The Flat Cap Gardener

How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life? Time is a curse and a blessing. Getting older gives a lot of freedom but also less tolerance for other people’s nonsense. Getting older gives freedom because you learn that the opinion of others is usually irrelevant to you-if you…

What cities do you want to visit? I would love to see so many cities around the world, especially in Asia and Europe. The cities I’d love to visit in Asia include Tokyo, Hanoi, Seoul, Kyoto, Osaka, Busan and Beijing. I’d also love to go back to Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong.…

What’s your favorite cartoon? I grew up at a time when cartoons like Wacky Races and Buggs Bunny were still on the TV. I enjoyed all the Warner Brothers cartoons, and many others, all the way through my childhood. I enjoyed them because they were faintly ridiculous, characters were a bit bonkers and I found…

What are your feelings about eating meat? I do enjoy eating meat when it’s on my plate. It’s tasty, gives me valuable nutrients and is a part of many of my favourite meals. Despite all this, I don’t eat meat at every meal, or even every day-I enjoy many meals without meat in them-as long…

What are your favorite animals? While it is a close run thing between cats and dogs, cats have to be my favourite. I’ve always loved tigers-they are favourite big cat. The main reason why cats are my favourite animal is because of Cuddles, my very own crazy fur ball. I was the one who didn’t…

Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why? This is a tough question for me in a few ways, because I love both, but it does have to be mountains over the beach. The reason why this is hard is because I love the sea. More specifically, I love being at sea, always have-to the…

What book are you reading right now? The book I’m reading at the moment is called The Accidental Seed Heroes by Adam Alexander. I chose this book because I have an interest in seeds in general and want to know more about how seeds are used by people today. I have only just started this…

How do you manage screen time for yourself? Like everyone, I can spend too much time in front of a screen-it’s a part of life that’s both a help and a hindrance, often at the same time. For me, I get bored pretty quickly most of the time, to the point where I have to…

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live? There has never been a time when I have thought that I’d like to go back to a certain age or year that I’d like to live again. There are many times in my life that have been brilliant in many ways, and…

What’s something most people don’t know about you? There are many things that most don’t know about me. There are a few reasons for this, for each of the big things I generally keep to close family and friends. There is the fact that I don’t feel a need to overshare any aspect of my…

What makes a good neighbor? Neighbours can be good or bad and I’ve had a few of both in the past, for varying reasons for both. Good neighbours are people who are friendly but don’t intrude into your life unnecessarily. It’s great if good friends are made but if you can keep friendly that is…

What would you do if you lost all your possessions? If I lost all of my possessions, I don’t think I’d have a choice but to to get on with it and start rebuilding my life straight away. I could be angry and upset, but that’s just wasting energy. If life is tough for any…

Your life without a computer: what does it look like? If there was no computer in my life, I would probably be out in the garden more, growing things. Computers are a distraction in general-I don’t rally use social media, but I do watch a lot of stuff online or read and potter about on…

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter. There are many jobs that I would like to try just to see what they are like, but there are one or two that stand out as something that I would love to do no matter what (if money was not an issue). The first…

Describe your ideal week. Ever since we got Cuddles the cat, I have said that cuddling cats should be a well paid job, not something you do in your spare time. In my ideal week, I would have plenty of cuddle time with Cuddles. Beyond the cat cuddling, I would be out in the garden…

Why good is my favourite word.

Share a story about the furthest you’ve ever traveled from home. The furthest I have ever travelled is to Australia from England., which was ‘home’. The first time visiting Australia was actually moving to the country so it was a big leap into the unknown. I have now been here in Australia for nearly fourteen…

What is a word you feel that too many people use? As a rule, there isn’t one word in particular that is overused for me. What does bother me more is that there are too many people with absolutely nothing to say, but talk anyway, often thinking their drivel is relevant to the rest of…

What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it? On my recent trip to the UK, I spent a few days in London before heading back to Sydney. On one of those days, I headed to Fallow for lunch. I decided to have their set menu lunch for £42, with…

What are your future travel plans? My future travel plans revolve around seeing as much of Australia as possible. I currently live in Sydney but haven’t seen as much of the country as I would like. While travelling overseas is often wonderful, from Australia every country is a decent flight away and that is a…

List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain. The ten things I know for certain are:

What could you let go of, for the sake of harmony? For the vast majority of the time, I don’t really care enough to make fuss of much so this is a question that mostly doesn’t apply. But…when there is that one thing that gets under my skin to the point where you will get…

