What I Love About My Garden – Carol Thomas

This week I’m joined by great friend, Carol Thomas as she tells us what she loves about her garden. Carol and I share the same publisher Choc Lit/Ruby and are both members of the Apricot Plots writer’s group. Her novel, A Summer of Second Chances is now available for Kindle, in paperback and shortly as an audiobook. I’m thoroughly enjoying reading it at the moment. Over to Carol …

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Thank you for having me on your blog, Morton, to share what I love about my garden.

To any gardening expert, my garden would appear unloved. I have Laylandi trees that are out of control, at around thirty foot high. I had the flower borders and vegetable patch removed when I moved in eighteen years ago and had the entire garden laid to lawn except for the patio that is surrounded by a four-foot metal fence with a gate (that keeps the dogs off the grass when it is too wet and muddy).

I am not painting a very pretty picture, am I? So what do I love about my garden? I love the fact it is so versatile. I am not precious about it; it is to be enjoyed. Since moving into this house, my two original Labradors have grown old and passed away, I have had and raised three of my four children (the eldest was already a teenager when we moved in), and I have gained a Labrador puppy and two adorable grandchildren.

All of my dogs have loved the garden. It is big enough for them to run around in, to play fetch and hide and seek with a ball. We have resident frogs – I think left from the fact the house was built where a marsh used to be, call me Princess Fiona – and hedgehogs who use our garden as a walkthrough. Due to the trees, we have nesting pigeons and many smaller visiting birds. We also have in door guinea pigs (who live in our lounge) that also enjoy a garden adventure occasionally.

My children have gone through phases of what they enjoy in the garden, owning at various times: a sandpit, different paddling pools, a trampoline, slide and so forth. Football and swingball remain favourites as we all play them together, and a basketball hoop is a recent addition. They enjoy the garden, no matter what the weather.

Two years ago, my teenage daughter celebrated her birthday by having friends round to camp in the garden. It was great. They sorted everything themselves, including putting up and taking down the tent. I’m not sure how much sleep they got but they all had fun.

And last year, during the first lockdown, my son began growing vegetables. We had successful crops of lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and broccoli. The pumpkins were eaten before they grew larger than a tennis ball (the bite marks suggested they had been enjoyed by the hedgehogs or a critter of similar size).

During the lockdown periods, I know how lucky we have been to have this space. When we were allowed to meet in gardens, our eldest daughter, husband, and children came to play. It was wonderful with my son playing the guitar and my youngest daughter setting up an obstacle course for us all to do.

I know it is not the prettiest garden, but it is low maintenance – if you ignore the trees as we clearly have 😉 and has provided a whole lot of fun and laughter over the years. Now the children are getting older, I would love to have a writing room out there and to have a wild area – encouraging more animals and insects to take up residence. I’ve attempted to plant wildflowers with little success. I have a few bluebells but I think they have always been there. My nan was green-fingered and used to have the most spectacular garden (before this house, she used to do my garden too). I think my sister got those genes instead of me, but I will persevere, and who knows, maybe I’ll pop back one day to share my success.

(What lovely pictures! I adore how proud Edward looks of his plants Mxx)

About A Summer of Second Chances

Blurb:

A heart-warming romance full of love, friendship and four legged friends!

Does first love deserve a second chance?

Ava Flynn sometimes feels like the clothes donated to her charity shop have seen more life than her, but ‘maximum dedication for a minimal wage’ is what it takes to keep her mother’s beloved wildlife charity, All Critters Great and Small, running especially in the village of Dapplebury, where business is certainly not booming.

But when Ava’s first love, Henry Bramlington, returns to the village, suddenly life becomes a little too eventful. Henry escaped Dapplebury many years before, but now he has the power to make or break the village he left behind All Critters Great and Small included. Can Ava trust the boy who ran away to give both her and her charity a second chance?

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Published by: Choc Lit

Buying Links:

Amazon: http://getbook.at/SOSCAmazon

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-summer-of-second-chances-1

Choc Lit: https://www.choc-lit.com/dd-product/a-summer-of-second-chances/

Other Books by Carol Thomas:

Maybe Baby: http://getbook.at/MBAmazon

The Purrfect Pet Sitter: http://getbook.at/TPPSAmazon

Crazy Over You: http://getbook.at/COYAmazon

About Carol Thomas

Carol Thomas lives on the south coast of England with her husband, four children and lively Labrador. She has been a primary school teacher for over twenty years and has a passion for reading, writing and people watching. When she is not in school, chasing after her children, or stopping her dog from eating things he shouldn’t, she can be found loitering in cafes drinking too much tea and working on her next book.

Website and Social Media Links: 

Website : http://carol-thomas.co.uk

Facebook Author Page : http://facebook.com/carolthomasauthor

Twitter : http://twitter.com/carol_thomas2

Pinterest : https://www.pinterest.co.uk/carol_thomas2/

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/carol_thomas2/

Blog : http://carol-thomas.co.uk/blog

Thank you so much for joining me on my blog, Carol and making me and hopefully other readers smile with your active garden and lovely family.

Thank you for visiting my blog – Morton S. Gray – Author. I hope you enjoyed this post. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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