I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to celebrating the arrival of 2014.  I can’t quite believe just how quickly 2013 flew by but now that I’ve looked back at what happened over the course of the year, it makes complete sense!

What sticks in my mind the most is the barmy weather we had.  Freezing cold temperatures lasting well into spring and then scorching hot sunny days in the summer, it was one extreme to the other and another rather confusing time for nature.

The leaves were very late to arrive but we were well into December before they fell and if we hadn’t seen stormy weather over the past couple of weeks, I wonder whether there would have been leaves on the trees over Christmas!

2013 was a great year for me and I saw the completion of five projects ranging from a town garden in Walton-on-Thames to a large informal garden in East Horsley.

All the projects had their challenges, mostly caused by the weather I might add, but I’m thrilled with the end result of each and my clients thankfully are too.

But 2013 wasn’t all about work.  I finally got to see Rome (my delayed 40th birthday present!) which was absolutely everything I thought it would be and more.

I studied Ancient History once upon a time so it was wonderful to see some of the monuments I had written essays about.  The Forum and Colosseum for me were the highlights but I’d love to go back again and see the things we didn’t have time to see.

Another highlight was being able to visit the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on press day again.  I don’t take this for granted at all, not everyone gets to see the show before it officially opens to the public.

I love getting there really early when all the exhibitors are putting the final touches to their gardens and displays, there’s a real buzz in the air.

Photography has also played a part in making 2013 a very enjoyable year.  I love the fact that writing The Room Outside gives me a reason to get out with my camera regularly.

Particular highlights of the year include a day with Robert Canis taking pictures of wildflowers in the Kent countryside and the other of course has to be winning the Loseley Park photography competition!

I hope when you reflect on what’s happened to you over the last year that it brings you good memories too and that 2014 brings you much happiness and success, whatever you do.

Happy New Year!

You may remember that I spent a wonderful morning at Loseley Park back in the summer with Rona Wheeldon of Flowerona taking photographs before the garden opened.  It was following this visit that we both decided to enter the photography competition that Loseley were running in conjunction with Surrey Life magazine. Read more

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to celebrating the arrival of 2013.  It’s been a fabulous year for many reasons, especially in the UK where we all became very patriotic with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Games! Read more

On Saturday I attended Clive Nichols’ garden photography workshop at Wakehurst Place with my good friend Rona Wheeldon.  Clive is a world renowned garden photographer so we knew we were in for a great day and I think I speak for us both when I say that it exceeded our expectations. Read more