Sunday Post

When I started my blog back in April 2005, I intended to keep a regular record of what was going on in my garden and at the allotment. My blog was going to be somewhere to record sowing times, flowering times, garden visits, plants bought as well as successes and failures etc. Well my good intentions soon fell abysmally by the wayside, just the same way as writing a diary went several years before. However now that I have started to post more regularly I am going to attempt a weekly summary of matters related to garden and the lottie.

Well here we are already with only one more week in January ahead of us. The evenings are starting to draw out slowly but noticeably.

The allotment has remained a no go area so far this year. There are tasks awaiting, but they can wait until until it warms up slightly. To accomplish them I would need to stay for some time and would inevitably have to answer a call of nature. Of course the colder it is the more I want to go. The thought of having to wee into a bucket on a cool January day simply does not appeal. However I am busy with the planning for the season ahead. Books are out and a rough plan of action is being drawn up. During the next week I must get my seed box out to see what if anything needs ordering. That still does not prevent me browsing through the catalogues just in case.

On the garden front not much done but I have made use of any dry spells to continue with tidying up. The snowdrops are almost on the point of opening, whilst the hellebores are plumping out nicely.

I had my first garden centre trip of the year which was greatly enjoyed. A good mooch around followed by lunch. Himself bought me a few birthday presents including H. x intermedia 'Jelena' as photgraphed here so beautifully by Zoe at Garden Hopping. I have hankered after a witch hazel for quite some time so I left the garden centre with a big smile on my face. Himself reassured me that it did not need a seat belt for the journey and that no damage would be sustained. I am glad to say that it arrived intact at its destination.

In the virtual garden I really enjoyed participating in the Desert Island Challenge set by Shirl at Shirls Gardenwatch blog. I visited blogs that I had not visited before. It was fascinating reading about some beautiful plants, why they were chosen and finding out about some new to me plants on the way. The wish list has expanded yet again !

Lastly a word of praise for 'The English Garden'. Since leaving work I have curtailed my expenditure on several items including magazines, but there are still one or two that I can't resist. I can normally pick up 'The English Garden' locally but had not come across the February edition anywhere. So earlier in the week I phoned to see if there were any issues with publication or distribution. I was told that the magazine was out, and should have been available from newsagents for some time. 'Not here I said' - 'No problem. We will put a copy in the post to you' said the voice at the other end of the phone to and true to her word a complimentary copy arrived in the post the next day. Top marks for customer service.