What strategies do you use to increase comfort in your daily life? One of my favourite comforts is always first thing in the morning is to sit quietly with a cup of coffee and the company of Cuddles the cat. It doesn’t matter whether its a weekday or a weekend, but it is an essential…

How do you express your gratitude? It is always important to express gratitude when you appreciate something someone has done. How I show this depends on who it is. If it’s a female family member or friend, I’ll show it by getting flowers for them, with males it will be a male version of the…

What are your daily habits? My daily habits are probably similar to most people-on work days, any ‘habits’ involve the boring and mundane that we all have to do, like getting up and off to work, sorting out kids and cooking. That’s the extent of habits in the week for me. On a weekend, I’ll…

Are there things you try to practice daily to live a more sustainable lifestyle? Sustainability is something that I do try to be, but I have a long, long way to go to be anything like a superhero in the practice. One of the things I do, and have done for years, is only buy…

Who is your favorite historical figure? I have to say that Henry VIII is one of many of my favourite historical figures from history. Yes, he was a rather vile character in many ways, but that adds to his intrigue. Having six wives, so he could have the much needed/longed for son and heir, is…

What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily? The oldest thing I own and use daily is my own body-I can’t escape it or swap it and it’s the only one I have. As I cant escape my body, I use it for everything I do.

Who do you spend the most time with? Outside of work, I spend most time with my cat and husband. While my son does live at home, he is a typical teenager-he spends more time with friends than us ‘old people’ at home (who don’t ever do fun stuff either because we are boring it…

What animals make the best/worst pets? What makes a great pet? There are lots of aspects to this question: Personally, I love my cat, she’s great. I didn’t think I would enjoy having a cat as much as I do when we got Cuddles, but I wouldn’t be without her now. She is a cute,…

Which aspects do you think makes a person unique? There are so many things that make people unique, from family background to education level and country of birth to how you experience life because of and despite those things. To have people that can truely unique, there are several qualities I think are important qualities…

If you could have something named after you, what would it be? If I could have anything named after me it would have to be a plant. It would be great to have any plant named after me, but if I could choose any sort it would have to have some sort of strange feature…

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had? I would say that having the ability to fit in and to hide what I’m thinking would be the abilities to have. On reflection though, fitting in is rather boring-why would I want to be the same as anyone else? As for the…

Who is the most confident person you know? My husband is the most confident person I know. This can often be beneficial, even more often just funny and sometimes (but rarely) a little embarrassing. He has the ability to walk into a a room and bluster his way through the situation to get what he…

Do you believe in fate/destiny? Fate and destiny are not a real thing for me. I am of the view that what happens to us is down to choices made or sheer bad luck. While it is harder for people with less money or had poor upbringings to improve their lives in some way, they…

What is the last thing you learned? Travel can be a great thing to do if you get the opportunity, even if it’s within in the country that you live in. I’ve recently had a few days of travelling by myself in Vietnam and I relearned a couple of things. The first one is that…

What experiences in life helped you grow the most? Travelling overseas has helped me to grow the most for one reason alone. This is because, when I have travelled alone, I have had to rely on myself and no one else. I have had to make sure I get to the plane on time, make…

Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you? I say I am sort of patriotic because I hold citizenship of two different countries. While I can’t say that I hated Britain when I left, far from it, being away from the country of my birth has shown flaws I didn’t see while living…

Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done. I generally don’t have much time to sit and do nothing but relax. There is always something that I either have to do or want to do, so sitting and completely relaxing is a rare thing! By the end of the year I will be less…

What’s your favorite thing to cook? Pizza, as many would agree, is the food of the gods-at least in my house! My son and husband especially could probably eat it for every meal. While traditionally, it is a simple Italian dish with tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil, it has turned into a dish that is…

What do you complain about the most? I hate to say this, but work is my most complained about thing. It really is not that great at the moment, for all sorts of reasons, that I don’t want to talk about because it’s miserable enough living it without moaning on elsewhere! This is rather depressing…

What books do you want to read? There are probably at least thirty books I want to read, but probably many more. There are books related to history, gardening, sowing and then lots of fiction books too, from authors like Stephen King. Then there is the reading for my studies. This includes any information I…

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why? I think more about the future at the moment for the simple fact that I am going in to the future. I have been there in the past and that’s all good but I can’t spend my future in the past. In…

What makes you feel nostalgic? Now this isn’t because she is old, but my sister does make me feel nostalgic fairly often. As this sister and I are the closest in age and the two oldest of six siblings, we ended up in lots of photos together as kids. The reason why she makes me…

