The joy of cut flowers

One of the things I try and keep foremost in my mind as we plan our Bountiful gardens, is the importance to me of having cut flowers in my home. This was something I grew up with. It was a ritual of my Grandma's to go out early in the morning and cut the flowers she wanted to have inside, to bring them to the kitchen sink and spend some time snipping them into shape and getting them ready for the many vases she had.

I didn't have much growing at Bountiful as yet that I could use for cut flowers, until these daisies put on a big growth spurt between visits. No proper vases here, so I pulled out what I had (the bottom half of a thermo cup), and got arranging. One day I'll have some greenery to go around it as well, but for now, it gave me a lot of pleasure to just bring something inside from my garden to enjoy.

Simple pleasures, yes. They don't have to be complicated, time consuming or expensive to bring enjoyment. I think there's a lot to be said for living simply, and I plan to bring as much of it into my life as I can.

The daisies had put on a growth spurt, so satisfying, especially when we're not here to water them.

What are your simple pleasures?

As a child of a television generation, another of my simple pleasures was watching Young Talent Time with Johnny Young and the Young Talent Team every week. YTT was Australian family viewing and team member Karen Knowles was one of my all-time favourites. I loved her voice but even moreso her smile, which just lit up the screen. Karen went on to join The Seekers during their period without lead vocalist Judith Durham, as did some other top female voices such as Julie Anthony.

As I was searching for a song about gardens and simple pleasures I was reminded of Bullamakanka's Home Among the Gumtrees. This song, also a hit for John Williamson, became even more firmly embedded into our national psyche as the theme for the long running Burke's Backyard,  a programme that celebrated how much we Aussies love our gardens. The show began in 1987 and during it's enormously successful run of more than 15 years, it managed to win the Logie for Most Popular Lifestyle Programme six years running (1990 - 1995). What a bonus then to find this little gem, a version of the closing credits of the show sung by the boys from The Seekers and the completely delightful Karen Knowles. Karen has gone on to branch out into other areas, as this 2015 clip from The Daily Edition shows.

Vegemite toast and a cup of tea. A clothes line out the back, verandah out the front and an old rocking chair. Simple pleasures. Sounds perfect to me.

Tracey 🌼

With thanks to the YouTube Channels of Cyberkey11 , 1PeterFlanagan and rich963.