Friday 24 June 2011

In the garden...



This is my favourite spot in the garden right now.




And this...





... has been my favourite Foxglove in the garden this year!

A beauty!




A few weeks ago we made a new herbaceous border in the garden.

I hadn't expected it to happen but we needed

to get rid of an old woody hedge and an apple tree, which was

way past its sell by date.

I planted the border with a mixture of finds from my favourite nursery and

a few bits which I'd sown myself.




And now it's just starting to take shape.




I love pottering around in this little area right now!
























I've been glad of the rain, just lately, to give these new additions

a good start to life in my garden.




Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Tomorrow, I am off on a jolly or two... but closer to home!!

;-) x

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Such a perfect day!




Generally, when it comes to weekends, Mr S and I have an agreement.

Saturday is 'going out' day...Sunday is 'staying in' day!

But there are exceptions to every rule!

(If I smile nicely!)

And so, on Sunday, off we went, through the Devon lanes.

Come with me!






First brief stop was here!




'Stop, stop, '' I shouted as the words, ' The Old School House''

appeared in front of me.



This would be my idea of heaven...a little school,

set deep in the Devon countryside!

(With a fabric shack on the back of it!!)






On we drove...to Powderham and THAT nursery which I love!

I'm not going to blog that again but just to say that

we've been making a new herbaceous border in our garden and I wanted

a few plants to add to that!

That done, we parked up here, in the beautiful little village of Kenton.

And this is where the 'treat of the day' really did take place!!




We always drive through Kenton if we take the alternative route

back from Exeter..(i.e. the coast road not the A38, which I hate!)

But we never stop at Kenton... and

I've been saying for ages that we ought, as there must be more to it.




There just happened to be a very nice pub serving a Sunday carvery!

Having partaken of that, we walked around this delightful village,

which surprised and delighted us at every turn.

Most of the properties seemed to have a name.




Firstly, we came across these very attractive and well preserved almshouses.

Built in 1888 by the Courtenays, of Powderham Castle.

(The almshouses were Grade 2 listed, 100 years later.)




The Hollyhocks caught my eye..how I love them!













As we walked on further,this row of coloured houses came into view!








And here's the school...




It was sheer pleasure!

The birds didn't stop singing and it was as if we had stepped into another world.






When you next take the coast road from Exeter to Dawlish, you'll pass through

Kenton; be sure to stop, park up and walk around!

You won't be disappointed.


















Such a perfect day !

I'm glad I could share it with you!

;-)

Monday 20 June 2011

Back to school..and a giveaway!



On Saturday evening, after our trip to Tavistock, we dashed back home,

had a quick cuppa and then went to... school !

The school where I once taught, Decoy Primary School, in Newton Abbot

is 100 years old this year.





For me, this school has many family connections.

Firstly, my Grandma was the first ever PTA treasurer at the school!

Not only that, she was school cook, for a time.

My mum helped to set up the first nursery there,

before she went off to train to be a teacher.

All of her brothers and sisters attended the school (6 of them!)

My own children went to the school as did my nephews.




Incredibly, as I started to look around at all the photos, one photo

in particular jumped out at me immediately...

Molly Button





This was the aunty I never knew.

My mum's youngest sister, the youngest of the Button family.

Very sadly, she caught Polio and died at the age of 12 years.

That was before I was born but I recall hearing all about her

so many times when I was young.

So there she was...right in front of me!




I enquired as to where this photograph had been found

as I know that my mum has the same photograph somewhere.

I was told that some boxes of photos had been found in a loft

of an ex head teacher's house.





I could have spent hours and hours just browsing!

I attended the 50 years and the 75 years celebrations

and so it seemed only right to go along this time.




Finally this caught my eye!!





There I am! I'm the teacher with the pink top, 7th from the left.

And moving along the line to the right...

there's my friend Linda, in the red dress;

she has the blog called Chalky's World!

Good job they didn't sit us together..we would probably

have had each other in stitches!!

Finally...




Naturally, I took a peep at some of the creative work

and these studies of artists caught my eye!








One wonders what the next 25 years will bring for this school!

I hope I'll make it to those celebrations too!

Meanwhile ..a giveaway!

For my giveaway...just comment on this post telling me the best memory

you have of your schooldays!! Funny or serious!! ;-)

A pack of my vintage, small feedsack pieces will be the prize!

;-)

XXX