You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like? My perfect space would be like a large English country house library-a large library lined with floor to ceiling wooden shelves full of books. Windows would be from floor to ceiling to see views of the countryside. I’d have two large…

How are you creative? I am creative in my hobbies of knitting and sowing. Choosing colours, the type of fabric or yarn and how I put things together. I enjoy doing both knitting and sowing but don’t get much chance to do either at the moment, which is a shame! You could also say that…

When are you most happy? I am happiest when I am at home. I have my husband, son and cat there too. I have my little garden that I’m starting to get going again. I have peace and quiet. While I’m at home, I don’t have random people getting in my way and irritating me.…

What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals? The English are well known for apparently having really bland food, which I have to disagree with. I say this because when it is done properly with fresh ingredients, English food is great. This leads on to one of my family’s favourites, which is a good steak…

Do you trust your instincts? Trusting your instincts is one of those things that are easy to overlook in today’s world. There is often so much stuff that can grab your attention that your instincts are either drowned out or easy to ignore. This happens to me too, but even if this is the case,…

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? If I had the choice right now, I would be living in the countryside. I’d have a nice big house and two acres of land for growing food and flowers. I would want plenty of space for local wildlife to come in and…

What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself? I am studying the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture Program and it is tough going! I am now in my third year and it is a challenge. Working full time, studying, and looking after the home and family means there is little time for…

What is your favorite hobby or pastime? My favourite pastimes are sewing, knitting and reading-don’t ask me to choose one as they all help me relax, and are incredibly useful. The knitting and sewing allow me to use my hands to make clothes for myself and my family, along with things like quilts, cushions and…

In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled? Hard work is one of those things that seems harder for some than others. Talent alone cannot do anything unless there is hard work behind it. For me, hard work makes me feel fulfilled in several ways. At work, if the gardens I look after…

What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in? Coming from Britain, we have a very long recorded history. At times, this history is something to be very proud of, at others it isn’t so much. What I can say is that, whether the history of Britain is something to…

What could you do more of? I could do a lot more sewing and knitting, both of which I love to do. The one down side is that I just don’t have much time at the moment with work, study and life in general!

Which topics would you like to be more informed about? I say this in particular because people constantly baffle me! I can watch people all day, doing all sorts of strange things and have no clue as to why. This can be very entertaining, I have to say. It can also be annoying and get…

How often do you walk or run? These days, running is not my thing although it used to be. As for walking, most days I do a decent amount of walking through work-I normally manage around 12kms per week day, sometimes as much as 18kms (in summer) because of this. Outside of work, I’ll go…

What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time? The most important things that I carry around with my are my skills and abilities. I say this because, without these, I wouldn’t be able to afford a roof over my head, the food for my table or the clothes on my…

If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell? If I was to open a shop, I’d have to open a garden nursery selling plants and gardening related products. I have to say that I would specialise in Australian native plants and then also vegetable and fruit plants too. Maybe that’s…

What would you change about modern society? While I do agree that phones, computers and anything else with a screen can bring many benefits to many people, there is a point at which the benefits are outweighed by the sheer rudeness, innate nonsense and insults that are unnecessarily thrown around from behind a screen. If…

How do you practice self-care? For me, self care is doing something that I enjoy doing and that takes my mind off the stresses of the day. I enjoy sewing and knitting, both of which I find relaxing, while also getting something out of doing both. I find both sewing and knitting relaxing. Because I…

How do you want to retire? I’d love to retire while I still have good health with the energy to carry on being active and doing things. I’d also like to have enough land to grow my own fruit, veg and as many flowers as I fancy. Whether I can do that or not is…

What jobs have you had? In my time, I’ve had many jobs since I started working part time while still at school. My first job was as a pot washer in a restaurant, followed by a sales assistant in a butcher and bakers shop. On finishing studying, I ended up in the Royal Navy as…

What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today? My socks are the oldest thing I am wearing today, being about two years old. These socks are Bridgedale socks that are made for hiking. They are on the more expensive side for socks, but I have one pair that have lasted about 14 years. As I am…

What topics do you like to discuss? I have always found both history and science fascinating. With science, I love anything botany, biology, geology or chemistry. While physics and astronomy are both interesting, they are beyond my ability to understand a lot of the time! With history, Ancient Egypt has always been a favourite period…

Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind. As I come to the end of a busy week, I’m tired and would really like some peace and quiet, away from everyone but my immediate family and crazy cat. I’m tired of dealing with people, tired of being on my feet all day and…

Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you. This was back when my son was small and just after moving to Australia. At the time, I didn’t have a car so I had to get the train everywhere. We had been to a supermarket to get some supplies and we…

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? In ten years time, I can see myself running my own business in something horticultural. I’m working on the how and the what as I write, but I cannot see myself working for someone else in three years, never mind ten! I can also imagine myself living…

Describe something you learned in high school. High school was an interesting time in my life for the fact that it gave more useful life lessons than the lessons the usual subjects ever could have given me. The school I went to was on the edge of a local government housing estate, with many of…

How would you improve your community? I am lucky to live in an area of Sydney with plenty of greenery and parks. The trouble is often the lack of good care taken of these spaces-it’s more a case of quickly go in, do the most basic amount of care and then moving on to the…

Who was your most influential teacher? Why? Mr Bentham was the last maths teacher that I had at high school, when I did my GCSE’s in the cold north of England. Maths has never been my strongest subject, and one that I certainly didn’t enjoy. With Mr Bentham, he actually made me believe I could…

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings? Negative feelings are awful things to deal with at any time and many people out there are quite happy to try and make you feel bad about yourself for a whole host of reasons. For this reason, I always remind myself how far I have…

What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain. This is a question that, over the years, I have been asked so many times after my son was born. It seems to be assumed that once you have one, you have a hell of a lot more. Why? From when my now 16 year…

If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why? If I was to be someone else for the day, I would be the exact opposite to who I am now. I am quiet by nature, happy in my own company and do not ever want to be the centre…

Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on. While the term DIY does really apply to doing things around the house like putting up shelves or painting, etc, that is not where I would excel in any way. What I do like to spend my time doing is sewing. I aim, over time,…

The most important invention in your lifetime is… For me, Google Maps is a great invention. This is because it can tell where I am and then find exactly where I need to be with ease. Yes, I could buy a paper map for a lot less than a smartphone, but I only need one…

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place. I’m one of those people who never feel like I fit it. I just can’t help being a bit different wherever I go and I’ve always been the same. I’m able to get along well with people, but ask me to be similar or…

What skill would you like to learn? As a kid I wasn’t interested in learning how to play an instrument at all. Now I wish that I had learnt to play something when young, preferably the piano or the clarinet. Today, I am thinking about learning an instrument once I have a bit more time…

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Over the years I’ve had a lot of advice off my lovely mum. one piece of this advice stands out over all others. This advice is that if you can enjoy your work for three days out of five, then you are on to a good…

How do you relax? One of the things that I love doing the most to relax is reading. I read all sorts of things from historical and crime fiction to history, gardening books and books on sewing. This leads nicely on to another hobby I do to relax. I sew some of my own clothes…

How would you design the city of the future? City streets would be wide and open, with trees and other plantings would run the length of these streets. There would be parks at regular intervals throughout the city, allowing everyone to access green space. As there would have to be many apartments in a future…

What motivates you? There is one thing above all else that motivates me and that is my son. I want my son to live in a world that is fair, where everyone can live a decent life. Currently, the world is not fair in so many ways, including people being unable to afford enough food…

What profession do you admire most and why? I admire people who work in a customer service role because the general public can be an utter nightmare to deal with. Customer service personnel have to keep patient and civil to the customers the deal with, even when being treated like dirt and getting paid relatively…

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world? This is an easy question for me to answer. Through my blog, I would love to get more people interested in plants. This interest can be can be one indoor plant where you have never grown anything before or decide…

Describe one habit that brings you joy. Reading every day gives me great joy. This is because I can go to far away places without having to travel, l can learn about all sorts of things and escape reality for a little while when reading fiction.

What are you curious about? I am always curious about plants, how they work and find them endlessly interesting. I am also curious about history, especially British, ancient Egypt and natural history too. Science generally is really interesting too, along with all its applications. Overall, I also think that if a human is not curious,…

What traditions have you not kept that your parents had? Coming from England, a Sunday roast is a common tradition that many families have every week, including mine when I was a child. As an adult, I don’t have many of these any mor. As there are only three of us at home (instead of…

What’s the story behind your nickname? At high school, I got given the name ‘Bigbird’, as in the big, yellow bird of Sesame Street, the kids TV program. I got this name because, when I started high school, I was particularly tall compared to other kids in my year. Over time, the others caught up…