Flowers, rain and things like that

On the way home from York we called in at Breezy Knees Gardens, a privately-owned nursery and garden which we knew about from a leaflet in the hotel. We were somewhat dubious because of the twee (but memorable) name and then when the lady asked for £3.50 a head, I did have a few frugal qualms - Edinburgh's beautiful Botanic Gardens are free, after all.

But Breezy Knees was a joy. Several acres of mainly herbaceous beds - my favourite - and I think we must have been there on the best flowering day of the year - there was colour everywhere. Lovely lovely lovely.


They had lots of alstroemerias, many of them short-stemmed so they wouldn't need staking, and a rainbow of fantastic colours.

Nice wide paths, mainly wheelchair friendly (we have a chair for my mum for when she gets tired).

Look at that colour! A bed of achilleas.

And the wonderful wide skies - the surrounding countryside is flat (hence the breezes) so there's a great feeling of space.

Some touches to bring a smile.

Mum, Daughter 1 and her husband.

To understand this notice, you need to know that gardens sometimes specialise in particular species and hold the national collection of, for example, lupins. This notice says: Please close the gates. We are custodians of the national collection of rabbits.

Driving home, we saw another notice on the back of this van: Caution. This vehicle may contain carpet fitters.

It's pouring today. The cats came in from their morning stroll all wet and spikey: small indignant porcupines.

What is the secret of happiness, do you think? Health and love and solvency are probably essential but the small things help a lot: flowers, a shared sense of humour and a furry animal to stroke.