Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Why Not Visit
Why Can't My Garden Look Like That?
by John Shortland (of Life in the English Cotswolds) available now from Amazon - click on book to order - and other good bookshops
Now on Twitter
Now on Facebook
click here for daily updates from the secret valley
the secret valley at dusk
you will know when you arrive...
roadside boundary marker stone
click here to see more of my images on
Copyright
About Me
- JOHN SHORTLAND, Cotswold Hills, England.
- JOHN SHORTLAND, Cotswold Hills, England. John the Writer: It is as natural for me to write as it is for me to eat - and I eat a lot. John the Gardener: It's in my blood - the family discussed plants as others do football. Now I earn my living by it. Lucky chap! John the Countryman: Living in a secret valley of winding streams, fields and woods, deer and badgers. Oh, and dogs and horses. John the Explorer: that description is a tad exaggerated - but I've had my moments. It's all in the blog...
Barney
faithful steed
Fox Fodder
our free range lavender Pekin bantams. Life may be short but at least it is happy
Labels
- 2016 (2)
- Abbey (5)
- Adam Henson (1)
- Afghanistan (2)
- Alain Rouveure (2)
- aliens (1)
- alleyways (1)
- alliums (1)
- alpaca (2)
- America (2)
- ammonite (1)
- Anasazi (2)
- ancient woodland (12)
- Anemone nemerosa (1)
- Anglo-Afghan War (2)
- apartheid (2)
- aphids (1)
- apples (4)
- aquatic (1)
- aquilegia (1)
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu (3)
- architecture (2)
- archives (1)
- Arizona (2)
- army (1)
- art (1)
- Artemisia (2)
- Arts and Crafts (2)
- Arx Cynuit (1)
- Ascott-under-Wychwood (1)
- ash (4)
- assarting (1)
- assarts (1)
- Aurignac (2)
- Austria (1)
- autumn (9)
- Avebury (1)
- avenue (4)
- award (1)
- Babies (1)
- Badgworthy Water (3)
- bank (6)
- bantams (6)
- Bar-tailed Godwit (1)
- barbed wire fencing (1)
- barge (2)
- barley (2)
- Barney (4)
- Bath (3)
- bats (1)
- bay (1)
- BBC (3)
- BBOWT (1)
- beagle (3)
- beech (8)
- beef (1)
- beehive (1)
- bees (3)
- Berberis (1)
- bereavement (1)
- Best Blog Award (1)
- Betula jacqmontii (1)
- Bibury (2)
- binder (1)
- biodiesel (1)
- Birch silver (3)
- birds (8)
- biscuits (1)
- Black Forest (1)
- Blackdown Hills (1)
- blackthorn (1)
- blenheim palace (1)
- blight (1)
- Bliss Mill (2)
- blizzards (6)
- blog (4)
- blossom (1)
- blue (2)
- Blue Ball Inn (3)
- bluebells (6)
- Boarstall Tower (1)
- boats (1)
- bog (5)
- bonfire night (1)
- book launch (1)
- borders (5)
- botanic garden (3)
- Bourton-on-the-Water (1)
- box (5)
- boxwood (2)
- Brambling (1)
- Brasserie Blanc (1)
- brassica (1)
- Brendon (2)
- Brendon Common (4)
- Brendon Hills (2)
- brick (1)
- Brimstone (1)
- brook (1)
- Broomrape (1)
- Brothers Grimm (1)
- brown trout (3)
- Budapest (1)
- buddleia (1)
- build (1)
- bulbs (3)
- Burghley Horse Trials (7)
- Burghley House (3)
- burial chambers (1)
- Burnham Beeches (1)
- butterflies (11)
- buzzard (2)
- cabbage (1)
- Cadair Idris (1)
- café (1)
- calves (1)
- camellia (1)
- campion (1)
- Canada Goose (1)
- canal (2)
- Canyon de Chelly (2)
- Capability Brown (2)
- carriage driving (2)
- carving (2)
- Casino Marino (3)
- castle (2)
- Castlelyons (2)
