click to embiggen
Groan. A beautiful, hot and sunny long weekend is over, and bump! Back to reality...
We had a faboo time visiting the boys in Essex, and the treat of all treats was in store - as they took us to the internationally-renowned Beth Chatto Gardens on Saturday! Created by plantswoman Beth Chatto in 1960 from the gravel soil and bogs of the disused fruit farm belonging to her husband, botanist Andrew Chatto, the garden follows her innovative ethos of "right plant, right place", and encompasses a range of habitats from her famous (never watered!) gravel garden, to woodland, wetland, scree [as in the photo above, with just one ugly specimen spoiling the picture - me] and herbaceous planting - and it is utterly splendiferous! We thoroughly enjoyed it.
And, as usual, we trawled the garden centres all around the area and came back with bags full of new plants for the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers...
But what did we miss while we were away..?
The news was much the same old, same old - COVID, that Nazi dictator in Belarus mouthing-off, banner headlines and gratuitous swimsuit shots in the tabloids just because there was actually sunshine on a Bank Holiday weekend, Denmark's "spy ring" was exposed... and Heinz Tomato Ketchup is going to be made in Britain again! Oh, and apparently Prince Harry's new job title means "penis" in Japanese.
We missed the late, great national treasure Dame Thora Hird's 110th anniversary, the legendary Edna Doré's centenary and the sadly-missed Eurovision host Katie Boyle's 95th, the 90th birthday of Baby Doll star and sex symbol Carroll Baker [still with us!], as well as the 60th birthdays of impressionist Harry Enfield and the gorgeous Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals, and Wicked star Idina Menzel's 50th.
Over the weekend, we mainly listened to/watched YouTube videos of camp pop (as is our wont) such as Kylie, Fangoria, Erasure and Steps, and 90s dance music, which was jolly. However, today marks the centenary of the birth of one Nelson Smock Riddle Jr., so I think we should have a selection of more sophisticated music from the great man's repertoire to greet our return to work. Like these:
How life should be.
Reminder to self: Must. Win. Euromillions Lottery. Tonight.
