Friday 19 July 2013

allsy's grandads


On Sunday me and Allsy went to his Grandad's house. Allsy's Grandad, Dennis, is a true character, a Hungarian man who escaped to this country during Stalin's power, he is an eccentric to say the least and has had such an incredible life.

Dennis is also a true plantsman. He has the largest greenhouse I have ever seen which used to be full of cactuses, grown on a very large scale. I have seen photos and trust me it looked impressive. Sadly due to personal circumstances many didn't survive but I would have loved to have seen it. It also has been home to a huge amount of snails and chickens, although obviously not at the same time, that would be madness.

Here is the greenhouse in its current state. I also love it like this too and would be very happy pottering about in there...

















Dennis does appear to grow quite a lot of succulents, these trays seemed to stretch out for miles. 


Within the main garden, there are various buildings, one for storing wood but most seem to contain items hoarded over the years.



There are also various other hoarded items laying around the garden, no doubt in case they come in useful.




Dennis's garden is a bit of a car graveyard too, I bet this one was a real beauty in its time.



He also grows a lot of roses. His tip for growing good roses is to completely neglect them. To just let them do their thing. A risky strategy perhaps but it seems to work as all the climbers, ramblers and bushes were smothered in flowers.






With the weather being so nice we spent most of the evening outside so unfortunately I didn't manage to get many photos of the inside of his home. Will try to get some next time as I love his home in equal amounts to his garden! Here is a sneaky glimpse of the kitchen to give you an idea of what it's like. Warning: minimalists look away!




Towards the end of the evening we went for a walk with Allsy's uncle around the nature reserve behind his house. It was a very beautiful place, stupidly I forgot to charge the batteries on my camera before I went out so these are the only photos I have.



It was a lovely evening though.


11 comments:

  1. This place speaks to my soul. Thank you letting us snoop round! AMAZING.

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    1. Mine too Katie, I feel very at home there :)

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  2. I would love to poke around there. He sounds a lot like my husband's grandfather, who died four years ago at the age of 94. His workshop was much like this greenhouse and my husband inherited many of his things. I loved looking around there, it was full of interesting old things.

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    1. I know what you mean, I could spend hours looking around that greenhouse.

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  3. I LOVED THAT YOU LET US LOOK AROUND! WHAT A PLACE!!! I HAVE JUST BEGUN TO DARFT UP POSTS FROM MY FRIENDS GARDEN VISIT AS WELL AND HAVE ANOTHER VISIT TO ANOTHER GARDEN PLANNED FOR MONDAY! iT'S FUN ISN'T IT! XXXXX

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  4. Looks like a bit collection of irons then. I really enjoyed seeing around her she/greenhouse. It's a collection of oddments with a lot of personality and commitment. Happy weekend.

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    1. I know, it looks messy but everything's grouped together and organised. He's a very sentimental soul. His wife died over 30 years and he hasn't changed one thing about the house and has saved absolutely everything from their life together, it really is beautiful to look at all his things that must hold so many memories for him.

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  5. This greenhouse is ah-mazing! Would be great place for me to paint flowers <3 The guy sounds fantastic too

    Happy Monday
    The Young Bridget Jones

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    1. Dennis is indeed great, there's a lot about him that I didn't like to share. For instance I didn't mention that when we went round on Saturday he had on a t shirt with two arrows on it, one pointed to his face and said 'The Man' and the other arrow pointed to his crotch and said 'The Legend'! Haha for a man approaching 80 he is such a dude!!! :) Happy Monday to you too by the way x

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  6. I really enjoyed this post, it makes me think of my dad's garden as he keeps bits and bobs too. I find junk very pretty. Thank you for the tour - my favourite type of pictures to look at of real life x

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