Only one more day until the paperback of The Bluebird Brooch hits the shops and Amazon. It’s been quite an effort to get there but now I can’t wait. This week, I have been writing press releases for newspapers in Sussex, Norfolk and Lincolnshire. The wonderfully supportive, Phil Hewitt, hopes to write an article for the Sussex papers and online version, so I hope an extra little publicity works to spread the word.
Meanwhile, my life is increasingly taken up with gardening. My daughter’s new Grain barn opened for business a week ago, so I have been taking cuttings, and visited a garden centre to stock up. We planted it over the last few days and I hope it will look brilliant in a few weeks. We need to reseed the lawn too, but guests are delighted so far. It’s hard to imagine what this looked like a year ago, a run-down ex agricultural/industrial building covered in ivy and Russian vine, the windows and walls falling apart. Now it’s a bright, airy. beautiful holiday let with stunning views of the sea, less than a mile away, and glorious sunsets over farmland.
The other garden I am working on is the one on our field. It’s very early stages but I have sewn some grass and planted a border. Why! Well we hope that this is the garden for our proposed guest suite, not for renting out, just for family and friends. It is in the pre-planning application stage. One complicating factor is that the plans have to go through two planning authorities, because the planning line goes through the middle of the building. You can’t make that up. It’s not a done deal that we will get permission. If we do, it will have a large bedroom, large ensuite, kitchen/living area and a patio, with views east onto our field and vegetable plot. The change from a Victorian school toilet is, at the moment, a leap of faith and difficult to visualise but I have had it in mind from day one of moving in. Our builder is in place, we just need the go ahead. Ideas for names – Wild Meadow Cottage / Wildflower Cottage / Wren Cottage / Wagtail Cottage – which one do you prefer?
It’s my favourite time of year. The lilac is coming out as is the blossom on the fruit trees. The apples and pears have been heavily pruned so let’s hope we get a bumper crop. I can now identify the two quince trees, both need pruning badly, but I am looking forward to seeing them flower. I can already see pink buds. The plums have already flowered, as has the peach and almond. I have sewn wildflower seed but we need rain so I’m not sure it’s going to work. This week I have been planting summer raspberries from my daughter’s allotment. We already have autumn raspberries. We picked out first asparagus and rhubarb and can look forward to months of home produce. Happy days.
Rosemary Noble - author page 