Since we last met

I have mostly been

picking these - the box moth caterpillar

off the box hedges in our garden.

They have devastated them.

Stripped them to bare branches 

and then started gnawing on the branches

before abseiling off on silken threads to the next bush.

But we have made an impression

and after removing in excess of 5000

with tweezers,

new green leaves are sprouting.

No doubt these will feed the next generation of

caterpillars presently being laid by the caterpillars

that we didn't catch before they pupated.

But it wasn't all garden warfare.

We spent a week in the Malvern Hills,

staying at Perrycroft, a beautifully restored Voysey house 

with cottages for the workers holidaymakers.

We had free access to the main gardens

which were so perfect,

but we could not help shuddering at the thought of the havoc

that the box moth would  wreak on all the immaculate topiary

and we looked for telltale signs of browned leaves.

The hills were steep and numerous.

I think we yomped up all but one.

Going down was hard on the knees

but the views were worth it.

And then to my great surprise we learnt that the Hay Festival was on,

only an hour's drive away

and that there were still tickets to be had,

so we went to hear Kate Humble

and Monty Don and Derry Moore

talking about their latest books

Thinking on my Feet and Japanese Gardens respectively.

Summer is racing away,

but today has been like winter.

Dark by 3.30 and the heating is back on.

Welcome for gardeners and farmers

but very lowering to the spirit.

I made hot chocolate

and talked to my son in New York

about a trip to sunnier climes.

In the pink

Have emerged from under a virus laden cloud

in time for the unfolding of the purple plum blossom,

the earliest of the rhododendrons,

and the magnolias.

New curtains are in the pipeline. 

Back in the pink.

Fifties Find

I've been looking for some curtain material.

I had an idea I wanted splashy yellow roses 

on a grey background.

I could picture it, but I couldn't find it.

All the usual avenues having been exhausted

and prices per metre being shockingly high

for anything I quite liked,

I turned to a well known auction site.

And sitting there on the haberdasher's counter

 was a bolt of 7 yards 16 inches of unused

1950s Bevis fabric made for Simpson and Godlee.

Priced at £1 6s 11d per yard when new,

this would have cost me the equivalent of almost £200.

There was one other customer, eyeing it speculatively.

I turned out my purse for sixpences, threepenny bits,

florins and half crowns.

I opened my wallet for blue fivers, brown ten bob notes

 and green pounds.

I thought I might have enough.

The auction ended this afternoon.

Mine for £25. Happy me.

I'll have it sent. It's quite heavy.

But will I dare cut into it?

Swatches

I have just realised that

these pictures from the holiday album

must have had 

a subliminal effect on my

colour choice for new stripy curtains.

Spring cleaning

From Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson

The Art & Science of Keeping House (1999)

The custom of seasonal 'housecleaning' in the spring arose because after two seasons of heating and lighting with wood, oil, gas, kerosene, and candles, the condition of the house made it essential. By winter's end, everything in the house was coated with a malodorous layer of black grease and grime, the ugliness of which would become ever more apparent as the days became longer and sunnier.

So people cleaned everything - literally everything - as soon as the heating season was over and as soon as it was warm enough to do chores that cold weather made too inconvenient, such as beating rugs, taking mattresses and pillows outside for airing, or going into frigid areas of the home (the cellar or attic). They emptied every drawer, shelf, cabinet, closet and room; cleaned them; and cleaned, washed, polished or shined all their contents (drapes, mattresses, pillows, rugs, carpets, upholstery, 

crystal and china, 

silver, brass, and copper, and so on); and then put everything back. Walls were washed or painted and cellars whitewashed. Because people often used separate furnishings for the warm and cold seasons, during spring cleaning they would also remove the winter furnishings 

 and put out the warm-weather rugs, draperies,and bedclothes.

Most of the rationale for doing spring cleaning has now gone by the wayside... And many people despise as heartily as our ancestors did the disruption of home life that spring cleaning causes... But spring cleaning still has a place for anyone who can find time for it or who rather likes the feeling of renewal that follows the major upheaval of turning your home inside out. Try it once before you rule it out. It is delightful to begin the new season with a home that has been scoured top to bottom, every drawer emptied, every piece of china washed, 

every bit of metal polished, every fabric washed, 

every square inch of all surfaces washed, polished, scoured, waxed, or otherwise brought to its finest state.

I may be gone some time.