The news in brief:

Wednesday: I took a day off work to go to Chessington World of Adventures with my fiancée, as it was his birthday. Great rides, a fantastic zoo and just an hour’s train ride away. A lovely day, though utterly exhausting.
Thursday: This was one of the rare occasions where I had to go down to Hadlow College in Kent (an hour’s train ride away too), to do one of my key skills assessments – the first of the two English ones. Here was me thinking I would have to click multiple-choice answers for an hour, when it turned out to be a full day’s education session involving researching and writing an article, then a letter, for a portfolio, and finally to take part in a discussion. All this was with 20 rowdy agriculture student lads (I was the only girl), who were all very nice but… loud. I have to do a presentation in front of them this coming Wednesday and I am not looking forward to it.
Friday: was awesome because I went back to work. It was great to see everyone and the place again. My day’s tasks involved tidying up the wedding area and writing labels for the display garden, both very pleasant. And then it was Alison’s leaving do at the pub and I got far too drunk. ;)

Saturday: Tom came down to see me again, and his presence, coupled with tidying the greenhouse, playing Scrabble and potting things up quickly vanquished my hangover. We went to the shops for a bit then visited Ruskin Park, stopping off afterwards for a few beers and something to eat at The Fox on the Hill, somewhere I’m glad to have discovered – one of those places with far more outside space than inside. Back home we watched most of Very Important People before falling asleep. …well, I did for a while before being unable to and creeping over to the computer. It’s light now (04:19), so I could always creep downstairs…

Aaaaanyway, a weird week, but entertaining and exciting.
There’s my personal life out of the way, so on to the joys of greenery and flora. :)

Photos:
1: That Gasteria I rescued from Wisley… in my pocket. You can just see another leaf poking out from the centre. All 3 of my Gasterias are growing really well at the moment.
2: Brizia media pollinating. :)
3: More Pentaglottis sempervirens (green alkanet) in place of Borage in the Pimm’s.
4: My orange lily from Morrisons last year. One petal has fallen allowing a good look into the centre.
5: My California poppies from seed are f****** dreadful. Such horrible growth habit. Even the flowers are pathetic, but despite this, I can’t help but adore that electric orange/yellow. <3