Round and round the garden like a teddy bear (or two)!

Would you like to share a Sunday morning stroll round the garden with me?

I don't know where this came from we certainly didn't plant it and it wasn't there last year but isn't it lovely?

The montbretia is doing better this year...

I can't remember what this is called but it seems to be doing well in spite of the fact that it never gets any water being under the overhang of the roof! The hollyhocks alongside have made plenty of green too and I have hopes for some flowers next year - proper cottage garden flowers I always think.

Snapdragons another flower full of memories for me!

Cosmos seeds which I had via a swap earlier in the year are now in flower and the bees like them as you can see.

Look gooseberries! I thought these plants were not going to do anything but see we have 3 gooseberries - now what can I make that only needs 3?!! Maybe I'll just eat them as they are.

Petunias are always a winner and just seem to go on and on. I love the fabulous detail in their markings.

Can't remember what these two are but they look good in the pots together.

And nearby are the geraniums and my hot water plants which usually stay indoors but this year I have put them outside and they are enjoying the holiday! The salvia was a gift and isn't the blue stunning?

At last! We planted some sweetpea plants being too late for seeds and so far have had nothing but greenery - I noticed on Jackie's blog that she had had the same problem so maybe they don't like being contained although the few we also planted in the ground are very late too.

But the perfume is always worth waiting for and always wafts me back to hot childhood summers (it was always hot and sunny then or was it?!)

Tomatoes coming along nicely...

The little cherry ones are already ripening well.

Green courgette on its way....

Yellow one ready for dinner tonight methinks before something else - slugs perhaps? - has it!!

Little cucumber ready soon - we have already had several and they are beautifully sweet though you do need to peel them as the skins are a little tough being outdoor grown ones.

The flowers on this clematis are much smaller though more numerous than last year but what a lovely colour it is isn't it.

My marigolds continue to flower and are just so cheerful and sunny - thank you Lesley!

Nasturtiums too are always cheery and I am popping the odd one into my salads for some extra colour as luckily no blackfly!

I do hope these are not a sign that autumn is on its way pretty though they are!!

The beans harvest continues apace and they are delicious - the pink ones taste the same as the red as far as we can tell as having grown them together once the flowers turn into beans we can't differentiate between them and even if we could they'd get cooked together ! Delicious which ever they are and the climbing French beans are also lovely and crisp and the flavour beats anything you could buy in the market - even the market in Limoges!!

My lovely deep blue hydrangea from our garden in France seems very happy here but is resolutely pink. I have bought some sequestered iron to feed it as recommended and hope that next year it might return to its previous deep blue though the soil here is obviously very different to that in our garden in the Haute Vienne. Either way it is a lovely plant and I still remember our time in France when I look at it!

And the Teddy Bears? Well these two are both geriatric bears both having had their bus passes for some time! Timmy on the right is over 65 and Tubby is a little younger at just over 60!! Poor Timmy had his eyes removed as they were on those fearsome wires (no health and safety in those days!) and fell out eventually to be replaced with embroidery and Tubby as you can see has had his pawpads repaired with a piece of my Aunt's old skirt!! They are both well loved as you can tell being almost without fur now!!

Many thanks for all your kind comments on my previous posts - you may regret being so encouraging as I plan to write my story as suggested by several of you and will no doubt post some of it as I go along. Do say if you'd rather I didn't!