Contentment: today in my garden

This afternoon the sun is shining, and I am sitting here in the garden at my little mosaic table, with a cup of tea. It is so nice to see the sun, though for the last few days it has been quite elusive, only showing itself for short periods and then reverting to clouds and rain. Winter seemed much longer this year than usual, I don’t know why. I am feeling that it still hasn't completely gone, judging by how cold I have been at times, lately. I am spending my evenings snuggled on the sofa under a blanket. We do have thunderstorms here, though rarely. I don’t remember the last time. I like to watch them too. No fireflies here, though. Probably a good thing, as flying bugs are not my favourite, even if they are pretty. Even butterflies I only like at a distance. Maybugs are the worst. Buzz like a wasp, size of a bee and fly at you like a moth. Do you have those?

My house is on the end of a terrace of three. I have a small paved yard at the back of the house, which I call my garden. It really is tiny, and more or less triangular - just about fifteen paces from the back doorstep to the end 'point' of the triangle. I love it though - before we lived here we had a flat with just a small balcony.

I have a few little plants, less this year as I haven’t planted any annuals or vegetables. There are a few herbs, some of which I have lifted to safety on the table out there as the snails won’t leave them alone and they can’t seem to climb the metal table legs! The little table and two chairs are right by the back door, and that is where I sit with a cup of tea or coffee when the weather is nice. I also have a green garden bench at the end of my garden, which is where I like to sit and read sometimes. It is old and shabby now and needs painting, but I love it because it came from the garden of my dear Auntie who died several years ago. We were very close and I have fond memories of sitting next to her on this bench in her garden many times.

It is mostly quiet here during the day, except for the birds and sometimes the sound of children in the playground of the school in the next street. Today, though, I can also hear the occasional yaps of a neighbour's dog, and a disturbing buzzing. Have I told you how much I love flying bugs? Ah, now I see the source of the buzzing is a handful of little bees on the campanula (Canterbury Bells). I like bees. Wasps, not so much. I love Canterbury Bells, with its little mauve star-shaped flowers. It's one of the few plants out here. I also have a weigela hidden behind the bench, I need to move it to the front garden really, and  I have ivy, and then there is virginia creeper all along the fence one side and a large ceonothus (Californian Lilac) the other, which flowers a beautiful purple in the Spring. Those last two belong to the neighbours really, but they hang over my fence so I get to enjoy them. Just to make you and your black thumb feel better, I also now see I have a dead clematis and an even more dead hydrangea, sadly. I am a fair weather gardener, and don't even look at the garden from about October until April, so I am afraid that anything that can't manage the winter with no tender loving care and attention is not going to fare very well. When the weather is bad I hide indoors with a book, a mug of hot chocolate and a blanket and don't give a thought to the garden.

What does contentment look like? Today, I am anticipating spending the next couple of weeks reading the pile of books I picked up on Saturday from the library. I hope the weather will be nice enough to do some of that reading on my Auntie's bench. I was able to put the washing out to dry on the washing line outside today, which always makes me happy, and I have a pot of cream in the fridge for my coffee. I am planning to cook something new this evening, courgette and lemon linguine, open a bottle of wine and sit round the table with my family.

Small pleasures.