Boughton News July

Ready for lunch on June 8th!

We were very fortunate on our Open Gardens Day as the sun shone and welcomed visitors to the village. Time and energy spent on publicising the event in newspapers, diocesan websites, parish magazines and the media proved worthwhile as we had visitors from Norwich, Hunstanton, Dersingham, Brandon and I’m told there were even a couple from Finland! There were nearly 160 people visiting, many for the umpteenth time! All were appreciative of our gardens – I’ve never had so many people round mine on one afternoon. Anyone who has wondered about opening but worried about a weed out of place need not worry, as the visitors are interested in flowers, wildlife, general interest. One person commented to me about the number of butterflies, which I hadn’t noticed for myself, but as soon as she did they were around everywhere!! Many thanks to all the people who opened their gardens, some of whom managed to do other things as well. It was good to have all the familiar gardens plus a new one and one that had changed ownership. I hope you all enjoyed the day.

Thanks to Andrew and Angela for all the hard work they put into the Plant Emporium. It amazes me how much they get to sell and how attractively it is presented. Angela also makes sure the entrance to the church welcomes people with beautifully maintained pots and was responsible for putting out the signs on the roads leading into the village..  The Plant Emporium raised an amazing £340.

The picture above shows the beautifully laid out church refreshment area, laid out by Sandy and her team, just the tip of the iceberg as the planning and preparation goes on beforehand and out of sight. Everyone who came round the gardens commented on the excellence of our refreshments – some went back more than once and sat there eating tea as well as lunch! I didn’t manage that, but I did get a takeaway.  Good refreshments contribute such a lot to a day like OGD and I know many people made cakes and other things for sale as well. Thanks to Accent Fresh for supplying the salads again.  Refreshments raised over £700.

I’m still waiting for the final figure as I write, but at the time of writing I expect it to be over £1650. Thanks again to everyone who contributed time, money and enthusiasm.