Shire hell
Mimi, Ralph and their three children have moved to the Dorset countryside, a place without a world class deli in spitting distance, a place to get away from the awful competitiveness of London life, where no one cares what you wear, there are no politics to speak of, and you can get away from exhaust fumes. Right? Totally wrong! Mimi and Ralph have left social climbing, pushy parenting and their marital problems behind them in London, and moved west to the bucolic green depths of the country. Or so they thought. Yes, there's mud and masses of fresh air, plenty of handsome hayseeds and there's Rose, Mimi's new best friend and Dorset's answer to Martha Stewart. But what should be Shire Heaven is, it turns out, just as tricky to navigate as Notting Hell. There's low-level conflict between the racehorses in vintage/Diesel/Ralph Lauren and the brood mares in Barbour/Boden, there's guerrilla warfare between the landowners and eco-warriers and naked hostility between Old Money, New Money and No Money. Yes, in honeybourne, if you don't have:1) A landscaped garden within 1000 acres (minimum) of prime land2) A helipad for your trophy guests3) An organic farm shop selling 16 sorts of home-made sausages4) Four pony-mad polo-playing children5) A literary festival in your mini-stately6) A bottom that looks smackable in jodhpursThen, well...you're Mimi basically.And that's just the start of her problems. Mimi also has a secret. But can she keep it?
Related Products
The city gardener
A city garden need not be a dusty square of cracked concrete and a few scraggy bushes struggling against giant weeds. In this book, written to accompany a Channel 4 gardening series, Matt James - "The City Gardener" - leads a call to arms for urbanites everywhere: "Green the city, hide the flat, featureless grey".;With space ever more difficult and expensive to come by in our cities today, people are starting to realise how that plot out the back - or that balcony, or that rooftop - should be seen as an extra room in its own right. A space that with a little effort and the right know-how can be transformed into a lush, green oasis of calm: a space to relax away from hectic city life; a space to entertain friends; where kids can play safely; where you can explore your creative side, recover the link with nature and bring the pace of life in the country to the town.;Matt knows the difficulties of an urban garden - limited space, limited time, limited cash - and the book is crammed full with creative design and planting ideas developed from his professional experience working in London.;An extensive directory recommends plants that thrive in urban conditions and identifies those it is best not to waste your money on. There are chapters on maximising space through the use of different levels, heights and "rooms"; combating noise, pollution and eyesores; using trees for instant architecture and privacy; and achieving the "gardenless" garden with window boxes, pots and trellises.;The book also shows that it's not just the farmers who can go organic, with tips throughout on chemical-free gardening and a section on growing a "kitchen" garden which brings the allotment to the back door. The book takes a refreshing attitude towards gardening that will be sure to energise a new generation of green-fingered city dwellers: chuck out the rule book, don't worry about monster earthworks and building expensive "features" - just get to know and love the things that really matter in a garden: the plants". Signature reads: "Happy Gardening! Matt James
The Garden Book
- A highly accessible overview of 500 garden designers organized in A-Z format now available in pocket format- Presents a widely diverse range of gardens from ancient Persia to the classical gardens of Europe and the contemporary gardens of the...