Autumn Jewels

Autumn has so far been a rather sparkling affair with gorgeous jewels dotted about in the garden.
The beauty of flowers is especially poignant at this time of year when every day could be the last day on which they can display their rich glittering colours of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, gold, silver, diamonds, pearls and jade.
Here a colander full of precious jade with the taste of nectar from the grape arbour. I've been munching grapes from early August up till now.
And it's not only the flowers that are clad in such rich tones, my hedge has been magically turned into a sumptuous gobelin of deep copper, burnished gold strewn with emeralds. If you'd like a hedge like this next autumn, and who in his/her right mind wouldn't, plant Fagus sylvatica aka beech.
Of course you can also bedeck your home with these sparkling jewels for your utter and thorough enjoyment. Christmas is still quite a few weeks off, so do yourself a big favour and invest in some jewels for the home, you won't regret it as their return is quite high.
Autumn has been so very mild this year so that I am even now able to decorate my house with glowing jewels from the Bliss garden. It's late November and I still manage to pick many a lovely bunch to gladden my heart.
Even if you have no flowers left to pick, you could decorate to your heart's content and with a carefree heart and hand scatter precious jewels in the kitchen. Immerse yourself in the richness that is Autumn.
But at Bliss the most highly prized jewel of all is Kadootje, a sumptuous affair clad in decadent sable, rich taupe, burnished gold and clotted cream set to purrrrrrrrrrfect music.
Not forgetting those huge sparkling emerald mirrors of her soul.
Today it is exactly 4 years ago that I found this precious jewel in my garden. I caught her red pawed eating the bread crumbs I had put out for the birds. She was so very hungry, you see, something that she is never now although she tries to persuade me often that she is.

For those of you who have inadvertently missed my post about how Kadootje came into in my life, read the full story here A note to the wise: keep a hanky/tissue at the ready.
This precious girl came into my life on my birthday so I christened her Kadootje which means small present in Dutch. And although she was just a small bundle of fur of about 4 months old, she is the biggest and bestest birthday present ever.
And I hope that my own Morse coded precious princes will enrich my life for years to come with that immensely valuable present that is Kadootje.

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

This Momentous GB Bloom Day

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know how unseasonably clement the weather has been over here these last two months and it has led to a bountiful Garden Bloggers Bloom Day today. Of course I'd love you to share in this bounty and feast your eyes on all that Blissful glory. So dear reader, start feasting:
Never before were there so many blooms in November in the Bliss garden, a very special treat brought to you by the absence of night frosts and cold weather.
Isn't it simply wonderful this plethora of blooms this late in the year? Rest assured that my wheelbarrow runneth over!
And apart from the usual suspects we also have some very unusual guest blooms for your delectation today:
a very pretty yellow Columbine in flower and,
also very surprising, some lovely Anemones de Caen. OK, I confess it, the last one is due to me as I planted those bulbs far too late and as a very happy result I now have pretty Anemones in flower. Being a lazy gardener can be very rewarding so I heartily recommend it.
Those woodland strawberries are still going strong, not as plentiful as they once were but not too shabby for November. It such a luxury to be able to pick a small handful of strawberries from your own garden at this time of year. It feels positively decadent!
Here is a plant that I wholeheartedly would like to recommend to you if you have the right climate for it: a perennial wallflower (Erysimum Bowles Mauve). It started flowering in Spring (no surprises there) but is still going strong now, literally covered in blooms. Absolute Bliss, with bells on!
Enjoying a glorious Bloom Day like today is wonderful but this day is even more special to me than you realise as it is also the day that my mother has turned 80. Hartelijk gefeliciteerd, ma! Happy Birthday Mum!
Here she is in her full blooming glory being serenaded at a dinner/cabaret evening last Sunday in celebration of her birthday. A great evening was had by all!
And that's not all because today is also the day that my darling Maine Coon Vita celebrates her 14th birthday; happy Birthday my sweet gentle Vita, mijn lieve zoeniecoon,
earth mother extraordinaire!
Well, I did mention that my wheelbarrow is running over today as it is such a Momentous Bloom Day, heartfelt by all here at Bliss, Jeeves included who is happily basking in the sun amidst the lashings of blooms.

