Transitions

When I am overwrought and a bit fed up of Life, I watch the first two episodes of The Darling Buds of May on repeat. I know it’s not real, I promise I do. I know that Pam Ferris is a life-long vegetarian and had to pick around the bacon and sausages in the opulent meal scenes, and Catherine Zeta-Jones already had her eyes on Holly wood and didn’t eat at all, but the knowledge doesn’t change how I feel. It is a story of transformation. Not a rags to riches poverty to wealth transformation, but constricted to free. Suit to boot. Office to fresh air. A slow death in the 9-5 to living.

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The moment that means the most to me is indicative of the struggle, the resistance. Charley awakes on the Monday morning, having had a weekend of cocktails and sunshine, long boozy Sunday lunches in the meadow and falling in love in the Larkin household. He has promised to spend the week strawberry picking but old habits die hard and on Monday morning, he puts on his suit and announces that he is going back. Because he always goes to the office on Mondays. That strawberry picking was just a dream. A madness. The Larkins tempt him with sick leave and Ma says that she doesn’t like the look of his cheekbones and that he has white spots on them, which is a very bad sign. 

Charley raises his hand to his face. “What of?” he says. 

He shakes his head as if to clear is, and corrects himself. “Of what?”

And you know in that moment, the battle is lost. He will never be the same again.

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If you have listened to the interviews with Milli and Sarah (both here), or my podcast with Syreeta, you will know that it is the transitions and the transformations of life that fascinate us most. Milli talks about how odd it was to have lived her whole life and only now know what it is to feel like herself. Sarah talks about the moment that she drove home from Miss Pickering’s, knowing she was going to live a life in flowers and the walking into the office and saying ‘no more’. 

Where are we going with this? Can you tell yet?

I am putting my notice in on Monday. 

I now commit my life to learning how to video myself doing things with flowers without cropping off my own head. To creating beauty through words, images and film. To be courageous in my heart and to be free. In honour of Charley and the Larkins, I might even grow strawberries. I am almost certainly going to drink more cocktails and lie in the long grass in my orchard on hot summer days. 

A summer of long lunches is some months away yet but the seeds for abundance are sown now. If you haven’t had a look at the seed sowing guide, now would be a perfect time to do that.

If you can’t wait that long for flowers, I have done a video on potting up spring bulbs here. Maud makes a cameo. 

I am delighted to announce that next week's celebrity interview is going to be with Bex of Botanical Tales. I would not be surprised if some of my questions will be around how she found herself moving across the country to be my neighbour (25 minutes away is considered practically neighbours in this area of West Country) and so be prepared for transitions and transformations to be a theme. I will also be asking what seeds she is sowing now for everlasting flowers at the end of summer but if you have any burning questions that you like me to put to Bex, please just drop me a line. 

G x