gallery a bit of colour. A bit of oomph. I thought it was time we got out into the fresh air and enjoyed the spring sunshine (well, certainly here in the UK) and take in lungfuls of fresh air. And I thought it was time we showed the world just how beautiful the simplest of things can be. Who needs lots of fancy when you can step into your back garden and discover ladybirds, the most gorgeous blooms, vibrant trees and all manner of adventures?

So, this week's theme is: My Backyard.

I love my garden, it is my own little patch of heaven and one of the reasons that we bought this house. It's an ex-council house and, by and large, they are known for having decent sized, rectangular gardens. Which it is.

70 foot long  by 30 foot wide.

When we bought the house, the garden was much the same as every other garden in the neighbourhood; a concrete path to a concrete washing-line post, grass and a hedge. Now, it is the only garden on either side for 5 or 6 gardens (that's as far as I can see out of the back bedroom window) that is anything but that.

This is the before and preparation.

I'm a little OCD about things, especially in my garden and so I planned the decoration of my new blank canvas and this is what the result was. Yes, if I remember correctly, it is drawn to scale.

Everything  panned out almost as I wanted it to, although we've made a few adjustments to it over the last year in order to create more play space for The Boy. Also having been to The Getty Centre in Los Angeles and been inspired by the beautiful gardens there, my water feature changed somewhat.

This is the picture that I posted last week in my 365 to show what my garden looks like now.

And these are some of the reasons why I love my backyard.

Now pop over and see the other entries using this nifty little gizmo.

Chilled Out

Our themes have been a little taxing of late and it's time we all just relaxed. Therefore this week, Tara wants:

So photos of chilling out: Your kids sleeping, relaxing (is that even possible with kids?), your bottle of wine/beer/cocktail, sunbathing in the park, reading a good book with the sun on your face: What does chilling out mean to you?

I took a couple of photos about a month ago during a very relaxed hour or two in the garden and the photo I've chosen is one of them. This is chilled to me; in more ways than one!

Now pop over and check out the other linkies using the nifty little widget above.

Musical Memories: Sizzling Summer

Clearly Sabina over at Deep In Mummy Matters has been getting all hot under the collar with this scorching weather that we've been having. She's looking forward (or should it be backward?) to the summer and remembering fabulous summers of the past.

So the theme this week is Sizzling Summer!  What tune takes you back to the summers of old?

I knew instantly the memory, or should I say memories, that I was reminded of. It was the summer that I first discovered my teenage freedom with my best mate (I was a late-developer). I can picture us now walking down the local country parks to spend the afternoon sunbathing, getting beeped at or a few glances from teenage boys. Ah, those were the days when my legs were decent!

The song was popular for more than it's original 1991 release date, I personally feel that it cropped up for most of the summers of the 90s, especially when I discovered public houses and their alcoholic contents!

So cast your mind back to the mid 90s when the singer/rapper was not the international film star that he is now; he was merely a gawky kid from Philly with a weird mate who didn't seem to talk. Go on, you know you want something to break the monotony. Maybe a barbeque that's starting at 4?

 


Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff – Summertime by oublierleracismeskyblog
Apologies for the rubbish quality, but Sony have forbidden Youtube to allow embedding!

Now pop over and see the other entries on Deep In Mummy Matters where the theme this week is "Sizzling Summer"

Musical Memories

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...