Homemade

When browsing through my photo's, I came upon a few colourful ones taken in Bath gardens in Bakewell, a small but beautiful town in Derbyshire (UK). I thought I would share them with you. Bakewell has one of the most colourful communal gardens I have ever seen.

The town is famous for it's Bakewell tart. A real delicacy,  consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell beneath layers of jam, fragipane and a topping of lemon icing and toasted almonds. I used the recipe from, I believe the first Great British Bake off book, but you can also find it on the internet.  It's really tasty and very addictive.
  
In this post I would like to thank my friend Ilse, who made me the fabulous vintage roses style tea cosy. A warm thank you to Jenny as well, who sent me some amazing vintage textiles and an absolutely beautiful handmade bag. Which is a real eye catcher. Dear Ilse and Jenny, thank you so much. A big kiss to both of you.

If you like today's photo's and would like to see more, please have a look at Jenny's blog The Custards. Jenny makes the most fabulous things out of vintage linens, has a love for gardening and all things colourful and vintage. It's one of my favourite blogs.

I want to thank  you too for your kind suggestions on what  to plant in my garden this year. They are very useful!

Wishing you a happy week ahead.

Love,

Madelief x

A big kiss to my daughter M. Love the anemones! And to Carolyn for sending me the sweet snowman.

Last years garden highlights

A Happy, Healthy and Sparkling New Year! May all your wishes come true :-)  I hope 2016 is going to be a good year for the girls and me too, with happy endings, new beginnings and perhaps a few changes in the garden as well.

It's always a joy to prepare this post, to scroll through last years photo's and see how the garden has evolved over the years. When I look back at photo's taken seven years ago, when my late husband and I took over the garden, so much has changed. There garden is lighter and airier and there are more spring bulbs and roses. I also notice that pinks and purples are definitely my favourite colours when it comes to garden flowers.

I think I will add some new plants this year. Perhaps snapdragons and penstemons, but I am not sure yet. I have to give it some more thought. I may add a few flowers in soft oranges.... that would be lovely......I have decided to give the Café au Lait dahlia another try too, which refused to appear last year. But before I make definite plans, I will browse through my garden books and visit some of your blogs for inspiration. 

If you have any suggestions of (cutting) flowers that would look good in my garden, please let me know. I would love to hear!

Have a fun week.

Love,

Madelief x