beloved bel

I love bluebells in case you haven't already known ;)  My friend Gabby reckons it's because it has 'bel' in it.  It is also the surest sign of spring when you start to see blankets of purplish blue appear in the woods.  I get an indication when I see a few pop up in our garden - no idea how they got here but happy to have them! I started researching on the best places around us to see bluebells and in past years we had been to a few places, one of which was Emmetts Gardens in Sevenoaks, Kent.  This to me was one of the best places to see bluebells.  Another place on my list was Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, also in Sevenoaks and so I proposed to visit it this year for the bluebells.  These are paid entry places although if you do come across some ancient woodland you probably can see them for free.  Problem is, I don't know any ancient woodland around our place that has big patches of these beauties. Riverhill Himalayan Gardens We ventured into the wood...

I'm keeping a floral blooming season diary this year, and May is the season for Wisterias.  These beautifully scented purple flowers drape over long flowy branches, sometimes over people's main doors and windows, on garden walls, and in our case, a lovely pergola in a nearby park.  We stumbled upon this park a couple of years ago when we moved into the neighbourhood. That particular year we saw the beautiful display of purple wisterias and I made a mental note to visit it every May if possible.  I brought Izzy two years ago and missed them last year as we were in Singapore.  This year, we were back with our friends and we had a mini photoshoot even!  Izzy and Kaylene are two years apart, and everytime we meet, they both play really well together.  Izzy is on the shy side, so she will need some time to warm up, but once she does, they both scream and run and laugh together... with little Gabriel running after them. But before that.... because we invited our ...