Promised you a Rose Garden

June means one thing: roses, roses and more roses. All that winter and spring rain went into making this luxurious rose garden. The distinctive fragrance of Rosa Ragusa fills the air in the summer evening’s warmth. And the best bit is they will keep going until late autumn when they will turn to bright red hips.

There are colours for every palate: muted yellows, soft pinks and whites; and deep crimson.

The house and garden room are in danger of being swamped by their vigorous growth.

Self-seeded erigerons (aster family) and sisyrinchiums (iris family) fill every space along the lower garden’s stone river and a few delicate poppies have popped up too.

Judging by the number of budding shrubs, the agapanthuses have survived the winter.

Come back next time to see their display, and to hear more of the sales of LOUISA’S LAMENT and progress with my next book – a story of corruption and sociopaths…

The warmth and returning light of Spring are so welcome after such a harsh winter. All that pounding rain has resulted in a tapestry of vivid greens which form the backdrop to an abundance of buds and new life. First up, there is an old favourite that has popped up in the terraces – the arum, or peace, lilies. They are so elegant and statuesque having risen miraculously from the mush they were over the winter.

A muddle of clematises over in the exposed west garden have burst into life from bare stems that only a few weeks ago looked dead. And the nearby wisteria is getting going to join the mess.

The old apple tree down on the stone river has lost a few branches but what remains has sprung into life to complement the lane’s clematis. And the old stalwart buxus balls and cascading rosemary waterfalls are bowling along as ever.

It is warm enough to sit out in the lower garden where the agapanthuses are getting ready for their summer show. But for now, it’s time for some reading.

Have you got your copy of LOUISA’S LAMENT?

Jump into patoakleypublishing.london for news of the book and to order a copy. Also on Amazon. All proceeds for charity.

Exciting news – Louisa’s Lament is in stock. And copies of the illustrations by the artist June Schneider are available too. Jump into patoakleypublishing.london for more details and to order copies; book also available on Amazon.

Down by the sea, it has been wild. Storm after storm have been barrelling in so there are different lights in the same hour as the sun fights the cloud density for more room.

All that rain has led to luxuriant growth.

The row of pink hellebores and giant snowdrops with a pop of yellow primrose, and the delicate camellias, tell you Spring has arrived with a blast.

Please order a book and enjoy the read. We will be working in the garden over Easter repairing storm damage and I will be starting work on my new book based on the blog of a few years ago – the shenanigans going on at St Angela’s Hospital.

Have a Happy Easter and come back next month for more news of the Spring garden and my first book launch gig.

We have had bright clear days this month but looks can be deceptive. It has been very cold walking by the sea, and quiet, except for the rhythm of the rolling waves. But it does feel like the winter storm season has passed.

The month has been unusually dry but the salt and drought-resistant shrubs in the terraces have toughed it out and they live on, including a sheltered daffodil.

Hellebores, with their intense green leathery leaves, give a pop of pink to signal their recovery from a brutal winter. And, for good measure, the heather has come back to give a carpet of pink along the stone river garden. All welcome signs of the coming spring.

What news of my book LOUISA’S LAMENT ? The manuscript has been signed off and it is now ‘in production’ and when it gets out of there, it will be ready for you in our online shop at patoakleypublishing.london. Many thanks for the early orders and here is another taster until next month:

June 16, 1880, mid-morning. A mob of over two hundred medical students had formed a gauntlet in the passage that led from Guy’s north quad to the south. The angry young men seethed with hate as they shouted invectives against the reformers. The sight of her archenemy at the end of the colonnade struck fear into the heart of Matron Burt.

Come back next time for more news of the book and the arrival of spring in the seaside garden.

Chilling with a good book as it is too cold, wet and windy to do garden work and LOUISA’S LAMENT is just the job! Here’s an extract from Part I.

Late Evening, November 6th, 1892. Puddles of rain reflected the spill of dull yellow light from the gas lamps to relieve the gloom of a typical drizzly November night in the front quadrangle of London’s Guy’s Hospital. The fog, known as ‘a right peculiar’, had swirled up from the river a few days before and had persisted. It just hung in the air motionless as it held the drizzle and the soot from the local factories and tenements in a fine suspension, chilling the bones and making the skin clammy to the touch. It was as if death itself lurked in that fog looking for someone to cloak in its shroud.

The website with lots of information about the research that went into the book and its illustrations, and the online shop, is nearly ready – watch this space. For now, why not register your interest by sending a note to: annie@patoakleypublishing.london.

Christmas and the winter solstice have passed and the light is slowly coming back. Have a Happy New Year and Welcome to the Chinese Year of the Rabbit on 22nd January.

Xin nian kuai le

Winter has arrived and the storm season is here in force. It has been nothing but driving rain and brooding dark skies, so November has been very lazy. When we get a break in the weather, there is the seasonal clearing out and repairs to be done, and walking on the beach when the winds ease is a small pleasure.

But mainly, this is hunker-down time. Need a good book? One that starts with ‘It was a dark and stormy night’? Well, have a look at LOUISA’S LAMENT. The story kicks off in the late evening of November 6th, 1892, when, on a stormy night, there was frenetic activity in Dr Steele’s quarters facing into the front quad of Guy’s Hospital:

Working with June Schneider, the artist, much research has gone into creating the artworks for the book and its cover. After years of investigating, I have built up vivid pictures in my mind of what it was like to live and work in London in the late 19^th century when the story takes place. We spent many hours studying archive pictures and discussing how to convey the key scenes from the story. I hope you will like the illustrations when you see them.

LOUISA’S LAMENT is out in the new year and you can register your interest by sending a note to: annie@patoakleypublishing.london

Christmas will be upon us soon so have a Happy and Peaceful time.

Come back at the end of next month on the eve of 2023 to see another picture from Louisa’s Lament.

Blowing in the wind. Everything is blowing in the wind. The summer has given way to the storm season and the beaches, houses and gardens are being pounded.

But some days it is unseasonably warm and bright, so the resilient plants are thriving despite the salt-blasting and gale force winds.

There is much storm debris that needs to be cleared. But the clocks have changed to winter time so the days are too short for such hard work. And new supplies of Tunnocks have arrived for my birthday so it is time to hunker down, eat treats and read.

And the book? Good progress to report – might have samplers to give out before Christmas. The artwork is excellent and you will get a peek next month when you come back for more news.

The autumn equinox has passed and the summer, with all its intense heat and light, has gone. It is chilly in the mornings now and the days are shorter, but we still get to sit out and enjoy the sun and watch the sea glisten on the odd mild day.

But before the gardening season is over and the big clear out begins, we have one final burst of colour enlivened by the returning rain. My garden is now a muddle of rich warm reds, muted pinks and a tapestry of all shades of green. The sedums, rose hips, pokers and cascading roses are muscling out the grasses in competition to be the star plant this month.

Also spotted, hiding over in the west garden, is a pop of flaming red and the recovering blue hydrangea.

And there is much progress with my book. I have met my project manager at the printers, TJBooks, the typesetter and the web designer. The manuscript is going through another round of edits and the illustrator and cover designer are doing their bit to make my book a reality.

So enjoy the sunny days as they arise and come back next time for more news of my book.