VItamin D…

Finally a blink of sun. The effect has been remarkable. Watching the garden over the last few days has been like watching one of those time lapse photography films with buds bursting and opening almost as you watch. Everywhere there is a riot of colour. The tulips have been absolutely magnificent. We have had rankContinue reading “VItamin D…”

Mad March

I’ve been tied up with all manner of “stuff” of late and somehow March has slipped through my fingers. A catch up is well overdue and a combination of truly miserable weather and the blissful peace of an empty house (I have been largely deserted for various holidays, meetings, lectures and what have you) meansContinue reading “Mad March”

Perking up

The last few days have brought a speck of sun and it has driven the weeks of mud right out of my head. I look around at the green spears of emerging buds and tiny pulmonaria flowers straining up to enjoy a little warmth and wonder why on earth I’ve not weeded all the bordersContinue reading “Perking up”

Sizzle and Hiss

Well, whilst the rain pelts down against the garret door I’ll just do a bijou update on the garden as we cruise from June to July. Curiously, perhaps with the early frost then burning dry patch, everything seemed to come out in a helter skelter all at once and hang around well past the scheduledContinue reading “Sizzle and Hiss”

Splish Splash

After the full compendium of weather recently, there’s been a growth spurt in the garden, especially in the pond. Serenading breaks out whenever there’s a glimpse of sun. We have basso profundo toads in the bottom pond rising through baritone in the stream and a few countertenors under the top pond bridge. World weary femalesContinue reading “Splish Splash”

We are not alone

We have had two days now of hard frost, following the weekend’s snow. Keith is trudging stoically up and down with barrows of logs, manning the fires and the cats are, as ever, keeping the bed warm. With Lachlan in Edinburgh, filling in time til his exam by acting as our remote shopper (today IContinue reading “We are not alone”

Another year, another project

Just a quick garden update for those who like that sort of thing! Work on the new shade bed is trucking along steadily. I have now rehomed all of Raymond Next Door’s unwanted hostas and potted up the broken bits to act as possible fillers elsewhere next year. I think there’s space in the nutteryContinue reading “Another year, another project”

About time

I’ve never got to grips with relativity (the scientific type, not the study of second cousins – in which I am well versed). I abandoned physics shortly after the ticker tape machine because I hankered after Art. Consequently, I have no sensible explanation for why time speeds up, seemingly exponentially, mid June. One minute thereContinue reading “About time”

It’s all gone Pete Tong

Where to begin….. We set off for the Isle of Wight primped and prepped. Our little party was staying at the Grand, where an ongoing ambience of being in the middle of a Hercule Poirot adventure coexisted slightly uneasily, but in a good way, with the breakfast mix tape of 70s funk classics. The weddingContinue reading “It’s all gone Pete Tong”