I heard two pieces of sad news today. Firstly, I found out that a couple we know well are separating and then the window cleaner told me his partner (who's only 36) has got a really aggressive form of breast cancer.
Such sudden and shocking bad news makes me thankful for small pleasures like this bunch of beautiful peonies which came from the garden my friend Alex looks after. I can't stop looking at them and The Little Girl can't stop touching them..perhaps because, like Alan Titchmarsh says, they look like a drawer full of pink frilly knickers! She suggested I put some Lady's Mantle with them and the billowing acid green really does look stunning against the barbie pink blooms.
The other pictures are of The Big Boy's radishes which we harvested today. We've never grown them before and they were ridiculously easy. We sliced them with one of Alex's cucumbers and some snippings of The Big Boy's Wild Rocket but I was the only one who ate it as it packed quite a punch! Incidentally if you are thinking of growing rocket make sure that it's 'wild' as other varieties tend to bolt instantly. You can keep cutting wild rocket and it will grow well all summer and for £1.50 for a pack it's great value. Other small pleasures today include picking raspberries and strawberries, watching the Little Girl and her friend play beautifully without shouting at each other, watching Springwatch with the Big Girl, smelling the Big Girl's special homemade rose petal perfume (an annual event), feeding another Blackbird family, making flapjacks with the Little Girl... and then being able to sit and relax.
