About

Hello!

So…to tell you a little bit about me and my family.  We live in North Wales, in the county of Conwy.  We moved here 15 years ago from Rhiwceiliog in South Wales, because my partner had to relocate for his job. I am self-employed and I do a lot of work with heritage, communities, museums and regeneration, so relocating to ‘gog-land’ wasn’t a problem for me – I could work from anywhere!  Our son was about 3 when we moved and now he’s 18.

I grew up on a smallholding, with lots of horses and cattle.  No sheep apart from the pet one, Billy Beans, who would follow me on my treks across Mynydd-y-Gaer.  My partner was a townie – he’d been brought up in Cardiff and liked the accessibility of shops, restaurants and the cinema (his second love)!  So, moving here involved a bit of compromise and we settled on a village location that is around 20 minutes from the nearest town (and 50 minutes from the nearest Cinema).

Now for the honesty bit…deep down I didn’t think we’d be here very long.  I gave it perhaps two years – enough time to do up the cottage we’d bought to renovate and then probably move back to South Wales.  We knew that without an extension, we’d outgrow the cottage quickly, and I thought that would be the opportunity to go back to live near family and friends. But on day 2 of moving in, I met a neighbour who was to become my best friend.  My son made friends, my partner made friends, and my ambition to move back to South Wales gradually fizzled away.  15 years later, we’re still in the same place  and I suppose our vision of where ‘home is’ has changed.  It’s here.

Why an interest in gardens and interiors?

I’m not sure where my interest came from.  My mother was never really into gardens or interiors, but I remember cutting out photos of furniture and garden items from discarded catalogues and making collages of my ‘dream home’ as a child.  Perhaps if I’d been good at art, I would have gone into design, but I was and I still am, terrible at drawing!  I tease my mother that my obsession with interiors comes from the fact that she wouldn’t buy me a Sindy Doll House when I was a child, and she asked my dad to make me a version from an old pallet instead!

As soon as I could drive, I would spend weekends visiting country houses and gardens. Bryngarw Park near Bridgend and Duffryn Gardens in the Vale of Glamorgan were places that my friends and I would visit just to have a wander around.  I think those places may have influenced my taste slightly – I like a good mix of formal and informal gardens, quirky interiors and garden features.

Why blog now?

After years of juggling periods of renovation with working away on projects, we’ve just about got the cottage to the way we want it.  It’s had two extensions and a loft conversion; it’s been completely rewired and replumbed; there is new plastering throughout; floors have been dug up and relayed; there’s been a few different heating systems until we found something that would actually keep us warm; there has been more wallpaper and paint on the walls at each period of renovation than I would care to add up; and the purchase of a corner of a field and 500 tons of earth dug away to create a multi-level garden area.

And I’ve loved every minute of it.

As we approached the culmination of the renovations last year, I realised that I needed to turn my attention to the garden and embark on a steep learning curve.  This blog, I hope, will document that learning curve and if you’re willing, you can come with me on my journey into the world of gardening and garden design.

If I told you that at this point 12 months ago I could only name 18 plants, I wouldn’t be exaggerating.  I know….for a country girl, that’s terrible form!  I have improved somewhat, but even calling myself a ‘novice’ seems to offer me too much credit.

But let’s see – hold my hand and come along if you want, learn from the mistakes I’m going to make, learn from the successes I might have and let’s take this gardening blogosphere journey tongue-in-cheek to see what can be achieved!