Great Dixter - September

It is a very good job indeed that I've no intention of going in for any kind of computer dating or indeed a job interview because I can't imagine how my interests would look to strangers - benches, gravestones, shopping trolleys, handmade paper, Gary Lightbody, new notebooks, crazy golf, typefaces .... I could go on and on but I think I'd better stop there because I'm sure you're all thinking already, 'hey, Sarah looks like a fun person. I wonder if she has a collection of anoraks too?'

And now there's something else to add to the list. Because September is just the right time to start a new project, I want to put into practice what I've been planning for a long time, which is a record of monthly visits to the beautiful Great Dixter gardens which are - luckily - just up the road from us. Of course, the late Christopher Lloyd has done it already with his book, Christopher Lloyd's Gardening Year which will be my bible for this new excitement.

This is what he says about September: "To an extent, we can cruise along in September. The number of visitors drops suddenly by nearly half. This is a pity in a way. The early autumn garden, here, is full of energy and ideas, reflecting our love of the season. The light is no longer so hard in the middle of the day, so the plants look happier. Again, because there are so many fewer visitors, the garden can be enjoyed all the more by those who do come. I, too, can enjoy it more, for the same reasons. There is a general feeling of detente."

I love that line, 'the plants look happier', especially as, do you know what, I'm sure he's right!