Flowers yet again

I met up with school friends on Wednesday and one of them brought along the obituary (from 2002) of the headmistress who took over at our school when we were in fifth (ie second last) year. To my amazement, this lady was only 38 when she became headmistress! While we didn't think she was ancient, especially compared with the previous head, who was clearly 150, we didn't think she was - well, what now seems to me - really quite young. She'd previously been head of another girls' school in England before that, too. When I was 38, I was just going back very part-time to work because our youngest, Son, was 4 and at nursery in the mornings. I certainly had no ambitions to be head of anything. Of course, I had 3 small children, while Miss Thow was unmarried. She was softly spoken but she must have been very driven. Then she only lasted 11 years at our school before leaving to do something completely different. 

Thirty-eight! A child! Younger than any of our children are now.

The people we bought this house from, 36 years ago, were not gardeners at all, but they - or possibly someone previously - planted this climbing rose. It's at its peak just now. It doesn't have a second flush of flowers and it's not very scented, but it's rather beautiful. Thanks, Mr and Mrs B. 

Look what happens when you weed judiciously. Foxgloves and candytuft, all self-sown. 

Also campanula, Canterbury bells. 

All things that I remember from our garden when I was a small child. So many of my memories are of that garden, which had lilac, lupins, pinks, irises, geums ... and I used to have my little garden plot, where I planted annuals - clarkia, candytuft, nasturtiums.