KEEPING IT SIMPLE

May in the L&F HQ garden is just about the most beautiful month.  It’s not yet the fully greened-up, thick and heavy garden of June and July, nor the parched savannah of August and September, and it’s before it all gets wet and briefly green and then muddy and bleuch again, heading into winter.  It’s a fresh, hopeful, pretty green and full of blossom: the orchard has thirty year old plum, apple, pear, greengage and cherry trees in it; there are mulberry and quince to the front and side of the house; wisteria, laburnum and roses throughout, and everything is doing its very best to outshine its neighbour.  This year we have again decided to leave the orchard long, and have sown wildflowers under and around the trees – some of which we always think won’t make it through another winter, but all of which have so far defied expectations.  Without sounding too twee, I have to say that one of my favourite jobs from now until October is hanging out/collecting the washing from the line.  Callie the pooch comes too, of course, and I can honestly say that it makes my heart sing to be out, preferably very early or just as it finally gets dark, when the world is quiet and it’s just me and her, doing such a timeless, basic task.  Honestly, sometimes the very best things are the simplest.