Party lady - very bizarre, can't help you i'm afraid but I am very intrigued. If only we could all be like your father!
I very much like your approach to buying bulbs, that sounds very manageable. Unlike how I tend to do it which is fuss over *what* I'm going to buy for months. Panic purchase because the planting window is nearing and then cry in a corner once they arrive because I've ordered 200+ bulbs that I now have to plant even though it's cold and wet out. Always worth it though isn't it!
This book looks DELICIOUS and so is your writing. I both underplanted (is this a word?) my pots last year and did it so late I still had tulips in June. I need to do more considered stuffing… Xx
Just found your Substack and enjoying reading your posts backwards! On which subject, I wonder if your party lady is deaf , or a little deaf, in one ear? I have seen party rotators turn in circles when it turned out later they were BOTH deaf in one ear and so were trying to get on the right side of each other…. Maybe your turning with her kept her turning! What a merry dance.
I'm definitely a wall-hugger, and I wonder if your spinning lady was just socially nervous and had to keep moving to deal with the nerves? Or maybe she thought that if you both kept turning it would look as though she was socialising more, and therefore she wouldn't have to talk to more people?
(Definitely fear I could be a potential or already oblivious spinner...)
I really think that the reason I don't sleep terribly well is because I don't have a bed like the one in the top photo. I'm sure that's the issue and I need to do something about it soon. I'm old enough to know how to use a rotary phone, so that is another must have.
Love your posts! They make me laugh which I very much need at the moment. That and gardening. I only just discovered you, thanks to the lovely Jo Thompson. Please keep posting.
I very much agree with you re the bed. I also remember the days of those phones, and of everyone looking like the woman in the picture. Another country. Thank you so much for this lovely message x
Laetitia, thank you SO much for the mention and I’m so glad you like the bulb articles and the cheat sheets 💚I’m with you on the bulbs - bulb lasagnes are not what we’re led to believe - they can look a bit rubbish with all the leaves getting in the way, so pots of single varieties are definitely the way forward
I was at a thing the other day and the person I was talking with kept shuffling nearer and nearer, causing me to shuffle backwards now and again, and I couldn’t work out why they were doing it - I mean they got SO close, and sure yeah, while I am *totally* sexy n that, it’s really not that is it
I love your bulb manifesto. I only buy tete a tete now because they stay upright in all weather and flower for ages. But like you, I grow them in containers and they reflower (is that a word?) for up to 3 years no problem. After that I start again.
Re your strange friend who literally circulates at parties, I can only suggest she was maybe trying to keep her eye on someone? Or trying to avoid someone? P.s. I love your Substack 🫶🏻
Tete a tete are proving hard to source on my regular school pick-up bulb parties so I may have to do the dreaded online ordering for them - but yes, adore how well behaved the always are. THANK you for being so complimentary about the letter - it’s a joy to write 🙏
I have had exactly the same experience as you with the merry-go-round person. The man I was speaking to seemed to prefer to talk to me at a 90 degree angle. It was weird and unsettling.
I once had a meeting with someone who kept moving their chair backward an inch or two. By the end of the meeting they had moved it back and around a corner and were heading towards the wall beyond. I don't think I was saying anything intimidating, but it was the strangest thing, and hard not to comment on. But like you, I didn't say anything. I am eager to hear more about squirrels. A lot of my bulbs last year failed to come up and I blamed slugs and snails for snipping them off as they came up. But there are indeed lots of squirrels, so perhaps this is the problem. They dug up my new fuchsia twice. Nice to hear from you again.
That must have been very uncomfortable for all concerned! Yes I’m going to try and post squirrel ‘solutions’ next time - it’s beyond annoying when the bulbs let you down!
So brilliant to have you back in my inbox! keep writing, it's a weekly treat :)
The treat is when people like you take time out of their busy day to send me a lovely encouragement! Thank you xx
Party lady - very bizarre, can't help you i'm afraid but I am very intrigued. If only we could all be like your father!
I very much like your approach to buying bulbs, that sounds very manageable. Unlike how I tend to do it which is fuss over *what* I'm going to buy for months. Panic purchase because the planting window is nearing and then cry in a corner once they arrive because I've ordered 200+ bulbs that I now have to plant even though it's cold and wet out. Always worth it though isn't it!
