A visitor

I have a problem with writers I admire. It is probably because writing is an unfulfilled ambition, but I just cannot behave naturally around them.

So when Anna Pavord, author of "The Tulip" and many other books and gardening correspondent for The Independent newspaper, wrote to say she would like to visit I went into a bit of a panic.

Friends and family assumed that it was that I was worrying abut the state of the garden but no - it was much more serious than that.

I am pretty much immune to celebrity culture - usually I meet "famous" people and neglect to notice that they are "famous" - being on tv just doesn't do it for me.

But writers, now that is quite different . . . either I am propelled into being incredibly boring - and I mean incredibly - I once talked to Adam Nicolson about slugs and ways to exterminate them for a full 20 minutes - or I am reduced to a squeak. Very generous friends have in the past introduced me to Candia McWilliam, Claudia Roden, and Naomi Wolf and have been rewarded by me becoming suddenly mute. They don't bother now.

So my panic was worry about which route I would chose - tedium or tongue-tied.

However - neither happened (well I might have been boring but I kept away from the subject of slugs). Anna Pavord is just very, very interesting and interested - it was a delight to meet her and we shall be in The Independent in September.

The greenhouse today

Just a quick post today with photos of the greenhouse and the flowers etc. for sale today.

My favourite flowers are anchusa dropmore - a great deep glowing blue which mixes well with the deep pink chrysanthemum "duro" and red astrantias.

The other photo shows cushions and toys on the vintage french metal cot.

Shop - 27th April

We are very tulipy today - a medly of orange tulips, including the lily tulip Ballerina which smells like fresias, tall apricot "dordogne", deep purple "recreado", yellow parrot "texas gold" and the giganitically tall cream "purissima".

There are also baby moon narcissi and some anenomes, late hyacinths and love lies bleeding.

Here is Jasmine sunbathing and waiting for customers to pay her attention.

Tomorrow I shall be at Baldernock Garden Club's annual plant sale in Baldernock Church Hall, Balmore Road 11-1. There is usually a very good plant stall so I am taking my money. here are details of the garden club.

Sweetpeas

There are certain things that I like cooking - mayonnaise, sour dough bread, handmade pasta - that I think appeal to me simply because few other people do them from scratch. At the moment I have a pig's head simmering on the stove to make brawn. All these things are straightforward and easy, and only time consuming if you are not already at home.

I am a bit like that about the things I grow as well - I like the straightforward things that no-one else bothers with doing. The flowers that I get the most pleasure from growing are sweet peas - and I suspect that a lot of that is because I sow the seeds in the autumn, overwinter them and am then planting out great plants in 2 litre pots in April, rather than the rather weedy plants available in the garden centre.

By popular demand (Claire) I have a limited number of pots for sale tomorrow at the van- they are 2 plants to a 2 litre pot, £3.50 or 3 pots for £9.

First come first served.

My ideal May meal - fresh eggs from our chickens, home made mayonnaise, salad from the garden and (perhaps) some asparagus from my patch with a bunch of the first sweet peas on the table.

Best Day Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We opened for the season this morning at 10.30. We had customers arriving from 9.30, calling in on their way back from vegetable shopping at France Farm. From then until 4 it just didn't stop. I am overwhelmed with people's support. One lovely woman travelled all the way from Broxburn having seen us at the CL Fair.

I was worried as the hot weather (see never satisfied) brought on some of the tulips and all of the fritillaries too fast so the garden looks beautiful but they are too far out to sell. Also deer got in while I was at the Country Living Fair (who did leave that gate open?) and ate over 800 tulip bulbs in one fantastic feast.

From Wednesday I have been prowling the garden. Would there be any flowers to pick? Would there be any customers? Would anyone want what I have.

But Sally and I found that when we looked, there were rather a lot of flowers out there. We filled the buckets with them and then was a rush of making up and wrapping all day. We have NO FLOWERS left and the stall is a mess of snipped stems and stripped leaves.

I am exhausted but very, very happy. Tonight we drink gin!

The photo is of Carneval de Nice - a double tulip, masses of raspberry ripple leaves forming a ball of a flower. It looks great in pots but is very bad at reblooming the next year.

Busy, busy, busy

Goodness, it was busy. At 10 o'clock as the doors opened we were still tagging up and sticking magnet sets up on the wall.
From that point on we didn't stop. Jo, who was in shopping stayed to help as we were overwhelmed with queues of people wanting to chat.
The nicest thing was that practically first in the queue were a couple of women who bought garden kneelers last year and rushed in to buy several more before we sold out. that got my day off to a very good start.
And we have sold out of a number of things so we shall be re-arranging the stall first thing this morning.
The upshot is that I haven't really had a chance to look round. I had intended to post about all the lovely stalls but haven't any photos and only know stalls either in the ways to the loos or near to us. Caroline Zoob's stall is gorgeous as usual, Primrose Hill Interiors is very pretty, Samantha Holmes has wonderfully luxurious jumpers and scarves and there are a couple of lovely vintage fabric stalls.

Moving the van

Well we are on our way - Robin Watt from nearby Lomond Classic Transport came to pick up the van and take it to the SECC. Euan cameback in his lunch hour to drive it up onto the ramp, it was strapped down and is now safely on our stand at the CL Fair.

Robin is a great chap, not phased at all by the vagaries of vintage vehicles. After delivering our van to Glasgow he was about to transport a band box new landrover down south so that it could maintain its 0 mileometer until delivered to the owner.

Taking the van in today also meant that Euan was able to see the space that we have, he says that it isn't as big as I've been fearing so hopefully we will be able to fill it all generously tomorrow.

Camera Advice please

The priority over the next month is to get the website properly up and running. To this end, Christmas profits are going to be directed towards buying a digital SLR camera.

Now I don't know where to start - I need something relatively lightweight, easy to use, high quality and good at closeups (so that I can edit out all the junk round the edges).

Please can someone pass on their advice and recommendations.