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to you all!
copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Full of Grace

The winter here is cold and bitter
It's chilled us to the bone
We haven't seen the sun for weeks
Too long too far from home
I feel just like I'm sinking
And I claw for solid ground
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
And ohhh darkness I feel like letting go
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Will come and lift me from this place
I know I could love life much better than this
Full of Grace

Sarah Mclachlan
I thought that Sarah Mclachlan's song expresses very well how many people, who suffer from SAD, feel at this time of year.
Winters aren't that bad here in The Netherlands at least not the bitter part of it , but going without seeing the sun for weeks is quite normal. And not only during Winter as we, unfortunately, can also go without seeing the sun for weeks during all of the other seasons.
So having a October like the one we've just had feels like a reprieve, like receiving a pardon while on death row. This October was full of grace with so many glorious golden sunny days and I, for one, am grateful for it.
I haven't blogged much lately as I've been too busy soaking up the last warm rays of sunshine of this year. I hope you understand that I need to do this, this basking in the sun, to stave off the doldrums of SAD, at least for a little while longer even when it interferes with my blogging time.
Fortunately I do not suffer as much from SAD as Monty Don, former head presenter of Gardener's World, does as he is deeply depressed every year for months and months, the poor thing.
So, although I do not experience the Full Monty, it is bad enough to dread the coming of Autumn each year.
Sure, I keep active, be out and about whenever I can which isn't easy when you feel tired all the time, I have the special lamp, I eat healthy food, I use L-tryptofaan and try to stay as cheerful as I can.
Having a sunny disposition certainly helps and so does she,
my little Tara, who makes me smile with her joie de vivre, her lust for life, and who forces me to go outside for the much needed walkies when I don't feel like it.
And yes, the Bliss garden also provides grace from SAD, it is stuffed to the gills with it. It is good being a gardener, isn't it?


All the pics in this post were made in the Botanical Gardens of Utrecht recently, really worth a visit if you're ever in the neighbourhood.

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Still Glowin' and Crowin'

I said hello, Dolly, ...... well, hello, Dolly

It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're looking swell, Dolly, I can tell. Dolly
You're still glowin' .... you're still crowin', ... you're still growing strong
My glorious girl is 12 today! Happy Birthday Dolly Daisy, long may you continue to glow, crow, grow and delight us!
My sweet Dolly who has the most easy going and sweet tempered disposition ever!
Who is such great fun, always in for a lark and little surprises
Who loves being outside in the garden and help me with my gardening
Who is such a firm favourite with all the other members of the Bliss team
Dolly in the garden with Delia and Pippa
Dolly having lunch in the conservatory with her Mum Vita, Kadootje, Merlin, Sam and Pippa
Dolly, who was such a wonderful and loving Mum to her 5 kittens
Who is the love of Merlin's life, although his love is sadly not reciprocated; she merely tolerates him
Dolly who loves snuggling up close to me at night,
and who is always able to find a ray of sunshine on even the dullest day
I feel the room swaying ... while that ole band keeps playing (and you can feel and hear it too if you've clicked the vid)
One of your old favourite songs from way back when
So..., golly gee, fellas ... I said find her an empty knee, fellas
Dolly will never go away, Dolly will never go away,
I said Dolly will never go away again!!!!
Do the hands thingy and take a bow. Now that was fun, wasn't it, and all thanks to our Darling Dolly Daisy and in celebration of her twelfth birthday. Hope this post had you swaying, and dancing, and singing! Let's do it one more time, shall we?

