Best laid plans....I wanted to write about M.L. Stedman's long awaited book A Far Flung Life but life got in my way. It's a five star for me and I will write about it soon.
Between some rather serious allergies this Spring and a nasty visit to the dermatologist (resulting in stitches on my face ) I have been unable to motivate myself to write much. Reading is a solace for me so I have been chilling out with books. Best medicine I can think of right now.
Here is one for the 2026 nonfiction reading challenge.
Lost Gardens of the World is a cool little coffee table book you can flip through and then get lost down the rabbit hole looking up the actual locale. There are lovely illustrations of the gardens as they once were (or as perceived) as well as historical information telling us about the families who owned the land.
Some of my favorites were in England. The garden in Pentewan England was one that had me looking up the Tremayne family and how this beautiful estate and gardens were abandoned. Eighty years after the first World War it is slowly being restored. Most of the young men went off to war and never returned, taking the heart out of those left behind.
In 1991 a team of volunteers starting cutting through the tangled overgrown area, finding remains of water features, paths and a lake.
Another very interesting story is about Cougar Annie's Garden on Vancouver Island. Well, it was of interest to me. Annie was quite a character and what a determined woman. She cleared land herself and built up an orchard business, started the Boat Basin Post Office and shot cougars, yes...real cougars.
This is a good armchair travel book with the featured neglected or abandoned gardens in Italy, The Netherlands, Canada, Morocco, Nepal and more.
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Category: Lost and Found
Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday
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