bloomsday...

Bloomsday is held on 16 June each year. It's a celebration of the life of James Joyce and commemorates the day in 1904 when Joyce met Nora Barnacle, who became his wife. The day is celebrated in his novel Ulysees, whose main character is Leopold Bloom and gives his name to the annual event.

Bloomsday events and celebrations are held all over the world, as well as Dublin. Here's what's happening in New York, should you be lucky enough to check it out.

We have celebrations closer to home that day because it's my son's birthday. I've never managed to make it through Ulysees but I'm happy to toast James Joyce while we cut the birthday cake, so long as we can have Van Morrison providing the soundtrack (any excuse will do). And to put the finishing touches to our very own Bloomsday celebration, here are some shamrock plants that my friend gave me for St Patrick's Day, happily colonising my garden.

A very happy Bloomsday to you all!

monet was right...

I was looking at some photos of Monet's garden at Giverny the other day. They've just appointed a new head gardener James Priest, who trained at Kew. He was describing the way Monet painted, and gardened, in layers.



I was reflecting on why those colour combinations, white through pink to purple and blue, are so visually satisfying. I don't know the answer (clearly, I should have paid more attention in Art classes) but they do look fabulous, particularly when they're all together.

I planted delphiniums, foxgloves, lupins and poppies together in my garden this year, hoping I'd be able to create my own little piece of blue/pink calm. They're doing ok although my colour scheme has been slightly thwarted by the lupins (marked as blue), coming up yellow!

Organic Blooms had bunches of the first sweet peas at the market last week, along with these beauties.

I particularly like the way colours and textures work together so I put them in a basket.

Not quite Monet but hey, everyone has to start somewhere....

thornbury food fair...

Looking forward to Thornbury tomorrow. It's always really busy and the people are lovely. Castle Street is closed, there are lots and lots of stalls and there's a great atmosphere.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be the same and the sun will smile on us. Today the media was full of dire drought warnings from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. I'm assuming that's the reason it's been raining stair rods tonight (why does that always happen?). At least I didn't have to water the garden...

 

 

Whatever it does, we'll be there tomorrow, undeterred and laden down with clothing to cover every eventuality, from drought to flash flood. Sun cream and umbrellas, camisoles and waterproofs - everything anyone could ever need for a British summer! Be there or be square...

 

 

bristol art...

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for public art in Bristol.

There was the controversial new Banksy souvenir poster, produced in response to the protests following the opening of a Tesco store in Stokes Croft. All proceeds are going to the People's Republic of Stokes Croft.



 
Last week saw the vandalisation of a bronze sculpture of three figures on display outside the Royal West of England Academy. The statue, by David Backhouse, was damaged beyond repair.

And this week saw the arrival of Damien Hirst's Charity. This 22ft tall statue, produced in 2003, uses the image of an old charity box as a comment on social injustice.

All these works have divided public opinion and will continue to do so. But it's great that there's so much challenging and thought provoking art in the city centre.

Now, if you can just pass me that can of spray paint.....

here comes flaming june...

June is coming in ablaze, prompting the usual media contradictions. Today's Daily Mail headline said, "'Flaming June': Festivals and Wimbledon safe as forecasters predict June scorcher", while the Sun said, ''Brits' 'Flaming June' in doubt' . Good to know that the British preoccupation with the weather is alive and well and we retain our usual difficulty with predicting what will happen next!


'Flaming June', Lord Frederic Leighton, 1895

The other big news story is the e coli outbreak in Germany. The cause is still unclear but early attribution to organic cucumbers in Spain means that sales of salad vegetables have collapsed, both in Spain and elsewhere, as concern rises. The BBC's website has a good questions and answers section which is being constantly updated.

In the meantime, it's a good reminder to all of us to grow our own, so we know where our food comes from and how it's been prepared. For those of us who need a little inspiration, try Bristol's Get Growing Garden Trail on 11 June.

See you at Whiteladies on Saturday....if the rain holds off!