Almost There

"'Christmas Eve', Fanny said. 'Christmas Eve'. As if saying it aloud would make her better able to believe it. 'Christmas Eve', and she watched her own breath puff out like pale smoke on the cold air of her bedroom, and turn to a fine mist on the windowpane.

Christmas Eve, was the best of it all, the waiting and laughing, the sense of excitement through the house, like one of Nancy's black pots kept simmering. She thought of the rest of the day, and the evening to come, and saw a gleam of brightness cast forward from the blazing gold of Christmas Day, lancing towards her like the light streaming under the crack beneath a half-open door.

Christmas Day, Fanny thought, is like the room beyond that door, a bright, bright room, an Aladdin's cave of treasure, the tree with its candles and the banked up fire all glowing, and the pile of shining presents, and the Christmas table, heavy with good things, the smells and the laughter and the love and oh, the bright brightness. But for now, she was standing just outside, in the waiting room, and the light from the room that was Christmas Day, just reached her, just touched, and she could feel her heart beat very fast'."

~ an extract from 'Lanterns Across The Snow' by Susan Hill.

Illustration by Lena Anderson.

Well, we're almost there - Christmas Eve is oh so tantalisingly close. Enjoy that most magical day of Christmas as well as the days to follow. Wishing my lovely blogging friends a most Happy Christmas!❤️ xxx

Undercover ~ #my gardenrightnow

Today's garden related activities have taken place under cover in the shelter of the greenhouse, where I've been tending to my collection of special named snowdrops. I can't remember exactly when my addiction started but it was somewhere before the turn of the century. Over the years the number of snowdrop varieties has slowly increased and now this collection gives me great pleasure during the bleakest month of the year. My bulbs have come from specialist nurseries, eBay and as swaps or gifts from kind friends including fellow bloggers. Bulbs can be alarmingly expensive especially the new varieties but if you are prepared to wait prices do come down over the years. My greenhouse is close to the house so even on the coldest or wettest days I can pop out and see what is going on. As well as being able to see the flower markings at close quarters, I can also lift the pots up to inhale their delicate but distinct scent.

Growing snowdrops in pots can be a challenge especially when it comes to overwintering them. Originally all the pots were outside all year round but I lost a substantial number of bulbs following the cold winter of 2010/2011. Since then the pots come inside the greenhouse for the winter usually sometime towards the middle or the back end of November. The greenhouse door is opened on all but the coldest days and a small electric fan heater prevents the temperature dropping down below zero. Watering takes place at least once a month sometimes more depending on the weather but is always done during relatively mild spells. The pots will be returned to the big outside world sometime in the spring.

This autumn has seen the snowdrops come into growth earlier than I can ever remember. Today was chance to check all the pots where there appeared to be no visible sign of life. I wanted to remove any definite no shows in case those pots were harbouring any disease that might spread to neighbours. I found the odd pot where bulbs had completely disappeared. The good news was there were all varieties which I have more than one either growing in another pot or in the garden. The long term plan is to establish as many varieties as I can out in the garden and reduce my potted collection to a top twenty. Apart from the fact that they take over the greenhouse in the winter, lifting the crates in and out of the greenhouse has become more and more of a Herculean effort each year.

Why not join in the fourth and last in 2017 of this seasonal challenge to share what's been going on in your garden or allotment right now. This is a special festive or hope edition so I have focused on what gives me a fix of hope every winter. If you want to join in you can either put together a blog post or post a photo on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #my gardenrightnow

A BIG thanks to the lovely Michelle over at Veg Plotting who came up with this inspirational idea.