Dinner by the woods

The last two nights have been humid and warm enough to eat out so we took our leftovers from the tower event up to a table in the new garden and enjoyed the late sunshine.  We finished off with a special treat - Gooseberry Fool.  What a great invention.  Note the old Cardoon and the hemerocallis - was it Golden Chimes?

Red Letter Day

Today the curved door of the tower is actually hanging on its hinges. The tower has a door!  It opens and closes smoothly and evenly, despite all the difficulties of working with hand-forged and asymmetrical black iron. It's well seen those gudgeon and pintle hinges are obsolete.  Though they are very very beautiful.

Touring in the Welsh Marches

In late June we set off to see some good old friends and some roses down towards the Cotswolds. We stayed with Piet and Kate van den Ende in Presteigne and had a leisurely visit to Bryan's Ground, our kind of garden almost on their doorstep. http://www.bryansground.co.uk/

Ispahan

Sometimes a plant just looks perfect in a perfect setting.  Usually it is not by design and many of our best associations are due to chance.  Ispahan is a Centifolia rose which is once flowering but over a longish period.  It is a lax shrub that looks best when lolling over a neighbour - here a scented rhododendron. 
The masterwort 'Shaggy' just happened to be there.  Note: we must plant more masterworts.

Is it a polecat?

Corby saw a mustelid walzing down the garden from the wood and disappear through the garage door.  Later we found it in the carport and took photos of it as it explored our feet and had a nibble at Corby's finger.  Now it is noshing some catfood.  It is so tame we think it must be a ferret.