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Wednesday 16 October 2013

Regaled.

I think that I've mentioned before how I'd most likely be clinically certified as insane during school holidays if I didn't have the comforting respite of a good book to see me through. Mercifully, during the holidays that have only just concluded I had a couple of fab books in which I was able to quite happily lose myself amongst the pages.

Can you believe that only a couple of days into the hols, Paul Bangay himself came to Fullers Bookshop in Hobart with his new book 'The Garden at Stonefields':


This was such a red letter occasion that I actually hosted a sleepover at my place and one of my old friends from school drove 4 hours from her farm in the north of Tasmania to come and see Paul with me:



After an informal talk, there was question time and I was able to ask Paul Bangay, in person, which gardening books he keeps stacked up on his bedside table.....his answer was anything by or about Vita Sackville West and Sissinghurst, David Hicks and Russell Page. While most of Paul's oeuvre has done time on my bedside table, I'm sorry to say, that as much as I love this book, it weighs an absolute tonne and is particularly difficult to read in bed. However that's an aside. He also clarified that the quickest way to get your hedges to join up (and this is a major preoccupation for me) is to plant from small, and water and fertilise like mad......I later read that in his own garden he dug up most of the soil in his beds and had it sifted, fed and topped up before it was replaced.....maybe that's what I'm going wrong.

Anyway, the rush of having the babysitter in for the evening may have gone to my head, the result being that my friend and I took ourselves out for a fancy dinner at Garagistes.......it was celebrity spotting heaven (in Hobart terms) as we later spotted Paul.....disappointingly having dinner at another communal table. Yet, for my friend, who quite openly admits to being an AFL footy tragic she was beside herself to discover that she was actually sitting next to a female football commentator who she idolises.....I'm afraid to say that I didn't have a clue who she was. As you can imagine, it was hard work keeping the troops on track the next day. Thank goodness I had a brief window of opportunity to slope off with a cup of tea and see the before and after of the magic that happened over 8 years in the Stonefields garden.....the immediate results being a that I've been gripped by a gardening fervour which has seen me strew sheep manure over my entire garden, plant 3 box topiary shapes and a hedge of eight 'Abraham Darby' roses.....so far.

One weekend during the holidays, we took the ferry over to Bruny Island where amongst the strange isolation and beautiful scenery:





 I started to read this:



Richard Flanagan's new book 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'. I won't lie to you, at one stage....after the horrifyingly confronting and graphic descriptions of a POW camp in Burma....I had to put it down and take a mini break.

I'd been to a talk Richard Flanagan gave a couple of weeks ago and been transfixed by his anecdotes and inspiration. One story he told was about when he went on a book tour of America which coincided with the belated release of 'The Death of A River Guide' which he had written some years before. I was recounting this afterwards to my husband (who has done some work for Richard) and made it this far before he wanted to know whether this was the time 'when Richard found himself in the back of a taxi with the Beastie Boys?' No. It was the time that Richard found himself on the plane and realised that he couldn't remember absolutely anything about this particular book that he had written, neither the plot nor the characters....nothing. The book was in the hold, which was no help, so he admitted that he resorted to drink. After he landed, jet lagged and a tad hungover, he was met with the good news that he had to front up for a radio interview....and he was already running late.

I managed to summon the courage to finish 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' and I'm still digesting it. It was written in such a way that even though I didn't think I could keep going, I had no choice, as I compulsively wanted to know how it was all going to end. And nothing prepared me for how it did. I can't stop thinking about it and already realise that I'm going to have to read it all over again.

Although, before I do so, I think I'm going to have to read Tim Winton's new book 'Eyrie'. Especially as I see that Tim is bound for Hobart to talk at a Fullers event on 26 October at 6pm at the Stanley Burbury Theatre at the University of Tasmania....which is bound to be interesting.

So my children are now all institutionalised back in their respective schools. Books aside, during the second weekend of the holidays, I managed to stage an actual physical escape.....to Melbourne for a hedonistic weekend of chat, food, fashion and frivolity with Heidi from Adelaide Villa, the most interesting blog commenter in the world, Pamela and Faux Fuchsia.

