A Special Garland For Sir Patrick




 
The photo above shows Sandra Saer of SMH publishing  at the Weed and Wildflower Festival at Bignor Church (2-3 July) reading from Within The Glade: Poems for Children - of all ages (poems written by Sir Patrick Moore, many years ago and which, until recently, had lain forgotten in a drawer). After the reading people admired Sandra's hat garlanded with flowers, one of many we made at the event.

A few days later when Sandra visited Sir Patrick, having found out we are near neighbours of his, she asked us to make a garland for him.  He was delighted with it!  The picture shows Sir Patrick, Sandra - and the garland,  at his home, in Selsey, West Sussex.

Bignor Weed and Wildflower Festival

This is an amazing event, which is held every two years.  The organisers work incredibly hard to transform the interior of the church with plant materials.  Walking into the building at 7.15am on the Saturday morning was an incredible experience.  It felt like walking through a magical woodland glade.  The scent of the plant material and sound of bird song really made it feel as though one was outdoors.  In the chancel there was even a flowing stream and ponds.  I was so pleased I had investigated it before setting up my stall outside in the churchyard.  Later, both on Saturday and Sunday we were so busy making garlands there was no time to see anything else that was going on.


Several special moments stood out over the course of the weekend: 

• The young man who bought a garland for his girlfriend, shyly asking if she would like one.  We watched them choose it together and then saw his rapturous look as he whispered to her: 'You look like an angel'.  It was one of several romantic moments. 
• A poet and publisher Sandra Saer who bought one to wear during her poetry reading.
• A lady who watched enraptured as we were making, then said maybe she was too old to get away with wearing one, but that she didn't care....later in the day she popped back to tell us that she couldn't remember having been told how pretty she looked in a very, very long time



Busy making garlands

• Suprise visits from friends, especially Bill and Jenny who helped us to sing: 'When Spring Comes In' a traditional Sussex Song from the Copper Family's collection.

A final lovely suprise came the following week when we discovered that the Midhurst and Petworth Observer had published our photo on the front cover of the paper and another inside where the Weed and Wildflower Festival was reviewed of one of our customers wearing a garland of Scentless Mayweed, Alchemilla Mollis and Tamarisk...very pretty indeed!

May 2011 Bignor Park Fete time

 



We take cover

 How lovely to be invited back to Bignor Park Fete again.  Another friend kindly agreed to come and help make garlands with us.  We had fun, despite the slightly inclement weather....we were very lucky though, as the face painters allowed us to share a little bit of their gazebo to keep out of the rain.  We had lots of happy customers....The lady pictured below told us that she was one of our first customers in 2009.  She had come down from London to visit the fete.  Last time she was expecting; this time we met her toddler!  She was so pleased to see us and said we were right at the top of her list for the day!  One lady felt shy about wearing a garland, but her lovely labrador took on a most distinguished air once he had one round his neck.



A lovely faithful customer





I know I look handsome in this

 Luckily it did clear up a little towards the end of the afternoon and we even had a chance to go and admire the lovely scenery around the park.  It is such a beautiful spot....no wonder it's a great wedding venue.  We were also invited to come back to Bignor for the Weed and Wildflower Festival. 



Enjoying the view of the park





 







May 2010 - Time for Roundhill Cottage again



People were able to choose a colour scheme to match their outfit

 This year we were well prepared cutting lots of material from our own garden to take up to Roundhill Cottage. We made a load of garlands in advance to start us off.  As the weather was nice we were expecting large crowds and were not disappointed.  People loved the garlands and bought them for themselves, their children and as gifts.  We were pleased to make another good donation to the Snowdrop Trust.

A new venue...Bignor Park Fete 2009

Two satisfied customers who also enjoyed the face painting stall!

Our friend from Roundhill Cottage put us in touch with the organiser of Bignor Park Fete, saying she would love our work.  We agreed to go and make garlands, this time to support the 5 local churches around Bignor and Sutton.  After a slow start, interest in what we were doing grew and demand began to outstrip our supply of made garlands.  We also ran short of plant material until the lovely Joanna kindly suggested we could use some of the beautiful plants from the gardens.





Making garlands again

Garland Making at Roundhill Cottage, East Dean

In May 2009 a friend opened her garden, Roundhill Cottage, to the public through the Yellow Book National Open Gardens scheme. We went along to help, with our daughter and one of her friends.  All the funds collected on the day were destined to support the Snowdrop Trust.  This worthy local charity raises lots of money to support children who are suffering with terminal illness.  It does amazing work! We decided to make some flower garlands using materials from our own garden and some wildflowers we found at Roundhill Cottage and sell them to raise extra funds. We had lots of fun and we excited to receive lots of positive feedback.

Learning to love flowers - the first garland

I remember my Grandmother teaching me the names of flowers when I was little; when we went out for walks.  In particular, the names of wildflowers held a special magic.  Somehow they were committed to memory and over the years have been added to.

Young Roland in his straw hat - Chalk Pit Lane, Goodwood - c.1980

On a happy walk with Roland on the South Downs when we were in our early twenties I collected a few flowers and wove them into a garland for his straw hat...I thought he looked rather fetching.  We added the grasses as a tribute to his Australian heritage....no corks available on the day!

The next experiment in garland making was to come many years later....