Good morning all. You find me on a rainy morning in late December, still in my PJ’s with a large cup of fresh coffee. My healthy breakfast regime has well and truly taken a sideline so instead of the usual bowl of porridge with a sliced banana I’ve been indulging in sumptious pastries. Do I feel guilty? Not as much as you’d think as the pecan plait I’ve just demolished was delicious.
I should be out working just now. We’ve got a packed schedule of garden builds to get on with and due to inclement weather and a stinking cold at the start of December I’m ever-so-slightly delayed so whilst I normally like to enjoy a full fortnights break over the festive period it was my intention to play catch-up in between. Alas, though, this is not to be as this week seems determined to be as wet as it could possibly be. Forecast ain’t good for tomorrow either...
Christmas is now passed and we’re shuffling towards 2012 which marks a suitable opportunity to reflect on the year just passed. It’s been a busy year indeed. An exciting one too.
It’s been my busiest year in business to date. We’ve designed and built more gardens than ever before and, with the help of some new additions to the Vialii team, managed to expand the maintenance operations too. We’re hoping to carry forward the momentum into the new year and continue the steady growth although as you’ll read below this is not going to be without it’s fresh challenges. So without further ado we present out Vialii Garden Design awards for 2011.
EVENT OF THE YEAR - I’m going to be a Dad! Sometime in January 2012 Vialii will have itself a tiny little apprentice. Without question this has been the single-most exciting ‘project’ I have ever been involved in. It has blown my tiny mind. The learning curve has been both steep and illuminating and I know that I’m nowhere near the top of the curve as yet but I’m relishing the rest of the climb.
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| Our joy when reading this display cannot be adequately described... |
GARDEN OF THE YEAR - Due to the pregnancy we opted to holiday in the UK this year and we spent a lovely fortnight plodding around Cornwall. As is our way, we visited a bunch of gardens, Heligan, Trebah, St Michael’s Mount etc but the garden (if you can call it that) that really blew our socks off was The Eden Project. It is just fantastic. The sheer scale of the site is breathtaking and the attention to detail throughout is exquisite. You can read all about our visit to the Gardens of Cornwall here.
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| A Biodome...in front of Eden's Biodomes... |
An honourable mention goes to Jupiter Artland which my beloved and I visited on my birthday in June which not only has stunning Charles Jencks landforms but has the most delightful sculpture garden.
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| The sculpture garden at Jupiter Artland can be, at times, very atmospheric... |
GARDEN SHOW OF THE YEAR - RHS Chelsea. My beloved and I both made it to Chelsea this year and we both agreed it was an outstanding event and that Cleve West was a deserved winner with his show garden. As always we found it inspiring and invigorating. Due to the impending baby birth, however, it is unlikely we will make it the Chelsea in 2012 but we’re going to try and squeeze in a baby-friendly show somewhere later in the summer.
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| Cleve West's Chelsea winning show garden |
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| A talented garden designer.....and Cleve West... |
Anyways, that’s about all I can think about awarding for now so I’m going to sign off. I would like to take this opportunity to give a hearty thanks to all the readers of this blog and to our clients for their continued support throughout the year and we wish you all the very best for 2012.
Best wishes,
Michael & Jill & Bump
www.vialiigardendesign.co.uk
Comments
Well done on your news Michael....2012 certainly to be your year, for so many reasons:)
Congratulations to you both on the pregnancy, it doesn't seem long since i was shellshocked by the news of becoming a dad, well it was over 11 years ago. now my daughter is as tall as me, going to secondary school and giving me backchat! Good luck to you both, and a nice blog by the way!
Thanks for that Andrew. We're both really excited.
Thanks too Phil. 2012 is going to be a bit bonkers me thinks...