- Cathedral (2)
- catmint (1)
- cattle (4)
- cave (1)
- Cecil family (1)
- Cecil Sharp (1)
- Celts (1)
- cemetery (2)
- Chaffinch (1)
- Chalara (1)
- chalk (1)
- Charlbury (1)
- cheese (3)
- cheese rolling (1)
- Cheltenham (2)
- Chequers (1)
- cherries (4)
- Cherry Plum (1)
- chickens (6)
- childhood (3)
- chilli (1)
- Chiltern Hills (10)
- Chilterns (7)
- China (1)
- Chinks Grylls (1)
- ChipLitFest (2)
- Chipping Norton (9)
- Christmas (11)
- church (17)
- Cinnabar Moth (1)
- cinnamon (1)
- Cirencester (5)
- city walls (1)
- clapper bridge (4)
- Cleavers (1)
- clematis (2)
- Clifden (2)
- climate change conference (1)
- clipping (1)
- cloisters (2)
- clotted cream (1)
- clouds (1)
- cobbles (1)
- coleus (2)
- colleges (1)
- colour (1)
- combine harvester (3)
- Comma (2)
- Common Spotted Orchid (1)
- compost heaps (1)
- composting (1)
- Compton Abdale (1)
- concert (3)
- Conker Tree Science Project (1)
- conkers (1)
- Connemara (3)
- conservation (1)
- Constable & Robinson (2)
- contentment (1)
- convent (2)
- cooking (2)
- coombe (1)
- Cooper's Hill (1)
- coppicing (1)
- corn (4)
- cornfield (4)
- cornus (3)
- Cornwall (2)
- cotinus (1)
- Cotswold Hills (17)
- cotswolds (30)
- cottage border (2)
- cotton lavender (1)
- Countisbury (3)
- Covent Garden (1)
- Cow Parsley (1)
- cows (1)
- cowslip (4)
- craftwork (1)
- crane's-bill (1)
- cricket (1)
- croquet (1)
- cross country (4)
- Culbone (1)
- curlew (2)
- customs and traditions (13)
- cutting (2)
- D and S (1)
- daffodils (10)
- damselfly (1)
- Danes (2)
- Daphne (1)
- Dark Ages (1)
- Dartmoor (5)
- Davidia involucrata (2)
- dawn (1)
- Dawn French (1)
- Daylesford (1)
- Debbie Dawson (1)
- Deddington (1)
- Deer fallow (1)
- Deer red (4)
- deerhound (1)
- delphinium (2)
- design (6)
- Devon (6)
- Devon and Somerset Staghounds (1)
- dew (1)
- dialect (2)
- Diamond Jubilee (4)
- Dicentra (1)
- digging (1)
- dogwood (2)
- Dolgellau (2)
- Domesday Book 1086 (3)
- Double Gloucester cheese (1)
- dragonfly (2)
- dreams (1)
- dressage (2)
- drought (4)
- drove roads (5)
- drovers (4)
- Druids (1)
- dry stone walls (12)
- Dublin (7)
- duck (4)
- Dulverton (1)
- Dunbrody (1)
- Dunkery (1)
- Dunmore (1)
- Duns Tew (1)
- East India Company (2)
- Easter (1)
- Ebbw Vale Company (1)
- Edith Sitwell (1)
- eggs (3)
- Elder (3)
- Elizabethan (3)
- Elphinstone Tower (1)
- embroidery (1)
- Emma O'Toole (1)
- Enchanted Forest (3)
- English Civil War (3)
- English Heritage (1)
- English pubs (4)
- engraving (1)
- enjoyEngland (2)
- enstone (1)
- equestrian (1)
- equine (2)
- Ermine Street (1)
- European Bison (1)
- eventing (3)
- Exford (1)
- Exmoor (34)
- Exmoor ponies (5)
- Exmoor Society (2)
- Eydon (1)
- Facebook (11)
- fairground (2)
- fallow (1)
- family history (1)
- famine (1)
- farm (1)
- farmer's market (4)
- feasting (1)
- ferns (2)
- field maple (5)
- field names (1)
- Finland (1)
- fircones (1)
- firewood (2)
- fireworks (2)
- fish (1)
- Fish Clock (1)
- flag (1)
- flint (2)
- flower arrangements (1)
- fog (5)
- folk medicine (1)
- folly (2)
- food (1)
- food intolerances (1)
- footpath (1)
- ford (1)
- forsythia (3)
- fossils (1)
- fountain (2)
- fox (2)
- foxglove (3)
- France (4)
- Fritillaria (1)
- fro (1)
- frog spawn (3)
