Cirque de jardin

These words are being tapped by an unsightly, flagging and overheated shambles of a human in not so very many clothes; today’s temperatures are not amusing me.

Attempting to stay in good spirits during this scorcheroo of a week is proving an almighty challenge. I’m reminded of the two unholy heinously hot summers spent ‘existing’ in the marshy hellhole that is Virginia, USA. Four very young ( often uce-faced ) children, ridiculous humidity, twelve weeks of summer holidays #bizarreidea and barely any access to outdoor water for swimming. Out there it’s all neighbourhood pools with a contract tied to your property. And we didn’t have one!

One swim option was the River Potomac and the temperature of lukewarm bathwater, writhing with water snakes and humming with mosquitoes. I loathed the place. Here is better than there this week; that’s a helpful reminder for me right now, she says scowling and huffing the stray hairs from her face.

I almost had the offer of tickets for Gifford’s Circus last week.  They were withdrawn at the final hour unfortunately. Boo, hiss.  Dashed hopes sent me into the garden with my camera to warm up for a morning commission. I found a beauty of an agapanthus, towering.  About to burst her magic mauve and with the fine silky threads of a weaver diva’s high line taut against one of the buds ( see picture below ). For the next couple of days, I watched spidergirl & intermittently captured her altitude tightrope act, marvelling at her skills. 

Elsewhere, silky gowns were sashaying across lawns at Churcher’s Leaver’s Ball. That was a glamorous hoot to capture.  

Whilst this garden here is decorated with bulging, ripening peaches ( excitement builds .. ) I’ve been filming in some exquisitely designed Surrey client gardens – check out that wildflower meadow shot, only six weeks growing too – and capturing headshots for a regular client along with headshots for a new client.

I’ve been filming + capturing still images over two days for a beautiful venue ( details to follow ) near Chichester.

I delivered actor portraits for an exciting 360 immersive film I worked on behind the scenes earlier in the year. Releasing later this summer.

Right, off out on my bike to feel the wind on my face now. Enough of this clammy indoors nonsense. This garden may well be the Big Top of arachnid acrobatics but I need to find motion on a larger scale.

Emphatically quashed by these searing temperature yet finding inspiration in plenty of shady places this month. 

Here are a few recent preoccupations …

• Rone is calming my overheated head when necessary
• The Harrow Inn, Ploughman’s doorstops of white farmhouse loaf l and it’s bulging, blooming idyll of a garden sanctuary.
• Fentiman’s Rose Lemonade. A seasonal & scentful fave
• This Farming Life and wooly, land-focused living enjoyed with the farming son who’ll embark on a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture in the autumn.