Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

Sweet Peas



Last night, when I lay on my fresh pillow case, I thought: "What is that - it smells so lovely!" 
And then I remembered: three weeks ago my friend Ann had sent me the soap "Sweet Peas" - so moral boosting  in these hard times to get a little surprise, thank you!  
I always put soap before use into my linen cupboard, between sheets or pillowcases. 
Wow! 

I am in love with sweet peas from my earliest youth: my grandmother always had them in her garden - simple ones in white, pink, violets and blue -- and they smelt unforgettable. 
When I see a bouquet on the market with huge, fanciful blossoms, I am utterly disappointed when they have no scent. (Reminds me of plastic surgery..) 

On my garden blog I told that I once met a man whose name was given to a sweat pea. 
That was when Anne and I were in England together: as young students we had promised to each other a garden tour when we were 50 - and then we laughed like mad - even the idea: 50!! 

But then there we were: on an unforgettable "Bed and Breakfast for Garden Lovers" trip that we had planned on our own . First we stayed a few days with Wendy who was a juror to private gardens and lived on a manor (yes: we stayed in a manor! Getting older does have some benefits, sometimes!). Well - and her husband owned a factory (?) in which seeds are produced - and among them was a bright red sweet pea - and that one bore his name! 

(Must look up the name...  Getting older does have some drawbacks, too...    :-) 




8 comments:

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    1. They are beautiful in their colours too.

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  2. Sweet peas remind me of childhood.

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    1. Me too - and I still have the feeling of the surprisingly hard stems in my hand.

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  3. Sweet peas are one of my favourite flowers ..... the fragrance is beautiful. Every year I try to grow them and all I get are just a few flowers ..... our garden faces North so I have had to accept defeat. Maybe I’ll try again next year. Thinking of you Britta and hoping you and yours are coping well. XXXX

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    1. I try that too, Jackie - sometimes with success, sometimes not. There are different kind of seeds: some are so hard that one should "help" them with a little knife to open in the water into which you lay them before sowing - but I think, these are the decadent ones - the old one's are not so spoilt! Interesting: when they united Eastern and Western Germany, I got some from Eastern Germany - very simple flowers - but wonderful scent.

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  4. Sweet peas are pretty little flowers. And my best friend's name is Ann.

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    1. So we both have a "best friend" with the same name - and a good friend is such a treat in these times, Joanne!

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