As spring slips away and we look to early summer, the nights lengthen and, unbelievably, June will see the longest day. I love this time of year. The shop becomes fi lled with the perfume of summer fl owers: gorgeous peonies, delphiniums, larkspur and blowsy hydrangeas. This is going to be a colourful summer in more ways than one; red, white and blue, I think, might dominate. With the Olympic Games and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, I hope and am sure that fl ags and bunting will be everywhere. We certainly will be decorating the shop and at home, my house and garden will be proudly fl ying the fl ags. Like lots of places, my village is holding a traditional Jubilee Party. Sadly, as it shows how old I am, I can remember the Queen’s Coronation in 1953 quite vividly. We lived in a very little village and in a tiny cottage. Unbelievably, no-one had a television as they were quite rare nearly 60 years ago. Out of the blue, my grandparents gave us a television set, a tiny screen in a huge wooden case, black and white of course, so my mum and dad invited the whole village to watch the Coronation. The furniture was put outside. The children were sat on the fl oor all squashed together One of the farmers cleared a barn, fi lled it with bales of straw to sit on and decorated it with bunting. We had the best ho-down ever! Even though rationing from The War had not As for the Olympics, I am not in any way sport minded but the opportunity is there for the The Garden Room |
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