I said hello, Dolly, ..... well hello Dolly

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Glorious Gloriousness

It wasn't all that long ago when we would call ourselves lucky, very lucky indeed, if we had 2 or 3 days of glorious sunshine and balmy weather in October. Nowadays we have come to count on such wonderfully mild and sunny weather at this time of year. Global warming has many drawbacks but this isn't one of them.
I love being out and about in the garden and enjoy these special days as they are probably the last of this year when I can be outside to enjoy my garden without being wrapped up from head to toe. Just a cardie or a light jacket will do.
And there is still so much to enjoy flower wise. It's good to see that there are still many plants in my garden that are bee, hover fly and butterfly magnets.
I love the slanting golden light when it weaves itself around the plants and grasses.
It seems that at this time of year the colours are more intense than they were before or perhaps I'm just more aware of them and of how fragile their beauty is. It won't be long before the real frost will hit and most flowers will shrivel and wither away.
Why is it that things are more beautiful when we know that their beauty is transient, or is that just me?
I love flower arranging and October has enabled me to pick armfuls of flowers with giddy abandon. Such a plethora of flowers makes your head spin, but in a good way.
Pretty!
Very pretty!
In the Victorian greenhouse the last of the tomatoes have been picked but there is still more to look forward to. This little flower is gorgeous and will soon turn into this
and when ripe, it will be berry tasty and golden. Yes, it's Physalis peruviana edulis and I'm frightfully chuffed with it as I've sown it, for the very first time, with my own fair hands earlier this year. Can't wait to harvest those golden berries in a few weeks time. Also of the fun will be going into the greengrocer's to see what exorbitant prices they are selling these golden treasures for, knowing that mine cost only a fraction. Looking forward to indulge in a spot of gleeful hand rubbing and heavy gloating. Not to mention salivating like no gardener has ever salivated before! ;-)
Some other card carrying members of the tastyRus society are these lovely squashes, not forgetting my fruitfully wonderful woodland strawberries that are still going strong in October.
I do believe that I've mentioned the word plethora earlier in this post with regard to flowers but there is another plethora in the Bliss garden:
the white grapes I planted 2 years ago have been graping away with gay abandon, leaving me with more grapes than I can shake a stick at. Why one would desire to do such an eccentric thing is beyond me but then I wasn't the one from whom this weird saying originated.
Rest assured that no stick shaking was done here at Bliss but a lot of grape picking was. And eating!
It is entirely possible that after reading this post you feel the urgent need to leave a comment. Please do!

Grapefully yours,

Yolanda Elizabet

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Vegetables; The Musical!

Multimedia is the name of this game, so if you want to get the full fun instead of only half of it please click on the video to start the music. By the time you've grinned yourself through this post the song will have finished. Enjoy!


I'm gonna be round my vegetables Vita: do I really have to sit here?
I'm gonna chow down my vegetables Tara: what is this, can I eat it?
I love you most of all, my favourite vegetable Merlin: hmmmm, no tuna!
If you brought a big brown bag of them all Will 3 baskets do?
I'd jump up and down and hope you toss me a carrot Tara: they said carrot not peppers!
I'm gonna eat my, my vegetables Jeeves: tomatoes are fruits, not veggies.
I'm gonna love my, my vegetables Kadootje: no idea what this is, but it's nice to rub my head against.
I love you most of all Black peppers in the Victorian greenhouse
my favourite vegetable. Tara's favourite veg.
We know that you'll feel better
When you send us in your letter (a comment will do nicely too)
And tell us the name of your,
Your favourite vegetable!

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen
Lyrics copyright: The Beach Boys

Leading You Down

the garden path. Or up it as the case may be. And a very unusual path it is too. I found it last year in the Botanical Gardens of Wageningen and I have been meaning to blog about it ever since. But you know how it is, there was always something else to blog about, but today I finally managed it. If ever you are in the neighbourhood of Wageningen go visit the Botanical Gardens there as they are very much worth the visit and they're free too.
I spend a jolly old time walking up and down the garden paths in Wageningen and in particular this one. Ever seen a path even remotely like it before? I know I haven't and I also know that I like it very very much as it depicts a subject quite close to my heart, very close in fact. Note to self: watch it, your inner nerd is showing and it isn't pretty!
Have you figured out yet what it all means?

Also to be found in the Botanical Gardens in Wageningen are small fields where they do crop trials. As a proud potager owner I was highly interested in that and frightfully fascinated too. And just for your delectation, and detection skills as well, I've taken the following pic
It depicts the title of one of my favorite novels by an American writer, first published in 1951 when it created quite a stir. Any thoughts on what that title might be?

Gentle reader don't be shy, this is the time to stun us all with your superior knowledge and vast intellect by answering the above questions and, if at all possible, correctly too. You do know how to comment, don't you? I'm waiting with bated breath!

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen