A Tiny Garden on 2 August 2025

 

Located on the corner of Westminster and Nelson, this tiny garden brings happiness to many people who stop and admire the flowers and beauty. One of my favourites!

Canadian Cottage Garden on 6 August 2025

 This is the best the garden has ever been. 

Honey bees on 2 August 2025

 On the corner of Mayfair and Terrebonne; honey bees love these hydrangeas.

The Hidden Trail, 4 August 2025

I hadn't been on the hidden trail for several months so I was surprised at how overgrown it had become. It wasn’t always like this, the hidden trail changes with the seasons. It's like being in the country even though it is adjacent to the backyards of houses on one side and train tracks on the other side. So, maybe it's a little of the country in the city, not the downtown city but the neighbourhoods just outside of the downtown core. I have always wanted to be near nature and, even as a child, I tried to find places of nature and solitude, birds and insects, and small animals that are in the city. I liked to explore. Today, on the trail, I saw a ground hog, the other day at home I saw a skunk . . . all minor but they are a part of nature and give meaning to life, meaning not found in some of the other more lucrative things people do. As children we used to explore buildings still under construction, we used to go in old abandoned houses, we used to explore different neighbourhoods, we used to ride our bikes anywhere we wanted; I guess we were safe, or safe enough, we never thought about being safe. None of these adventures were told to our parents, why would they be? Our parents had lives of their own and we never thought that we should tell them anything about our lives. And today we still need places like the hidden trail, places in nature where people can be in touch with nature, where people can breath fresh air, walk on the earth instead of concrete and asphalt, where people can get away from the cars, noise, pollution, and other people, places that haven't been destroyed with condos and apartment buildings and roads and highways, where you don't have to see other people or be with them; nature is healing, just being in nature is healing. Nature heals the undiagnosed symptoms of urban life.  

Edited: 07 August 2025

Canadian Cottage Garden on 1 August 2025

 

Welby Arthur Skinner, 1896 - 1984

Brief bio of Welby Arthur Skinner:

When Welby Arthur Skinner was born on 13 November 1896, in Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom, his father, Arthur John Skinner, was 28 and his mother, Elizabeth Mary Ann Eagle Roberts, was 20. He married Florence Maud Hurst in 1920, in Camberwell, London, England, United Kingdom. He lived in City of London, England, United Kingdom in 1901 and Camberwell, Surrey, England in 1911. He died in June 1984, in Bromley, London, England, United Kingdom, at the age of 87, and was buried in Camberwell, London, England, United Kingdom.

        -- Source: https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L5RT-4SQ/welby-arthur-skinner-1896-1984

Welby Arthur Skinner

Welby Skinner's Rolls Royce:

The following is from the FaceBook page of the present owner of Welby Skinner's Rolls Royce:

 

"This is my 1933 20/25 AXE451. She was bought new in 1933 from Jack Barclay by my wife's great uncle, Welby Skinner. Welby was a Harley Street dentist and a bit of a show off. He was determined to buy himself a Rolls Royce, and to cushion the grief from his wife on the day he came home in it, he stopped off to buy her a mink coat!
The original coach builder was Mann Egerton (mainly known for building aircraft I believe), but then in 1951 Welby splashed out £500 to have her coachwork modernised by Gurney Nutting. The front wings were custom made to look similar in appearance to the Phantom 3 which lead to alterations of the running boards and lower doors. P100 headlamps were added too.
I'll post a bit more about the car and how she ended up in my care soon.

Edit:
Welby's wife, Florrie, passed away and he remarried in the 1960s. (Since being in my care, I have named the car Florrie in honour of his wife. The 'rr' in the middle a nod to the manufacturer). Welby remarried and in 1969 gifted the Rolls to his step son, Malcolm. The Rolls didn't clock up many miles once owned by Malcolm, but it did come out for my wedding on 14th April 1994 (30 years next week!). Later that year Malcolm started 'tinkering'. Oh dear! Until my ownership in 2020, the headlamps sat on a sofa in Malcolm's lounge and 90% of the interior, door cards included, sat in his dining room. Ah, the life of a bachelor! He took various parts of the engine apart and didn't reassemble things correctly. Little did I know what fun I was to have in the future.

                                        -- Stephen Holmes on Facebook"

 

-- Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/661772477715251/posts/1529698040922686/

-o-

More information on Welby's Rolls Royce: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1933169

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Rolls-Royce 20 25 for hire in Sevenoaks
Hire this Rolls-Royce 20 25 for your event
Information about the vehicle

This is a wonderful Rolls Royce 20/25 built in 1933 and 'modernised' in 1951. She wears her history extremely well, in that she is not a gleaming repainted example, but instead demonstrates a beautiful patina. 'Florrie' has been in the same family from new and has a huge history file. Welby Skinner, a Harley Street dentist, bought her new from Jack Barclay. On his way home he bought a mink coat for his wife to pacify her a little!

Source: https://www.bookaclassic.co.uk/rolls-royce-20-25-sevenoaks/

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Stephen Holmes brings his 1933 Rolls Royce 20/25 that has been owned by his family from new. ‘Florrie’, as the Rolls is affectionately named, was bought from Jack Barclays by Stephen’s wife’s great uncle, Welby Skinner, in 1933, and has been handed down through the generations.

        -- Source: https://mikebrewermotoring.com/news/shows-and-events/london-to-                    brighton-runs-get-ready-for-the-start-line/

Welby Skinner, Royal Academy:

Welby Skinner, older brother of RR Skinner and the self-proclaimed family head after his mother died, exhibited two times with the Royal Academy's yearly exhibitions. In 1945, he contributed "Summer Shade"; in 1947, he contributed "Midsummer Shade". The following are paintings mostly of his wife, Florence Skinner (1891 - 1960). Source:https://chronicle250.com/index/exhibitors/s

 

Welby Skinner, "The Artist's Wife", 1944

Welby Skinner, "Eyes Closed", 1941

Welby Skinner, "Somnolence", 1944

Welby Skinner, "Backwater-Sunbury-on-Thames", 1968

Welby Skinner, "Portrait of a man in a blue suit", 1952, oil on canvas;
on left, Welby smoking and a bit rough; on right, Welby, respectable.

Paintings added below, 18 August 2025

Welby Skinner, "Lady In White", c. 1950

Welby Skinner, "A Self-Portrait", 1950

Welby Skinner, "Lady in Green Dress", 1943