As we were house hunting...

...the clematis plug plant put on an astonishing display...

...and Miss P got the hump...she quite likes the garden thank-you-very-much (look at those perfectly aligned front paws - aren't they brilliant! I know - cat lady alert - but really, they are brilliant).

A quick shot of Vitamin D

This weekend something peculiar happened.

Blue replaced grey.
Short sleeves replaced long.
Sunglasses replaced glasses.
Chilled rose replaced coffee mugs.
Washing dried outside not in.

The forecast for the rest of the week is grotty, but this is proof that summer did indeed make an appearance in May - when we went to the park for Sports Day and live music and cold lager before the chilly evening set in.

It was seven years ago this weekend that we found the flat and Grandpa B passed away. It was a wet weekend. We found ourselves househunting this weekend too - funny how things happen that way.

Jamie's spinach and feta filo pie with a porky twist

This was the first recipe from Jamie's 30 minute series that I saw on Channel 4 when it was first aired yonks ago. It looked amazing. It's why the book went on my wish list in 2010. Needless to say, I've cooked lots of lovely things from the book but for some reason avoided this one because it looked a bit tricky. Mr M, being of the braver kind, made it this evening with his own twist - little nuggets of crunchy bacon. 

Leftovers will be enjoyed for lunch this week, making a wonderful change from the usual rip-off sandwiches that I buy. And the blooming marvellous Mr M, who knows me only too well, has already chopped it into pieces and wrapped them individually so that I can grab and go in the mornings. 

Next on the list - trying to break the expensive tall-skinny-single-shot-decaf-white-americano-to -go habit that I appear to have developed recently...hmmmm.

Wild garlic

Like a field of white snowflakes, our wild garlic is in bloom. We had grand plans to use the young leaves in salads but with all the cats and foxes scampering through them decided that the idea wasn't quite as appealing as Hugh F-W had made out.

Soggy bank holiday

We had a 'me' day on Monday. With some pretty full on weekends recently, coupled with househunting (which feels somewhat relentless), we concluded that we needed a bit of a break. When it started to drizzle, there really could only be one thing to do - hop in the car to the local garden centre.

Our plan to buy alium, agapanthus and wallflowers were swiftly brought into check when we clocked the price tags.

Instead, we settled on stock and Nemesia to bring some colour and scent to the old daffodil pots.

The Nemesia Vanilla Lady smells just like Carte D'Or vanilla ice cream. Gentle wafts are divine. Too much and it's a little like being in a candle shop...

And then it was May

Grey, cold, wet days with small moments of wonder.

Day three - topiary

Eucalyptus and roses. A willow 'trunk' and moss. Oasis heavy with water to weigh it down. A little too heavy to have been carried across Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo and then home.

Getting the soaked oasis ball in the right position on the willow trunk and creating an even eucalyptus halo was harder than you'd think. And we were slightly thwarted with the best of everything being nabbed before we'd got to the buckets of flowers. I do love how courses can be such a comedy social experiment - people get very possessive about things.

The topiary tree is very sweet but I do prefer the free-form style of flower arranging. Takes away the stress of perfection - probably why I'm not so keen on contemporary flower design.