Lovely Surprises

I had two lovely surprises today.

First, I discovered that the peony root rescued in August  has started to grow:

I was very excited to see this tiny bit of green. When the house it came from was sold, some of the plants were dug up and taken away, including a few herbaceous peonies. But last spring a peony shoot appeared, so I knew something had been left behind. It disappeared amongst the weeds of the untended garden last summer, but when the house was about to be demolished, the remaining peony root was something I really wanted to find. The root we found was about 40cms long, and must have broken off when the main part of the plant was taken. We put it in the garden in Coburg with the rest of the rescue plants, until it was time for them all to be dug up again and brought here. At that point the peony root had started sprouting a couple of new rootlets, so I knew it was still alive. I put it in a pot and hoped that it would stand being uprooted again. And here it is!

Later in the day, I was given a wonderful surprise gift:

An old enamel advertising sign from India, to hang up in my sewing room! I first saw this sign for sale over 4 years ago, and every time I have visited the shop since, I've checked to see if it was still there - hoping no-one had bought it, and also hoping the price might have dropped to something more reasonable. But I don't have to worry any more, because now it's mine!