I’ve been lucky enough to record at Abbey Road three times, but it’s still a treat to tread that hallowed ground. 🎵 Hand percussion for me today. Red light on.

Such a great feeling to be playing with people again today, and a joy to be at Abbey Road.

Six on Saturday 12-06-21 🌱

Things have really taken off since the last Six on Saturday I posted two weeks ago. The sun has come out, and I’ve been busy watering. We’ve been fairly restrained, only making a couple of small purchases…

Yesterday I visited RHS Wisley for the first time, which was very inspiring. I might have a few photos to post, but most of the ones I took were of plant labels to remind me what I liked! Anyway, on with the Six:

1. Rosa ‘Francis E. Lester’ - This beautiful climbing rose has got just a couple of flowers so far, but it’s poised to give an amazing display. Just need to keep blasting the aphids off with the hose…

2. Heuchera sp. - First time this has flowered.

3. This week’s new pot - On a little trip to Woburn Forest Growers, our local plant nursery, we found some lovely fuchsias, and I fell in love with this combination with coleus. The taller fuchsia is ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’, and the shorter is ‘Marinka’.

4. Pyracantha

5. The reds - Another coleus in the background, along with Nemesia ‘Clementine’ front left and Weigela on the right.

6. The whites - Another Nemesia at the front here, this one we had last year and has a very strong vanilla scent. Behind is the happy little Erigeron karvinskianus, and a Dianthus sneaking in too.

That’s it for another week. Looking back at my last Six a couple of weeks ago has reminded me my thyme cuttings have had time to root, so I might check tomorrow. I’m hoping to make at least one of them into a standard…

Mochi turns 1 today! Hard to believe he’s an adult cat now - still seems like a kitten to us. A photo of him enjoying the sun today, and the earliest photo we have of him. 😻

36 hours after the jab, and my sore arm is just about gone. I’ve managed to avoid any other side effects too.

Having started studying again, with exams in the not-too-distant future, I’ve rediscovered Anki. What an incredible tool for learning with flash cards, and it’s free! (I mean the iOS app is expensive, but it’s free on Mac or online, and they gotta make a living somehow right?)

First vaccine dose booked for Wednesday! 🎉 🎉 🎉

UK vaccinations are currently open to age 30 and over, which means I should be in the next age group to be invited. This means I am refreshing the booking page several times a day, in the hope it will update!

Six on Saturday 29-05-21 🌱

My Six on Saturday for this week (because it’s still Saturday somewhere, right?). I’m trying to use botanical/scientific names as much as possible, as I’ve just started studying for my RHS Certificate in the Principles of Horticulture. I’m usually pretty bad at remembering plant names, and since I need to have many examples on hand come the exam, I better start practising now!

1 - Viola sp.. The colour of these is just stunning

2 - Aquilegia sp. (canadensis?). These have popped up in the border unexpectedly. Unfortunately they’re poisonous to cats, so we’ll have to keep an eye on Mochi and make sure he isn’t nibbling them.

3 - Thymus x faustinoi. Gorgeous little thyme is busting into flower.

4 - Cuttings. Yesterday I took some cuttings of our three thyme varieties, as well as the cotton lavender.

5 - Betula pendula. This one is a ‘borrowed view’ in our garden. It’s actually growing beyond the end of the row of gardens, but provides us with shade and movement.

6 - Alpine bank. Spotted in a village near us, this bank (5m+ long) is covered in alpines.

What a difference a week makes in terms of weather. It’s been gorgeous the last couple of days. Yesterday was spent almost entirely in the garden. Hopefully summer is here.