Floral Bliss #76

I was inspired by the displays of pansies in the old planters, one balanced on an ancient pillar, when wandering in the cloister garden of  the local abbey during our stay in Italy last month.

I decided to plant up a new planter that our local daughter had given me for my birthday using a new flowering shrub surrounded by blue and yellow pansies.

One Saturday morning we went to the local garden nurseries and chose some plants before going to have a coffee or a hot chocolate drink in the garden centre Gardeners' Rest Café.

view from a window of the café

Ceanothus 'Skylark' - the bees love it!

I've grouped the new planter with two others.

There's a pomegranate and also a lemon tree.

I've planted more pansies around the nectarine tree

 that Mr P grew from the seed in the fruit 'stone'.  There are more peaches

this year and hopefully they'll grow to maturity and be enjoyed!

More blue and mauve flowers in the garden at the moment

are lupins, salvia, lavender (English and French varieties) and sweet peas.

In the walled garden in the local park I noticed

a new hydrangea that had been planted this year

called 'Tivoli Blue' and the flower below

was very pretty and new to me. 

I'm joining Riitta's Floral Bliss blog post this week

where more beautiful flowers can be seen here.

P.S.  My laptop is still not working properly, for an hour or two it's fine and then it starts running slowly so it takes a long time to write and post a blog. 

Our time in Italy (continued)

Three of Mr P's sisters, a brother-in-law and several old friends are long standing members of the local abbey church choir.  They sing before, during and after the Sunday Mass and during other occasions such as weddings, funerals and concerts. The acoustics in the abbey are very good and it's a joy to listen to the singing accompanied by organ music.  

The abbey schola cantorum is well known throughout the region and is often invited to sing elsewhere.  Whilst we were in Italy a coach trip had been arranged to take the group and their families on an outing to the town of Pompeii. The choir was going to sing at the Sunday Mass in the main church there and we were able to go with them.  Despite an early start with the coach leaving the car park outside the abbey at 7 a.m. it was a chance to go out for the day with family and friends to another region.  The Naples coast is about two hours away on the motorway from our village. We've been there many times before to visit the Roman excavations, walk up to the volcanic crater on Mount Vesuvius and spend holidays in Sorrento.  

It was a hot day and we were glad to be under a sun umbrella as we enjoyed fruit juices. Later we sat in the shade of the trees near the fountains in the piazza.

  

After the service our group went and had lunch in a nearby restaurant, walked a short way along the main street of the town and did 'the touristy thing'. Some of the family met up again near the entrance to the Roman excavation site, sat under sun umbrellas at a refreshment stall, chatted and enjoyed more refreshing drinks until it was time to leave Pompeii - more about that and the interior of the church next time.

A walk in the monastery grounds

This abbey is one that attracts visitors from far and wide so we're fortunate to be able to spend time within the grounds.  The pharmacy, the shop that sells monastic items, the parish office and social rooms, the farm shop, the college high school and the retreat houses are run by the monks and also provide employment as well as a local service. The post office is within the outer walls of the monastery complex and the sports ground is now managed by the parish. The olive groves on the moors behind the abbey are also rented out and cultivated by the locals. However, the landscape remains unspoilt because the land is in a conservation area and building regulations are very strict.

One morning we took a walk around the area that's mainly cultivated for the needs of the monastery and college, which is a boarding school as well as a day school. We then walked through the college gardens and back into the monastery inner courtyard gardens.

Old columns have stood there for centuries.The lift on the left has been installed recently which must benefit the elderly members of the community.

Wine can be bought from the monastery cantina.

The above building is the kitchen and dining room for the people working on the land and in the monastery.

 

We met one of the gardeners and had a chat about horticulture.  He had lived and studied in England and America and spoke excellent English.  He gave me a kiwi to try.

These buildings used to be the stables, but now they're being used as workshops.

                                                             
                                    old mill stones for grinding the olives to produce oil

                                                   orchards and vineyards

                                             the path leading to retreat houses

the college

Next time I will continue with our walk around the college gardens and then back to the monastery
courtyards and cloister.