Special Anniversary

It was not until 26th June 2014 that we decided to make a before and after record of the work done on the garden begun on 1st April. We regret not having thought of this from the  very beginning.

This was when we decided to turn the remnants of a kitchen garden into a Rose Garden.

Wire contraptions had to be removed from the eastern fence. This process, with additional photographs, was featured in the post of 5th July.

Concrete slabs, buried bricks,

 

assorted paving,

 

 

and even a discarded bath were all unearthed during the next three months.

By the time Aaron joined in the project in February 2015, I had cleared the plot ready for him to level it by the 8th.

He then set about laying down brick paving to our design.

By 8th October The Head Gardener had selected and planted the roses and furniture had been installed.

The above photographs all appear in previous posts and are contained in the garden record albums.

Today I produced a batch of prints from May to September this year to bring the album up to date. Here are a few of those:

Jackie uses this one from 31st May as her screen saver.

Here are a couple of smaller scenes showing the additional planting of lavender and heucheras;

 

 

and individual roses such as Lady Emma Hamilton;

Gertrude Jekyll;

 

and Special Anniversary from July. This last one is a happy coincidence because today is the second anniversary of our second wedding.

The Crown Inn at Everton has changed hands since we were last there. That is where we chose to have our anniversary dinner. The ambience and the menus are different; the service and food were good. Jackie enjoyed the house burger with fries and salad, as did I  a perfectly cooked rib eye steak with similar accompaniments. Mrs Knight drank Moretti and I drank Riscos Chilean Malbec 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

124 comments

      2. So I started a wonderful erudite response, and then I was called in for tiffin, and when I got back the internet had decided it forgot me. I think I was lamenting the vagaries of iPad when one has not consumed their first coffee of the day.
        What shall I do? Flagellate a thousand times?
        Bluebottle exists stage left . . . ohhhh you naughty iPad you, you make me say things I didn’t mean, oooh, oowwww,

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      3. Ha – i missed the ‘existed’. 🙂

        Blunebottle most definitely existed (in our imaginations) although he wasn’t as famous as the Famous Eccles. 😉

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      4. Now you’ve got me started, ‘You know Eccles?’ says Bluebottle, ‘We have both got what we want.eee..d.dddd.I have always wanted to be an eng….in…. e driver – and YOU have always wanted to be the village idiot. . . . ‘

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  5. OH!!! Happy Anniversary, Jackie and Derrick! YAY!!! 🎉🥂 🍾 💐
    Relationships, like gardens, need cultivating, planning, time, attention, hard-work, tender touches, loving-care, etc. 🙂 You two obviously do all of this…in your marriage and in your garden! 🙂
    Keep your beautiful love growing for many many many more years! 🙂
    Anniversary (((HUGS))) and <3 🙂

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  10. Happy Anniversary to you and Jackie, Derrick! Wishing you many more to come. <3

    That is quite an amazing transformation of the garden. Quite a bit of work went into that.

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  11. Well I was inwardly prepared for a first second wedding anniversary – but two? I have such an issue with the speed of time! Anyway happy anniversary and may there be many more spent together tending your lovely garden. and that is lovely design you made for the path – I have often admired it in different shots.

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    1. Very many thanks, Pauline. Jackie quite rightly points out that we worked on the design together. Aaron and I collected the free bricks from a woman who was taking up her own paving – 700 in all. Others constitute the small brick pillars Jackie has stood around the garden to hold plant pots.

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  12. I hadn’t seen those older photos of your garden before… your lovely garden has definitely evolved beautifully over the years……

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  20. The garden transformation is very impressive indeed. 👏🏻 Happy 2nd 2nd Anniversary to you and Jackie. ( I once played the organ for a couple getting married for the second time. They had their first wedding photo on the table with the wedding cake. Also, the wife had been widowed three times since her first marriage.) 😳

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  22. Seeing the garden grow, stage by stage, is quite dramatic. What I didn’t like doing in my garden was building a fence and then being asked by the head gardener about five years later to move it a further ten yards into my cow paddock so she could grow more roses. I moved a couple of large granite rocks so many times I got to know them by name.

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  23. Your roses are lovely! You mean it is your wedding anniversary? I thought it is the anniv of the garden for when you first planted those blooms.

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  24. It seems to me that every day you and Jackie share is a celebration of sorts — congratulations not only on your anniversary, but also for being such models for the rest of us!

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  27. I can empathize with your regret of not recording the garden in its previous state of existence. As of now, Nature is in full youth all around that space. Congratulations on the second anniversary of your second wedding! The roses seem to have sensed the celebration in the air and are at their blooming best.

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  28. You haven’t actually moved mountains, but with that huge pile of discarded bricks and slabs, you probably felt as if you had. You have wrought great changes, and you are to congratulated on an amazing transformation (and Aaron).

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  29. I’m amazed! You basically started the garden from ‘scratch’ – and you’ve done all this in just 5 years? (With a little hindrance/help from Nugget!) 😉

    Superb effort and it is it’s own reward.

    Congratulations on the other achievement of 2 years, may there be many more, hopefully with slightly less garden work? 🙂

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  30. How I too wish I had kept a photo log of garden development. I have some friends that holiday in the same place every year, the Greek island of Ios (35 years). I asked them if they had kept a photo log because it would make a great story but they admitted that sadly they had not.

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  31. Happy Anniversary, you two! I’ve always loved the romance of what little I know about your story. Enjoyed the garden shots too – just shows what can be done – and has given me an idea. Your Emma Hamilton rose reminded me that the good lady is reputed to have danced naked on the tables at Uppark – not a million miles from you, near Petersfield; another nice garden!

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  35. I remember those days, Derrick. I used to imagine all that work you 3 did and I’d get off your blog feeling exhausted!! You worked me to death back then. 🙂

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  37. Happy Anniversary!! Remember that old song, “Love’s more comfortable the second time around”?? I bet that is especially true when you grow into maturity and find the love of your youth rekindled in the love of your life. God bless you both. <3 <3 I'm glad you found one another again to savor these golden years together. <3

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  41. Thank you for sharing the beautiful transformation (or is it birthing?) of your garden, what a wonderful way to celebrate an anniversary! It reminds me of a movie from a few years ago, This Beautiful Fantastic, that showed a garden transformed, and your smaller scenes made me wish there was an option to share smells, not only visuals…

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  46. Happy Anniversary to you both. How wonderful that you have these pictures of the garden showing before (or most of the before) and after. The plan turned out to be inspired – Jackie’s lush planting softens it beautifully.

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  49. Happy anniversary to you both. That garden is gorgeous. I love process photos, and like you, I’m disappointed when I miss some of the sequence. Funny that. It’s all looking wonderful.

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  50. I love all of your garden photos but agree with Jackie: that one she chose for her screensaver is dreamy and gorgeous! Hugs to you both on all the years spent together and Happy Second Anniversary! 🔔💐🔔

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