Not everyone relishes working on a Bank Holiday. Myself, I don’t mind at all. Not when it is a day like today. So I decided to make a scrapbook of my adventures for your delectation.
The drive to work began with skittish sheep in a hay meadow. Interlopers, making the most of an exotic diet of buttercups and plantains.
The road then opened out to dramatic views across to the sparcely clothed hills of Exmoor National Park, exuding the perfect amount of gloom as befits such a moorland. There was no gloom in my heart at the sight of these wild and wonderful vistas.
And then down a medieval lane, tunnel-like and tempting, contained by classic Devon banks strewn with stitchwort, campions, bluebells and ferns. Today’s journey to Kemacott was especially enjoyable in the certainty that I would not meet the recycle lorry, with his fearless driving, on this national holiday.
In the garden we were intrigued by monsters, crawling out of the deep in their tens and transforming in front of our wide eyes. Slowly and deliberately, mesmerising and diverting us from the job of picking planting places for all the shining new specimens bought last week.
We potted up orange gazanias into blue planters and devil faced violas into an old tin baths. We took cuttings from an ancient Viburnum bodnantense and moved a misplaced hydrangea. And we found a fair maiden emerging from a patch of stinging nettles.
Slowly, slowly the monsters turned into pale ghosts, yet to develop the colour of their final incarnation. For the fully formed beauties you will have to wait for the contribution of the intrepid professional. Faint heart never won fair photographs!
And to round it all off there were bacon butties. You will have to take my word for this, they didn’t last long enough for a photo!
Off The Edge Gardening 
What a wonderful day….and the emergence of ‘dragonfly’s…we had a cold dull day weather wise…but a lovely visit from neighbours who are also opening their garden, then a nip down to theirs to give each other encouragement,…..
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It is nice you can support one another, a little less daunting perhaps?
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Sounds like a great day; such interesting pictures! They do look like monsters in this stage.
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It was lovely, one to cherish.
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Great post, love the dragonfly..clueless north American here – Bacon butties-whatever that is I am sure it would go straight to my butt!
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A bacon butty is a bacon sandwich, and yes, straight to the backside! Delicious though 🙂
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Gorgeous .A journey that can be repeated thanks to your blog.Your wildlife photos are fascinating and a reminder not to get carried away with all the “jobs that need to be done”but to take the time to be aware of what is going on around one .Thank you.
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Very true, and I have began to appreciate that over the last few years. It feels such a priviledge to see these things but they are just there waiting to be seen. x
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Great to have work that is such a joy to do
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So true, I am very lucky.
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Gorgeous photos and the butties sounded delicious. Wish I had been there to share them.
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Wish you had been here too Kayti, you would love the journey to this garden, magical and a little bit scary (but that just might be my driving) x
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