Just so many beautiful colours! Longiflorum white lilies; Blue & White Agapanthus; Gertrude Jekyll rose in perfect pink; petunias in velvety purple, violas pretty tiny faces. The wild rambling sweet pea is a richer pink & is scrambling over everything including some bright orange day lilies.

I wanted to be Robin Hood when I grew up. My late husband gave me a beautiful English longbow & a target to practice on in our field. Kids watching sympathetically as I miss!

The Wingéd Victory of Samothrace. Top of the stairs in the Louvre. Blew me away & still is my favourite work of art.

I found this old photograph while looking through my Photomyne archive. This was taken in the 1920’s when she was a bright young thing, off to a Fancy Dress party. She worked at St Dunstan’s helping wounded soldiers from the WWI. Her husband was one of them. Wounded out from battle in Flanders.

Heroes don’t always wear capes. This little kid gets to embrace a real life hero & unbelievably good man. I am praying he gets his 10th win at Silverstone tomorrow.He’s been my champion since 2007 his rookie year.

This is a note from Oscar Wilde written to someone inviting them round to his house in Tite Street. He obviously dashed it off as there are a couple of ink blots. And the invitation is pretty terse “ no dress”. Signed just OW. My late husband bought it for me as I loved OW & lived in Tite Street.

This is our late lamented Freddie, a majestic Flatcoat Retriever who regarded this ornate fountain as his personal dog bowl.

Was it euphorbia which has a white sap to which many gardeners’ skin reacts?

#alphabetchallengeZforzany Numbered “corpses” played by extras in Kubrick’s “ Spartacus”. For ease of shouting to the assistant directors “ move 163 further forward!”

A very special bird table made by Katie Ventriss KVArtistblacksmith. It has ivy & a small mouse climbing up the pole & a lovely little roof. Mr Bullfinch is poised on the right hand side & probably a great tit inside on the left.

I had one & I loved it so much! It was Demolition Man & a surprise Christmas present from my first husband. They’d locked it in the “ boys’ den” & I was afraid it was going to be an exercise bike but, taa daaaa on Christmas morning I was allowed in & I was ecstatic.

I loved this Hilaire Belloc quotation so I had it engraved and embedded in a wall at my last house. It’s my basic philosophy.

Never been much of a lipstick girl/woman except a very pale Mary Quant one in the mid 1960s. My bf’s father, a bank manager said “what’s that sherbert all over your mouth?” Every single time he saw us. Looking at this old photo, he had a point!

I read a newspaper article that a young girl found a random Axolotl in a river, scooped it up & took it home to help it heal. Told the authorities & they said that’s ok as long as you do x y & z to care for it!

The Ipcress File starring East End boy, Michael Caine. Saw it when I was 15 at the local cinema.

Murmurations are carefully worked out in advance but they keep quiet about the pre flight briefing.

That’s a real childhood memory trigger. Not that place but the sheer excitement of hearing the surf breaking on the beach. I can recall both the sounds & the smell of the sea air. Read Alt for details!

#TongueoutTuesday Panting puppy. Indoors in the cool now but so daft she went out to lie in the sun.

Yep it’s pretty effin’ hot here. Do NOT jump into cold water as the shock can kill you, over 15 teenagers died in the last mini heatwave here so please tell your kids & friends cooling off can kill you.

Simple, memorable, enduring. Just the founder’s initials for Louis Vuitton or Coco Channel. The Apple logo is simple but carries more complexity than mere initials. The apple from the Tree of Knowledge in the Bible, has Eve taken her bite from it? A very powerful logo for a new technology products.

So has Daisy. On the left (after grooming)she’s smooth & like a plushy to touch. on the right she’s a tangled ragamuffin, a rustic urchin with twigs & fox poo in her dreadlocks!

#AlphabetchallengeYisforYonder. Yonderland is a completely dippy comedy created by the mob who brought you Ghosts & other funny tv shows. The sheer idiocy of the premise & the mixture of puppets & people made it eccentric & very funny.

My broad bean harvest so far.

I have a lot of memorabilia & even an oil painting from this group of women & their Matriarch Ellen Terry. My Great Aunt & Uncle worked for her at Smallhythe place .

I am making/begging people to read this beautiful book. If you love perceptive & intelligent prose, the wildlife all around us and a delightful story then please do read it. My son gave it to me, it alters the view of the clumsy & blind way we normally live. It’s extraordinary and so peaceful.

My beloved Ionian sea, crystal clear, its jewel colours of aquamarine fading into turquoise then sapphire.

This is a superb & inspiring piece of writing. A joy.

My father flew in the RAF for the entire war.

Our shepherd’s hut guest is a return visitor with her two adorable cockapoos. Daisy the resident pooch loves the company but gets very possessive of her mummy cuddling other dogs.

@poorfrankraw.co.uk Our dog, the majestic Freddie, lies under his favourite plum tree, buried in his special blanket & with his favourite toy, like an Egyptian Pharaoh. I would like to put a stone flat with his name & maybe dates. Could you give me an estimate?