How fantastic are these ginger jar jeans:


They were a gift from the sartorially gifted Faux Fuchsia who was determined that I should start dressing to match my house.....although I may have already been guilty of dressing my baby accordingly......see:



Rx

18 comments:

  1. I'm dying to get my hands on the new Paul Bangay - am going to put it on my birthday/christmas list, along with the Nicky Haslam book about The Folly. Paul did indeed get very chummy with you for the photo! Ginger jar jeans look fab on you, and love the match up with colours all round.
    Such a fab weekend in Melbourne - loved meeting you and all the chat...and food and drink. Still detoxing I think! xxx

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    1. You would love the Paul Bangay book....so much before and after inspiration! Agree was fab weekend...been feeling nostalgic already! Hope kitchen is progressing according to schedule? Rx

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  2. You had me at 8 Abraham Darby roses! I have 2 and love their colour and scent almost as much as Jude The Obscure....which I highly recommend. Your weekend and reading list sound divine.
    You gals really know how to live it up!

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    1. At the nursery I was hedging between 'Abraham Darby' and 'Golden Celebration' yet am now convinced that I made the right choice as one of the ladies on our Melbourne trip brought some roses from her garden and amongst them was the show stopping 'Abraham Darby! Also have 'Jude the Obscure' amongst my collection and it really is beautiful too! Rx

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  3. Paul isn't known here I think unless you are a proper gardener but he looks like an Aussie Alan T. Love those trousers! Too cute. You must get a matching top and lounge on your toile sofa! X

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    1. Just googled Alan T and not sure! I wonder if you can get your hands on his books in the UK? If so they really are a good read - mix of English/Italian garden design in an Australian landscape. Must say it's quite fun looking like a ginger jar and blending into the background! Rx

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  4. Merci! Thanks again for the jeans they are a perfect match! Rx

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  5. Ah Romy. So much goodness here. Eight Abraham Darbys sounds just splendid. I am looking forward to our * just one* flowering. Books all fascinating, your weekend escape super and the jeans perfection. Cannot wait to finally see you again! J x

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    1. Am v excited about all of my roses Jane especially as I have been feeding them like a woman possessed....don't know about you yet mine haven't really started in earnest....any day! Let's try and catch up for a coffee sometime next week? Rx

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  6. yes, i agree with k. you look so beautiful. and i hear your voice as i read this post...which is the best isn't it? being able to *hear* ea other now. i'm jealous of your trip and your jeans. love that you match your decor. it's a lifelong dream of mine. x

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    1. That's the thing about meeting other bloggers isn't it...being able to hear their voice! We missed you in Melbourne....as usual the chat went on and on....this time I shared a room with FF and we were still chatting into the early hours of the morning! Have other outfits which match parts of my house....might have to write a post about it! Rx

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  7. Hi Romy,

    Lovely Post :-) Yay to girls weekends in Melbourne! So disappointed I couldn't get to hear Richard Flanagan - something came up last minute. I'm still slightly disturbed by Gould's Book of Fish and his latest sounds like it will be equally 'thought-provoking" but I still can't wait to read it all the same. Gorgeous shot of you and Paul and how sweet is little C in her pigtails - too cute! Mel x

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    1. Thanks Mel.The Richard Flanagan chat was fab and I loved every minute of it...he is such and intelligent and perceptive raconteur. I freaked good old Steve out by reading 'The Accidental Terrorist' in hospital after giving birth....he told me that I should be reading something lighter! Can't believe my baby now has enough hair to rock pigtails! Rx

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  8. Agree with the others – those jeans look beautiful. But that toile chaise is the bomb.

    Paul is always lovely. I think his formula for soil is in his Garden Design book? He's so generous with his tips. Friends of mine had a Paul Bangay garden at their country home 'Larundel' – 12 garden rooms of Bangayesque beauty. Can you imagine?

    Still prefer his old schoolhouse to Stonefields. The former had a romance and magic to it.

    Have a lovely time gardening. Janelle x

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    1. Thanks Janelle. I love that toile chaise and was so lucky to pick it up for next to nothing at the auction a couple of years ago....I wish more toile crossed the auction room floors! How special to have their own Paul Bangay garden....would love one of my own yet afraid the cost might just unhinge my husband....he's much happier with me doing ours (cluelessly) for free! Would love to visit Stonefields and see it with my own eyes.....in the meantime I've beenwondering where I could put a champagne house?! Rx

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  9. What a thrill to meet Paul.. had the pleasure of walking around his new garden about 6 years ago at his first opening...Stonefields is a landmark I think...I agree with Janelle above and also prefer his schoolhouse garden. Have a good week/weekend!

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    1. It was SO exciting Jenny...my friend and I were like a couple of giggly teenagers! Lucky you, I now ache to see Stonefieds in the flesh! I loved seeing the before and after shots in this new book, it really showed how he created something out of nothing....and I also found the diary entries at the back of the book captivating.....so raw and heartfelt. Rx

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I LOVE hearing your thoughts! Rx