- frogs (2)
- frost (15)
- fuchsia megallanica (2)
- fungi (2)
- Gaelic (1)
- galleries (1)
- garden plans (1)
- garden waste (2)
- gardening (5)
- gardening book (6)
- gardens (13)
- gatcombe horse trials (2)
- gatekeeper (2)
- geese (2)
- genealogy (4)
- Georgian (3)
- geranium (3)
- Germany (1)
- Gertrude Jekyll (1)
- Geviklte Kichlach (1)
- ghosts (2)
- Giant Hogweed (2)
- glaciation (1)
- Glasnevin (4)
- Gloriana (1)
- Glossy Ibis (1)
- goldfinch (1)
- Goosegrass (1)
- gorse (1)
- Grafton Street (1)
- Grand Canyon (1)
- granite (1)
- grasshoppers (1)
- gravel (2)
- graves (2)
- Great War (2)
- Green Man (1)
- green waste (1)
- Grey Wethers (3)
- grow-your-own (1)
- Gulf Stream (1)
- gunpowder plot (1)
- Guy Fawkes (1)
- Gwen Raverat (1)
- Handkerchief Tree (2)
- Harbourer (1)
- hardheads (1)
- hare (4)
- harvest (4)
- hawking (1)
- hawthorn (4)
- haylage (1)
- heather (7)
- heatwaves (1)
- hedera helix (1)
- hedge (5)
- hedgerow (10)
- Hemp Agrimony (1)
- herbaceous (4)
- herbal teas (1)
- herbicides (2)
- herbs (2)
- Heron (2)
- hesperis (1)
- hibernation (1)
- hill walking (5)
- hillfort (1)
- Himalayan Balsam (2)
- Himalayas (1)
- history (3)
- Hobbitts (1)
- holly (1)
- hollyhock (3)
- home baking (1)
- honeysuckle (3)
- Hooper's Law (1)
- Hope Bourne (1)
- Hopi (1)
- hornbeam (1)
- Horse Chestnut (4)
- horses (21)
- hot air balloon (3)
- Houses of Parliament (2)
- hunting (3)
- hurricane (2)
- huts (1)
- Hypericum (1)
- ice (3)
- Ice Age (2)
- ice cream (2)
- ice house (1)
- Iceland (2)
- icicles (1)
- ilex aquifolium (1)
- illness (1)
- Impatiens (1)
- In Flanders Fields (1)
- India (1)
- Indian sandstone (1)
- Industrial Revolution (2)
- inglenook (1)
- insectivorous (1)
- invitation (2)
- Ireland (12)
- iris (4)
- Irish Draught (2)
- Iron Age (3)
- ironstone (2)
- ivy (2)
- jade vine (1)
- Jaffe & Neale (2)
- Jane Austen (1)
- Japan (1)
- Japanese Knotweed (1)
- jasmine (1)
- JFK (2)
- Joe Pye (1)
- John Burke (1)
- Joseph Victor von Scheffel (1)
- Jurassic (1)
- Jurassic Coast (1)
- Kabul (1)
- Keats (1)
- Keck (1)
- Kellogg College (2)
- Kennedy (1)
- Kew (1)
- kingfisher (2)
- kittens (1)
- knapweed (1)
- Lady's Bedstraw (2)
- ladybird Harlequin (1)
- ladybird Seven-spot (1)
- ladybirds (1)
- lake (5)
- lambs (1)
- landfill (1)
- LandLove magazine (1)
- Landmark Trust (1)
- landscape (6)
- landscaping (1)
- lane (3)
- Langham Hill Engine House (1)
- Langston (1)
- larch (2)
- Large Skipper (1)
- Larix (1)
- laughter (1)
- launch (1)
- Laurel (1)
- lavender (10)
- lavoir (1)
- lawn (2)
- leaf miners (1)
- Leafield (1)
- lettuce (2)
- leveret (1)
- library (1)
- lichens (3)
- Lincolnshire (1)
- liner (1)
- literary festival (4)
- Little Egret (2)
- local produce (2)
- locks (1)
- Lombez (2)
- London (10)
- Lorna Doone (3)
- Love-in-a-Mist (1)
- Lower Slaughter (2)
- Luci Briginshaw (1)
- Lynmouth (3)
- Lythrum (2)
- macaw (1)
- magic (1)
- Mahonia (3)
- maintenance (2)
- Mallard (1)
- Malmsmead (1)
- manor (1)
- maps (1)
- marble (1)
- marjoram (1)
- Marlow (2)
- Marsh-mallow (1)
- Mary Mackey (1)
- mausoleum (1)
- mayfly (1)
- meadow (2)
- Meadow Brown (1)
- meadows (7)
- meadowsweet (2)
- meanders (7)
- Mediterranean Gull (1)
- memorial (1)
