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A Poem for Jim

He Forgot to Wake up

 

He was old

He looked frail

Rangy and stringy

A gaunt emaciated bean pole

Aloof yet interesting

Private yet companionable

 

And he wrote words of joy

Words which painted pictures

Told stories of people and places

Our people

Our places

History, biography and fiction

Often presented as one

 

An unrecognised legend

Working solitary and alone

Each word carefully placed

China

I'm off for a week's visit to China as part of a delegation from the Chinese/ New Zealand friendship society. It is a health related visit so I doubt that I will see many roses.

Chasing The Rose

We spent a lovely evening in the beautiful historic St Paul's cathedral in Wellington this week listening to  Andrea di Robilant. He talked about his book 'Chasing the Rose' which describes his voyage from being a non-rosarian, but an author, to discovering an unknown rose and some pretty interesting ancestral roots.

His talk was a lovely delve into potted history - which you know I love - along with the adventure of trying to discover the name of a rose - what it is not, what it is 'maybe and the conclusion of what it finally was called.

 

Closed for comments

Every day recently, I have spent up to an hour a day deleting 30 - 50 advertisments from the comments sections on my blog posts. These posters won't go away even though I have reported them as spam, they find another way through my defences. So in desperation I have deleted the ability for readers to comment. Should you wish to please use the contact me button.

All Fixed

My amazing web designer from Mywebworkshop has fixed the scammer from every bothering me again. Whew! Thank goodness. It was very time consuming to delete all those posts.

Blog site infiltrated

In the last ten days a scammer called 'Pharmacy Lookup' has posted about 50 advertisements without my knowledge or consent. My apologies to my readers.

New House building

We are now 4 weeks into our new house build. This is an exciting time for us. We have always lived in old houses - coped with the dust and the chills of draughty hallways and leaking windows and doors. Enough I cried. I want to live in a smaller, warmer home. Osneloc House which we loved for its history grace and charm had 5 bedrooms, 14 ft ceiling studs and over half an acre of garden. floor being finished

The Winter Gardener

Winter – the time for roaring fires, hot coffee and books! Books about gardens to recharge the mental batteries and refresh the mind. When the allure of the garden dims in the face of cold southerlies and driving rain, that’s the cue for time out with a book.
Some books on gardening are timeless classics – a joy to read every year – more lyrical then practical. Others are more mundane with the endless ‘how to’ or ‘should do’.

re-publishing!

This week' Women in my Rose Garden' is re-released in a smaller format - padded hardback and just as beautiful

cover for women in my rose garden

Women in my Rose Garden

My book is about to be re-published albeit in a different format. Next month the new version will be available in New Zealand and Australia and later in the year in UK and USA. The new book covers all the same material but is smaller with a beautiful padded cover. here is what David Austin said about the book when it was first published in 2012:

"This beautifully illustrated book is a wonderful read, skillfully combining detailed rose descriptions with fascinating accounts about each rose's historical namesake."

- David Austin, David Austin Roses

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