I am a firm believer in fate, always have been, always will be - until I'm proven otherwise. I think this stems from so many unexplainable coincidences over my lifetime, little things, signs almost, that come to you when you need them most. A serendipitous phone call when you're at your lowest ebb, a stranger deciding to smile at you, turning a grey day to a sunny one, small things that make life sweeter than it usually is. A hormone-adled wood pigeon cooing to its neighbour, or a pair of magpies (two for joy), a lone flower that for you makes you happier than you thought you could be. A sign, from above or elsewhere, just to let you know that things will be alright.

When we came home on Sunday, after a tiring drive, to find that my husband's car had been broken into, despite my exterior remaining chirpy, I was shaken. But I didn't allow it to upset me as much as it could have, I am glad I didn't see it happen, nor was our honeymoon disturbed to tell us the news (our neighbours didn't notice that it'd happened - it didn't outwardly show). We were planning on getting rid of my husband's (hehe, it sounds so strange) car anyway, because it simply wasn't economic to run both - now that decision has been cemented. It is, after all, just metal, and not life.

The offender, whoever he/she is, was obviously not an expert at the art of car-stealing. Having first cut a whole into the soft sunroof, the offender stuck their arm through and opened the door, taking with them a brick. Having first looked through the small collection of CD-Rs (we don't ever keep the genuine CDs in-car for this reason), they took the brick and smashed the ignition, trying to get it to start. This did nothing, thanks to the immobiliser, but the would-be thief cut himself, and thankfully (and probably unbeknownst to them) smeared blood all over the upholstery, windows and floor, as well as leaving many fingerprints. Our forensics officer was beaming at this, he said he got some brilliant samples and doubted that this was the criminal's first offence. We await the tests to be carried out and matched against their computer records.

Again I still believe this was a good thing, not good for us immediately, having to sort out insurance (bye-bye no claims discount), hire cars (paid for by the insurance) and repairs are not what we needed right now, but I won't let anything like this get the better of us - because I believe it was meant to happen. Perhaps it was saving us from an accident further down the line, teaching us to value our lives more than our cars - who knows?

One thing that made up for this whole debarcle was the immense beauty that we returned to in the garden. I haven't in all of my born days seen a show of flowers so beautiful, and although I'm more likely to say that because I planted them all, I really do mean it. My jaw dropped to see rows of ripe peas, potatoes flowering, broad beans fattening up, cornflowers, roses, bees, sweet peas and so much colour. We have a rainbow! Yes we were devastated at the bad news, but doesn't this make up for it, and show us that there is more to life than material possessions? I think so.

So in all of its unadulterated glory, I present our garden in snippets, I hope this makes your day as much as it makes mine every single day. Difficult though it may be, the old adage of 'what doesn't kill us makes us stronger' has never been so true.


[Borage 'borago officinalis', a herb that I've always wanted to grow]


[Cornflowers]


[Main semi-circular bed, planted with cornflowers, rose campion (the white variety), wildflower seeds, godetia and some splendid dreamy poppies]


[Godetia]


[Godetia]


[One of the most amazing poppies - I do hope this will come back next year, how delicate their colouring and graceful their slender necks]


[The poppies are all colours, hues of pink fantastic!]



Still so much to tell, harvests of vegetables, things learnt and so much more. That for next time perhaps :)