There's an ancient feature in old French gardens that looks like a wall made of bones, and I have one in my garden here at PumpjackPiddlewick

There is a small wall in my garden which, if discovered by an archaeologist with a lively imagination, might cause a certain amount of excitement. It is made of stones that look remarkably like bones. Not metaphorical bones of the sort one finds in a poet’s description of a windsweptContinue Reading

Rescuing the unwanted is about giving life to singular misfit items, the odd tea cup, singular sock, or lonely penny here at PumpjackPiddlewick

There is something rather sad about an object that has become the last of its kind. A single teacup sitting forlornly on a charity-shop shelf, its saucer long since disappeared. A sugar bowl with no lid. A teapot that has somehow survived the decades but lost the very thing thatContinue Reading

You can reuse coffee to make a rehydrating scrub for your skin. It's super easy, just coffee grounds and coconut oil. From PumpjackPiddlewick

This weekend I treated myself to making my luscious coffee scrub again. This time of year just begged me to bolster myself and rehydrate my skin. My skin has been feeling so dry, what with changeable weather and sudden temperature dips, so Iayers are certainly called for. It sort ofContinue Reading

I like to muse over a cup of tea here at PumpjackPiddlewick. Which means my thoughts can take me in many directions. Let's see where...

This morning I was musing about a good cup of tea, over a cup of coffee. Having lived in Britain, I can truly appreciate a good ‘cuppa’. But, why does living there equate to a good cup of tea, I hear you ask? Well, besides the synonymous links between teaContinue Reading

I adore climbing beans. My favourite vegetable. And as they need something to climb, I am going to build a trellis tunnel that will also shade my garden in summer.

Building a trellis tunnel was always on my medieval garden plans. Whilst sitting in my walled garden, envisioning Cafe du Canard, and looking at the raised beds it seemed to make sense to plan something in this area. South Facing Garden It is the sunniest area of a very sunnyContinue Reading