Chilling Out

No, I did not spontaneously combust on a surfeit of rhubarb crumble back in April but the last few months have just flown by ! The major event during this time has been finishing work. This came about through the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy. I debated long and hard about this. Although I really enjoyed certain aspects of my job working with teenagers the job had changed considerably over the years. The direction in which it seemed to be going was getting further and further away from why I went into it in the first place. Rather than providing a universal service to young people, most of our resources were targeted at young people who were disaffected and at risk of social exclusion. As you can imagine a challenging target group :) Although in theory the main part of the work was direct contact with young people, there were also increasingly complex and sometimes duplicate recording systems, which did not always make sense to me and my colleagues. I often found myself working in the evenings and weekends to keep up with it. I was getting increasingly disillusioned with my working life and with the thought of yet more changes on the horizon. So back in December last year persuaded by the fact that I would also get my occupational pension as well as a modest redundancy payment, I applied for redundancy and my application was accepted !

The last few months were spent in a strange sort of limbo as I was still working but could no longer make plans for the future as far as work was concerned. I heard the words ' It's not long to go now' and ' How are you feeling?' from my colleagues so much so that I began to feel that I had morphed into an another being. Three other colleagues who I had worked with for years also left under the same terms so we provided mutual support to each other during this period. I finished at the end of July and was overwhelmed by my colleague's good wishes and some beautiful gifts mainly garden related :) I still have some garden gift vouchers to spend but want to take my time to chose something really special. I will know what it is once I see it.

Since then I have enjoyed nearly four months of just chilling out. I was lucky enough to have a few breaks during the late summer and early autumn so it has taken a while to adjust to this new way of life at home. No complaints so far - I feel so much more healthier and happier.

Although I have not posted on my blog I have been working on it as I would like to unveil it warts and all in the near future. I love reading other people's blogs although I know I am guilty of not commenting as much as I should. I feel a bit like that I have been visiting other people but not inviting them back to my 'home', so I would like to remedy that and join the blogging community.There is a wealth of information out there and people are so generous with their thoughts and experiences. I have learned so much and have laughed, been sad and sometimes amazed at what I have read. I now have the time to blog so no excuses. It will also exercise my keyboard skills as well as the old grey matter. I would be delighted and amazed if anybody should read my blog. I have a little more to do before opening up but that day is on the near horizon.

Crumble

Spring seems a case of one step forwards and two back at the moment. Woke up this morning to sparkling blue skies and a blanket of snow. It melted during the morning. I missed the spring plant sale at Arley Hall today as my beloved was working. I imagine that the stallholders must have been frozen by the end of the day. Oh well I suppose I saved some pennies ! Quite a few seedlings in the greenhouse now. I will try and list them soon so I can keep a record of what I have sown this year. I need to start pricking out the first tomatoes but it is much too cold today. On Friday I picked the first rhubarb from the lottie - enough for us and for our next door neighbours. Crumble here we come!

Marching On

"March! March! March! They are coming
In troops to the tune of the wind.
Redheaded woodpeckers drumming,
Gold - crested thrushes behind;
Sparrows in brown jackets, hopping
Past every gateway and door;
Finches, with crimson caps, stopping
Just where they stopped before.
March! March! March! They are slipping
Into their places at last. . .
Literature white lily buds, dripping
Under the showers that fall fast;
Buttercups, violets, roses;
Snowdrop and bluebell and pink,
Throng upon throng of sweet posies
Bending the dewdrops to drink.
March! March! March! They will hurry
Forth at the wild bugle sound,
Blossoms and birds in a flurry,
Fluttering all over the ground.
Shake out your flags, birch and willow!
Shake out your red tassels, larch!
Grass blades, up from your earth - pillow.
Hear who is calling you. . . March."
- Lucy Larcom, March

Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008

Last night we watched some of the television coverage of the opening ceremony for Liverpool 'European Capital of Culture 2008'. We toyed with the idea of going into town but I was apprehensive that it might be too crowded so we made do with the disjointed snippets on BBC News 24. St.George's Hall glowed in the dark as cranes danced and container crates burst open to reveal precious cargo. I am looking forward to attending some of the events and will report back as the year unfolds.