- Mezereon (1)
- Midlands (1)
- migration (1)
- mill (7)
- millionaires (2)
- Milton-under-Wychwood (1)
- Minack Theatre (1)
- mining (4)
- mint (2)
- mist (3)
- mistletoe (3)
- mixed spice (1)
- moat (2)
- monkshood (1)
- Montezuma (1)
- moorland (7)
- mop (1)
- Moreton-in-Marsh (1)
- morris men (1)
- mosaics (3)
- moss (5)
- moths (1)
- mowing (1)
- mulberry (1)
- muntjac (1)
- museums (6)
- NAFAS (1)
- narcissus (3)
- Narcissus Chanterelle (1)
- Narcissus Cheerfulness (1)
- Narcissus Dolly Mollinger (1)
- Narcissus Jetfire (1)
- Narcissus Laurens Koster (1)
- Narcissus Scarlet O'Hara (1)
- narrow boats (1)
- Narrow Leaved Helleborine (1)
- National Park (16)
- National Trust (6)
- native (1)
- naturalising (2)
- Navajo (1)
- needlecraft (1)
- neolithic (2)
- Nepal (1)
- New Year (7)
- North Leigh Roman villa (2)
- Northamptonshire (1)
- oak (3)
- Oare (1)
- obelisk (2)
- Oddington (1)
- Oemleria cerasiformis (1)
- oilseed (2)
- Old Man's Beard (1)
- old mont (1)
- Olympic Games (2)
- One Man and His Dog (1)
- Onions (1)
- orangery (1)
- orchards (2)
- orchid (1)
- orchids (5)
- otters (2)
- Oxford (15)
- paeony (1)
- painted ladies (1)
- palm (3)
- Papaver (1)
- paper production (1)
- parents (1)
- parterre (1)
- partridge (1)
- path (1)
- patio (2)
- peacocks (2)
- peat bogs (6)
- pekins (3)
- pests (3)
- pheasant (1)
- phlox (1)
- phobias (1)
- Photinia (1)
- photographs (1)
- Pine (2)
- Pineapple (2)
- pinetum (1)
- pinks (2)
- pirates (1)
- plant combinations (3)
- plant hunters (2)
- planters (2)
- planting plans (2)
- plants (3)
- poems (4)
- pollards (4)
- pollen beetle (1)
- polo (2)
- pond (2)
- ponies (3)
- pony (4)
- poplar (1)
- poppies (2)
- poppy (4)
- Porlock (2)
- Porthcurno (1)
- post box (1)
- Postbridge (2)
- postcards (1)
- pottery (1)
- poultry (2)
- Precipice Walk (1)
- Prehistory (1)
- primrose (5)
- primula (1)
- princes (1)
- princess (1)
- princess royal (2)
- Promenade (1)
- protea (1)
- pruning (2)
- pubs and bars (2)
- puddles (1)
- Pump Rooms (2)
- pupa (1)
- purple loosetrife (2)
- Pyramidal Orchid (1)
- Pyrenees (3)
- quad bike (2)
- Queen Boudica (1)
- Queen Elizabeth (2)
- Queen Victoria (5)
- quiche (2)
- R D Blackmore (1)
- ragwort (1)
- ragwort poisoning (3)
- railways (1)
- rain (14)
- rainbow (1)
- raised beds (2)
- rape (3)
- rare breeds (4)
- raven (2)
- Raverat Archive (1)
- recipes (3)
- recycling (1)
- Red Kite (5)
- Regency (1)
- reincarnation (5)
- relaxation (1)
- research (1)
- reservoir (1)
- restaurants (1)
- review (4)
- rhododendron (1)
- RHS (1)
- ribes (2)
- rice (1)
- Richard Jefferies (3)
- Richard Long (1)
- ridge and furrow (2)
- riding (1)
- river (31)
- River Otter (2)
- River Thames (5)
- river. flood (1)
- Robert Fortune (1)
- robin (2)
- rock (5)
- Rockford (2)
- roe (1)
- Rollright Stones (5)
- Roman Catholic (1)
- Roman roads (3)
- Romans (7)
- Rosa de Rescht (1)
- Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis' (1)
- rose (10)
- Rowena Cade (2)
- Royal Crescent (1)
- Royal Family (3)
- Rudgwick (1)
- Rudyard Kipling (1)
- ruins (6)
- Russia (1)
- Sainfoin (1)
- salix (1)
- salmon (1)
- salvia (4)
- salvia sclarea var. turkestanica (1)
- Sambucus (1)
- sandstone (1)
- satsumas (1)
- Saxon (2)
