So Much For Being Extravagant...

There's a moral to today's post.

Don't go spending money on pretty vases when you're running an old car!  My loyal old warhorse, a reliable automatic Honda Civic, has been struggling to change up a gear just recently.  The concern was that it was running out of gear fluid, so it was put into its regular garage this morning for a check-up.

Alas - it has a leaky radiator which will have to be replaced.  The hose for the gear transmission fluid goes via the radiator, so this probably explains why it's been struggling.

I'm facing a dilemma.  I've known I'm on the verge of replacing this car for a year or so, but I'd hoped to put if off for another year/eighteen months.  Financially, I'm not ready to splash out on a replacement just yet.  The bill for the repair doesn't sounds too astronomical, and everyone around me seems to think a new radiator is no big deal.  The car's done 108,000 miles so far with absolutely no problems, apart from having its original battery replaced a couple of years back.  I think I'll hang on to it a bit longer, though I'm reluctant to keep throwing money at it as more and more parts fail at last.

We were supposed to be meeting some friends for a cycle run round Great Cumbrae this morning, but the car's misbehaviour scuppered this nice little plan.  Instead, we met them in Lochwinnoch, and managed instead to fit in our regular 20 mile run to an otherwise hectic day. 

I'm devoting the rest of this post to the garden.  Over the last few months, I have strived to  recreate Paradise on Earth, and in doing so, I have created Hell.  Two nights ago, my hayfever kicked in big time.  I've been taking local honey since the end of April, and I thought it was helping, as my symptoms have been much better.  But something's just come into bloom and it's affecting me big time, though my eyes do seem to be much better this year.  Maybe the honey's doing something...

I'm reluctant to resort to drugs just yet.  They usually make me feel ill anyway.  The only cure for my hayfever is for me to stop sticking my snout into flowers.  And since the nemesia smell divine (just like Mint Tic-Tacs!) there's no chance of that...

Time for pictures.  The main performers just now are the paeonies, with the roses just coming into bloom.  I have to thank Thomson & Morgan for the display featured below.  The paeony is 'Sorbet', and it's planted in association with Geranium 'Summer Skies', which is rather a fetching double::-

 

Here's another juxtaposition of colours.  I think the geranium's probably the ubiquitous 'Johnson's Blue', and it's planted in association with a dark red scabious:-

 

It's always good to see the roses.  I used to like Hybrid Teas, but now I mostly favour Old English roses, grown by David Austin.  I seem to have acquired this taste with age - I used to find the blooms too fussy for my liking, but there's something rather spectacular about them.

The first to put in an appearance this year was 'Eglantyne', which is typical of the Old English form:-

 

But my all time favourite rose has to be 'Rosa Mundi'.  This is a strain which allegedly goes back to the 16th century, and I had a devil of a job trying to find one.  This particular plant was bought as a particularly miserable, scabby, leprous specimen being sold at a garden centre.  It was literally covered with greenfly, but I was so eager to get hold of it that I bought it anyway.  It was dunked upside down into a bucket of dilute washing-up liquid, sprayed incessantly with more dilute washing-up liquid, and eventually, it made a full recovery.  Here's a picture of its bloom, with a small furry visitor in residence:-

 

And lastly, the annuals.  Suttons appear to have goofed up this year.  They're the sole suppliers of the marvellous anagellis.  I ordered five 'Skylover' in vibrant dark blue, and 'Sunlover' in orange, and they sent me ten 'Sunlover'.  But what's not to love about this plant?  It's just gorgeous, and ten 'Sunlovers' are better than no anagellis at all:-

 

Here's another smashing plant that came courtesy of Suttons.  I think it's an ageranthymum (help!  I hope I spelt that properly!!),  Whatever it is, it's a really lovely plant and I'm delighted to make its acquaintance:-
 

 

So Much For Being Extravagant...

There's a moral to today's post.

Don't go spending money on pretty vases when you're running an old car!  My loyal old warhorse, a reliable automatic Honda Civic, has been struggling to change up a gear just recently.  The concern was that it was running out of gear fluid, so it was put into its regular garage this morning for a check-up.

Alas - it has a leaky radiator which will have to be replaced.  The hose for the gear transmission fluid goes via the radiator, so this probably explains why it's been struggling.

I'm facing a dilemma.  I've known I'm on the verge of replacing this car for a year or so, but I'd hoped to put if off for another year/eighteen months.  Financially, I'm not ready to splash out on a replacement just yet.  The bill for the repair doesn't sounds too astronomical, and everyone around me seems to think a new radiator is no big deal.  The car's done 108,000 miles so far with absolutely no problems, apart from having its original battery replaced a couple of years back.  I think I'll hang on to it a bit longer, though I'm reluctant to keep throwing money at it as more and more parts fail at last.

We were supposed to be meeting some friends for a cycle run round Great Cumbrae this morning, but the car's misbehaviour scuppered this nice little plan.  Instead, we met them in Lochwinnoch, and managed instead to fit in our regular 20 mile run to an otherwise hectic day. 

I'm devoting the rest of this post to the garden.  Over the last few months, I have strived to  recreate Paradise on Earth, and in doing so, I have created Hell.  Two nights ago, my hayfever kicked in big time.  I've been taking local honey since the end of April, and I thought it was helping, as my symptoms have been much better.  But something's just come into bloom and it's affecting me big time, though my eyes do seem to be much better this year.  Maybe the honey's doing something...

I'm reluctant to resort to drugs just yet.  They usually make me feel ill anyway.  The only cure for my hayfever is for me to stop sticking my snout into flowers.  And since the nemesia smell divine (just like Mint Tic-Tacs!) there's no chance of that...

Time for pictures.  The main performers just now are the paeonies, with the roses just coming into bloom.  I have to thank Thomson & Morgan for the display featured below.  The paeony is 'Sorbet', and it's planted in association with Geranium 'Summer Skies', which is rather a fetching double::-

 

Here's another juxtaposition of colours.  I think the geranium's probably the ubiquitous 'Johnson's Blue', and it's planted in association with a dark red scabious:-

 

It's always good to see the roses.  I used to like Hybrid Teas, but now I mostly favour Old English roses, grown by David Austin.  I seem to have acquired this taste with age - I used to find the blooms too fussy for my liking, but there's something rather spectacular about them.

The first to put in an appearance this year was 'Eglantyne', which is typical of the Old English form:-

 

But my all time favourite rose has to be 'Rosa Mundi'.  This is a strain which allegedly goes back to the 16th century, and I had a devil of a job trying to find one.  This particular plant was bought as a particularly miserable, scabby, leprous specimen being sold at a garden centre.  It was literally covered with greenfly, but I was so eager to get hold of it that I bought it anyway.  It was dunked upside down into a bucket of dilute washing-up liquid, sprayed incessantly with more dilute washing-up liquid, and eventually, it made a full recovery.  Here's a picture of its bloom, with a small furry visitor in residence:-

 

And lastly, the annuals.  Suttons appear to have goofed up this year.  They're the sole suppliers of the marvellous anagellis.  I ordered five 'Skylover' in vibrant dark blue, and 'Sunlover' in orange, and they sent me ten 'Sunlover'.  But what's not to love about this plant?  It's just gorgeous, and ten 'Sunlovers' are better than no anagellis at all:-

 

Here's another smashing plant that came courtesy of Suttons.  I think it's an ageranthymum (help!  I hope I spelt that properly!!),  Whatever it is, it's a really lovely plant and I'm delighted to make its acquaintance:-