Yes, ALWAYS!
Love your writing - so down to earth
…and I love this kind comment - thank you 🙏
This book looks DELICIOUS and so is your writing. I both underplanted (is this a word?) my pots last year and did it so late I still had tulips in June. I need to do more considered stuffing… Xx
Tulips in June - what a joy! Thank you, and yes, both books are an absolute must xxx
Your blog is so easy to read, no boring bits. You have inspired me to buy more bulbs and have little pots all over my garden table.
Very kind of you - thank you! And YES to little bulbs.
Just found your Substack and enjoying reading your posts backwards! On which subject, I wonder if your party lady is deaf , or a little deaf, in one ear? I have seen party rotators turn in circles when it turned out later they were BOTH deaf in one ear and so were trying to get on the right side of each other…. Maybe your turning with her kept her turning! What a merry dance.
This explains everything PERFECTLY X
I'm definitely a wall-hugger, and I wonder if your spinning lady was just socially nervous and had to keep moving to deal with the nerves? Or maybe she thought that if you both kept turning it would look as though she was socialising more, and therefore she wouldn't have to talk to more people?
(Definitely fear I could be a potential or already oblivious spinner...)
Wall huggers unite! x
I really think that the reason I don't sleep terribly well is because I don't have a bed like the one in the top photo. I'm sure that's the issue and I need to do something about it soon. I'm old enough to know how to use a rotary phone, so that is another must have.
Love your posts! They make me laugh which I very much need at the moment. That and gardening. I only just discovered you, thanks to the lovely Jo Thompson. Please keep posting.
I very much agree with you re the bed. I also remember the days of those phones, and of everyone looking like the woman in the picture. Another country. Thank you so much for this lovely message x
As soon as we’re back is bulb baby bulb! Thank you for an excellent tutorial!
Laetitia, thank you SO much for the mention and I’m so glad you like the bulb articles and the cheat sheets 💚I’m with you on the bulbs - bulb lasagnes are not what we’re led to believe - they can look a bit rubbish with all the leaves getting in the way, so pots of single varieties are definitely the way forward
I was at a thing the other day and the person I was talking with kept shuffling nearer and nearer, causing me to shuffle backwards now and again, and I couldn’t work out why they were doing it - I mean they got SO close, and sure yeah, while I am *totally* sexy n that, it’s really not that is it
It's awful being SO SEXY isn't it.
I love your bulb manifesto. I only buy tete a tete now because they stay upright in all weather and flower for ages. But like you, I grow them in containers and they reflower (is that a word?) for up to 3 years no problem. After that I start again.
Re your strange friend who literally circulates at parties, I can only suggest she was maybe trying to keep her eye on someone? Or trying to avoid someone? P.s. I love your Substack 🫶🏻
Tete a tete are proving hard to source on my regular school pick-up bulb parties so I may have to do the dreaded online ordering for them - but yes, adore how well behaved the always are. THANK you for being so complimentary about the letter - it’s a joy to write 🙏
Or trying to up her step count at a late stage in the day and you were her accomplice?!
I’d love this to be the case! 🙏
I am new to your newsletter and so happy to have found you! Thank you for the inspiration today. Books and bulbs to delight me now and in the Spring.
Happy to ‘meet’ you too!
I have had exactly the same experience as you with the merry-go-round person. The man I was speaking to seemed to prefer to talk to me at a 90 degree angle. It was weird and unsettling.
Yes! As if they want a profile view. WEIRD!
Nice Scotties...x
Very much the best bit of the whole book 😍
I once had a meeting with someone who kept moving their chair backward an inch or two. By the end of the meeting they had moved it back and around a corner and were heading towards the wall beyond. I don't think I was saying anything intimidating, but it was the strangest thing, and hard not to comment on. But like you, I didn't say anything. I am eager to hear more about squirrels. A lot of my bulbs last year failed to come up and I blamed slugs and snails for snipping them off as they came up. But there are indeed lots of squirrels, so perhaps this is the problem. They dug up my new fuchsia twice. Nice to hear from you again.
That must have been very uncomfortable for all concerned! Yes I’m going to try and post squirrel ‘solutions’ next time - it’s beyond annoying when the bulbs let you down!