'Surprise, Surprise'

Last year's surprises - acanthus mollis and clematis texensis
'Princess Diana' - both have been in the garden for some years but have never flowered before. Must have been all that rain !



Postscript - the clematis flourished in the summer of 2008 but once again sadly the acanthus was a complete no show. So much for my rain theory.

New Year

Well, here I am again with my usual new year's resolution to be a more regular blogger having failed miserably once again in 2007. Well 2008 is here - a mild and mainly grey day here so far. The predicted rain has not yet materialised and hopefully I will be out soon planting a few late bulbs.

In a nutshell gardening wise and weatherwise 2007 turned out be the strangest year. A very warm and dry April was followed by what turned out to be am extremely wet late spring and early summer. On the lottie nothing really thrived except for my French beans which dripped beans throughout the summer. I have never had a worse year though for tomatoes and carrots. Very few grapes. A pleasant, mellow autumn followed. In November gale force winds bought the exterior fence down at the allotment, so my Christmas present this year has been new fencing which my beloved has put up. I have still to see it.

Not much in the way of garden visiting last summer although we fitted in one or two beautiful ones in Devon between interminable downpours. Above is a photo from one of them - Buckland Abbey if I recall correctly. We also enjoyed a trip to the Malvern Flower Show in spring despite the wind and rain. Later in August we went to the Southport Flower Show where we managed to catch a glimpse of that rare old golden globe in the sky.


Hope to be back soon !

Shiver me timbers

Well so much for being a diligent blogger ! Here we are a good few few weeks later and a lot has happened in the garden. The snowdrops are nearly all over now - only one or two late stragglers. The hellebores are still thriving and I have a lovely new one which is a very deep plummy colour. Pulmonarias and primroses are in bloom. I had a shock yesterday to see a geranium phaeum in flower.

The weather has been mild on the whole but a cold snap just now. A very windy night and hail,sleet etc.this morning. The forecast for the rest of the week is for some wintry weather and frosts at night. My camellia 'Jury's Yellow' is just opening its first flowers so I hope that these are not damaged by the frosts.

I spent a couple of hours at the lottie on Friday morning and could see a visible difference after my stint. Sadly the dividing fence between us and next door is all but down. I imagine that last night's winds could have done more damage but it will be a few days before I get up there to see what may have happened.

Seeds sown so far include tomatoes 'Ildi','Black Cherry' and 'Gardener's Delight', nicotiana mutablis, rhodochition, sweet peppers, celeriac, mixed salad leaves, 'Bijou' lettuce, brussel sprouts 'Red Bull' and sweet pea 'Zorija Rose'. I think that all these babies will need some nurturing this week. Only a week though to go to summer time.

Wet and windy

The first fortnight of 2007 has been very wet,windy and mild. Some snowdrops and hellebores already open ! I saw some daffodils in flower today - not in my garden but just up the road. They are snuggled away just behind a wall. I remember thinking that they were early last year but not as early as this. On telling himself of the daffodils he told me that he saw a flash of yellow by the stream yesterday. Maybe an aconite. Surely not a daffodil. I am off come first light to have a reccie. Will report back.

New Year's Day 2007

Last night's threatened gale force winds did not materialise I am glad to say. New Year's Day started bright and sunny but went downhill. Rain and hail the order of the afternoon and the evening. I have not had a chance to sort out seeds or order but have planted some daff bulbs albeit late on in the day. They had already started to sprout. I also planted up an amaryllis. Back to work tomorrow.

I will be a more diligent blogger

Another year coming to an end and again I have neglected my blog ! Having just managed to get here after faffing about to change to a Google account it might take me another year to return ! What a year it has been weatherwise. A cold late spring followed by a very hot summer and a warm autumn. It has been the warmest year since records started. The forecast for the rest of the day is gale force winds and rain. I will not be venturing anywhere though. I am off now to sort through my seedboxes and do some sorting out. Still have one or two orders to place. May do that later or if not tomorrow. These fingers are itching to get going again.

New Year's resolution ?

I vow to be a more diligent blogger !