Brenda’s Little Paradise.
A few years back, Brenda, her husband Rob and son Luke moved to Marvin’s Island, they bought a nice house in the center of the island. At that time, it wasn’t something special; it was a house with a back yard and some chickens on it.
Today it’s a total different story, the house is still structurally the same, but the property around has undergone a major overhaul. Where once chicken pawed for worms there is today a beautiful vegetable and flower garden.
You only can imagine how many hours of sweat and blisters went into this work of art and beauty.
I can tell you first hand that the vegetables growing there are very tasty and have a perfect shape and coloring. Many of them I even didn’t know existed, like Swiss chard, kale and pattypan squash.
Each time when I visit her garden, I have to go in every corner to discover which of her flowers are in blossom right now. There are irises, lilies, turtle heads, daisies, poppies, different kind of grasses and many, many more. I can’t even remember their names.
The colors are going from a clean white, all kinds of yellows and reds to a huge diversity of blues and purples all arranged to make you feel relaxed and satisfied only looking at them.
My favorite place is the deck on the backside of the house. It gives you the possibility to overlook the whole back yard while you are enjoying a cold beer, if there is one in the fridge. Right Brenda, 
?
You can see birds taking a bath. The bird bath is the centerpiece of the vegetable garden, which you enter through a wooden rose bower, handmade by Rob.
Brenda really has a big heart for all her feathered little friends. You not only find a huge variety of different bird feeders and plants. She also provides a bird bath for the winter time, so they find a drink or a bath when everything else is covered in ice and snow.
Another place I love in her garden is her summer house. But I call it “the garden villa”. Rob built it last summer on the site where the last owner had his henhouse. The most parts are reused/recycled from old buildings from our area.. You can see the knowledge and love Rob put into this project. (Rob, I need one too. The plans are drawn. When did you have time?) Just last Saturday, after a long day at work, I was happy to be sitting in there after Brenda and I got surprised by a little rain squall while having a garden tour.
September 25, 2009 at 2:26 am
Not only is the place amazing so are Brenda and Rob. You are always welcome and they make you feel right at home. When I visit the first thing we do is walk through the garden with a glass of wine and we talk about each flower in bloom as the colors are just magnificent. Rob and Brenda work very hard to make this beautiful garden “Brenda’s little Paradise”.
September 25, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I have seen photos of this transformation taking place from time to time and I can tell you from experience that Brenda and Rob cherish their friends in Shropshire, England as much as their garden, and we love them.
Kath & Jack.
September 26, 2009 at 12:25 am
Yes, it is true, we do cherish, with all our hearts, our friends in Shropshire, England. My great-gran was born there, as were some of my husband’s family, and I expect, our love of an English Country Garden already bloomed in our souls when we began this garden. I can’t believe the change in ten years and with Chris’s kind attention, and caring heart, he wrote this blog about it. Thank you Kath and Chris and sis…we love you dearly.
September 26, 2009 at 1:13 pm
What happy memories these photos brought back to us. We live in England and Bren and Rob are our dear friends. We have spent many happy hours in Bren’s colourful garden, enjoying all the wonderful blooms and marvelling at the humming birds who came to visit when we were there. Rob has done a magnificent job of building their beautiful summerhouse and we hope to see many more photos of the garden which continues to flourish with all of Bren’s love and care. In the future we hope we may once again walk amongst all the flowers on this little piece of paradise on Marvin’s Island.