- scabious (4)
- Scallions (1)
- Scarlet Tiger (1)
- scent (2)
- Scotland (5)
- sculpture (2)
- sea cliffs (6)
- secret valley (65)
- seeds (2)
- sewing (1)
- sheaves (1)
- sheep (16)
- sheepdog (1)
- sheepwash (3)
- Sheldonian Theatre (2)
- shepherd (1)
- Shepherd's Crowns (1)
- Shire (1)
- shopping (1)
- shortbread (1)
- show jumping (2)
- shutters (1)
- silence (2)
- silver spotted skipper (1)
- Simon Norfolk (1)
- Siskin (1)
- Skansen (3)
- skiing (1)
- slate (4)
- sloe (3)
- sloe gin (1)
- slugs (1)
- small blue (2)
- small skipper (1)
- smoke bush (1)
- Snake's Head Fritllary (2)
- snow (19)
- Snowdonia (8)
- snowdrops (4)
- soft fruit (1)
- soldier (1)
- solstice (1)
- Somerset (1)
- South Africa (1)
- Spanish Armada (1)
- speckled wood (1)
- spelt (1)
- spindle (1)
- Spoonbill (1)
- spring (12)
- Spurge (1)
- St.Martin's (1)
- stained glass (6)
- staking (1)
- Stamford (3)
- standing stones (4)
- Stockholm (1)
- Stoke Pero (1)
- stone (3)
- stone circles (6)
- stonehenge (3)
- stook (1)
- storm (1)
- Storybook Dads (2)
- Stow-on-the-Wold (3)
- Stratford-upon-Avon (1)
- street entertainers (1)
- stubble burning (2)
- summer (8)
- sun (9)
- sunrise (3)
- sunset (7)
- suspension bridge (1)
- Sussex (1)
- swaling (1)
- swans (1)
- Sweden (3)
- sweet chesnut (2)
- sweet peas (1)
- tea (1)
- team chase (1)
- telephone box (1)
- television (1)
- Terns (1)
- The Guardian (2)
- thistles (1)
- thrush (1)
- Thuya (1)
- Thyme (2)
- Tibet (1)
- timeline (1)
- tisanes (1)
- Tisman's Common (1)
- tits (2)
- Toadflax (1)
- toads (1)
- Todenham (1)
- tombstone (2)
- travel (2)
- Traveller's Joy (1)
- trees (3)
- troops (1)
- Trumpeter of Sackingen (1)
- Truth and Reconciliation (2)
- Tudor (1)
- tulips (2)
- turf (4)
- Turville (3)
- Twitter (3)
- unimproved grassland (1)
- United Reformed (1)
- universities (1)
- USA (1)
- Vale of Evesham (1)
- valley (2)
- Valley of the Rocks (2)
- viburnum (1)
- Vicar of Dibley (3)
- Victorian (3)
- village (2)
- village fetes (2)
- vines (1)
- violets (4)
- Virgin's Bower (1)
- Viscum album (1)
- Wales (9)
- walled garden (4)
- wallers (1)
- Warren House Inn (2)
- wasps (1)
- wassail (1)
- Watchet (1)
- water (13)
- water feature (2)
- watercress (3)
- waterfall (1)
- waterslides (3)
- Watersmeet (5)
- waterways (1)
- weather (4)
- website (1)
- welcome (1)
- West Country (18)
- West Somerset Mineral Railway (2)
- Westminster Abbey (1)
- wetland (1)
- Wexford (1)
- wheat (6)
- Whichford (1)
- White (1)
- Whitebeam (2)
- Why Can't My Garden Look Like That? (book) (7)
- wild flowers (24)
- wild rose (2)
- wildlife (2)
- wildlife trusts (2)
- wildwood (1)
- William Davies (1)
- William Shakespeare (2)
- willows (6)
- wind (5)
- windmill (1)
- Winds of Change Art Gallery (1)
- Windsor Castle (2)
- winter (11)
- winter aconites (5)
- Wishing Fish Clock (1)
- wisteria (2)
- witchcraft (1)
- witches (1)
- Witney (2)
- wolf (1)
- wood (1)
- wood anemone (2)
- wood wasp (1)
- Woodford Halse (1)
- woodpeckers (1)
- woods (6)
- woodstock (1)
- wool (1)
- Wordsworth (2)
- World War Two (1)
- Wright (1)
- writing (1)
- Wychwood Forest (2)
- Yaffle (1)
- yoghurt (1)
- YouTube (2)
- zoo (2)
FEEDJIT Live Traffic Map
Followers
No comments:
Post a Comment