Hello everyone, Well, we’ve had the last of the bank holidays in England for a while, so whilst the extra time off was lovely for all the people who are working full time, I shall be glad to get back to the normal routine and knuckle down. I am working on a new project at the moment that I should be cracking on with, but when everyone else is off and enjoying the sun, I find it far too easy to get distracted and end up doing garden work and drinking wine in the evenings!
This the best time of year in my garden as the roses are just coming into bloom to join the swathes of sweet rocket, both purple and white, the alliums, foxgloves and the Nepeta. This week I thought I’d bring you another of my favourite things but this time it’s in my garden. This is part of the “These are a few of my Favourite Things” series. Scroll back through the archive to see the previous posts.
You’re reading Home Truths, a newsletter from me, Susy Smith. I am many things: a parent of grown-up kids, a dog owner, a gardener and a compulsive mover of vases (I worked for years as a stylist). I am also a writer/editor and former Editor-in-Chief of British Country Living Magazine, for whom I still write a monthly column.
I write here on an eclectic mix of subjects about life, and a few of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Subscribe now for free and join the community! You can also support me and my work by upgrading to a paid subscription at any time – for either just tap the button below.
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They say every picture tells a story. I am inclined to think that every object also tells a story – they certainly do in my home and garden. I’ve been collecting ‘stuff’ for years – from markets, fairs, charity and junk shops and skips. Each one of these items triggers a memory - where I was and what was happening when I bought it, the friend who gave it to me, the person who made it etc. Then there are the interesting things I see and photograph when I’m out and about – a shop sign I like, a poster, an interesting building, a view, a plant, a flower. When I look back at these images, they too trigger memories. All of this together, makes up a life well lived. This series is about those objects, images and their stories.
#08 Green oak garden bench
I first saw this bench at the Country Living Spring Fair about 20 years ago. A new furniture maker called Marnie Moyle was exhibiting with us and I immediately fell in love with her work. Marnie works in green English oak to make tables, benches, swing seats and bowls by hand. None has nails or screws to hold the pieces of wood together, just good old fashioned mortise and tenon joints that slot into one another and keep the structure secure.
She then carves words into the piece – they can be the lines from a motto, a message, a poem or a song. One of her oak swing seats simply says “Yeee Haaa!” on it, which makes me laugh as that’s how we feel, even as grown-ups when we rise to the sky and back on a good swing!
Given that some of Marnie’s pieces weigh a heck of a lot, I was surprised to discover she is not a strapping lass. She is small and wiry yet can handle a large length of oak like a lumberjack!
I decided I had to have a least one, if not more, of her pieces for my garden which, at the time was half an acre in Hampshire. She had already sold the bench but agreed to make me another one with exactly the same words on it. They are the lyrics of a song by American singer/song writer Neil Young called “You and Me”. I liked its sentiments:
“Open up your eyes,
See how lifetime flies
Open up and let the light back in
Open up your heart
Let the loving start”
Marnie calls it a Loveseat: the idea is that two people sit facing one another, each with their back against one of the sloping uprights. I quite happily sit on it on my own with my feet up and, on a rare moment when I’m not actually doing work in the garden, just enjoy the silence and the birdsong.
When I moved from Hampshire to a much smaller house nearer London, I had to get rid of many things there just wasn’t room for. Fortunately, the garden was large enough to accommodate my green oak bench. I placed it underneath the old gnarled apple tree that leans across the heart of my garden. I’ve trained a Rambling Rector rose into the tree so that once the apple blossom is over, the rose comes into bloom and flowers tumble down from every one of the tree’s branches.
I have a collection of vintage watering cans on one end of the seat and, on the other, is a carved wooden bowl, also made by Marnie. It too originally had words carved into it. They said “Life is just a bowl of cherries” and Marnie gave it to my first husband and I as a wedding gift, filled, very fittingly with luscious, ripe Kent cherries. Age has weathered the words away but I still love the bowl and fill it with water for the birds.
As you can see from these pictures, the bench has really weathered in the 18 years or so I’ve had it and will, someday, fall apart. I feel I shall have to get another if Marnie is still making them then, as the garden would just not be the same without its sculptural shape. Until then, I shall continue to enjoy sitting on this one when I take a moment for reflection in the garden that I hold so dear.
I’d love to know about your favourite things, especially those in your garden. Is there a seat positioned just perfectly where you can sit to admire your garden? is there a plant that has delighted you this year? Please feel free to share them with me and your fellow subscribers by clicking the button below and I shall respond
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