The Queen says thank you

Today was the last day of our special long weekend, courtesy of her Majesty and her long reign. Typically, the weekend has been plagued with singularly unpleasant and decidedly errant weather. Still, it looks like a lot of people had an excellent time celebrating in all manner of ways. Though we should spare a thought for poor Prince Philip as he recovers from whatever is ailing him.

It was quite odd having a four day long weekend. It sort of felt like Easter except almost all the shops were open. Although Starbucks was closed when I went to Waitrose first thing this morning. I actually had to go to Costa for a coffee. What a pair of miseries were serving. Almost put me off my coffee.

Anyway, today was to be a big gardening day at our house. And it managed to get off on the right foot. We went to the garden centre for some much needed paving slabs, compost and a bird feeder. Needless to say we did not go to Secretts. Instead we took our custom to Forest Lodge. And what a difference. The kid who served us couldn’t have been happier or more accomplished if he’d tried. It was a delight to give him our money. It was like the Bizarro World version of Secretts.

Back at home, I prepared a bit of gravelly ground to receive the big slabs before plonking them down. Mirinda then made a strange avenue of pots.

I then started planting the annuals in the hot border. I moved the marjoram, which was causing offence by growing too close to the fence, right where the obelisk had to go, to the front of the bed. It was then the turn of the bidens which were so successful last year. I managed to plant about six of them, with some interspersed lobelia.

The rain had been dribbling from the clouds during most of this and I was unaware of the fact that it had become quite heavy. I had to stop when I could no longer see through my glasses and was in danger of driving the fork through my foot. I hadn’t realised that Mirinda had already given up and was happily sitting in the lounge watching the TV. Still, I managed to plant quite a bit. Hopefully I can manage some more tomorrow.

Eventually, Mirinda figured it would be nice to eat out so we popped into Farnham to her favourite restaurant (Cote) for a delicious meal in celebration of her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.