The photo above is my cack-handed attempt to capture the extraordinary sight I saw on February 18th last year. I was out in the garden on a sunny day and saw red dots on a beech tree. As I got closer, I could hear what sounded like hundreds of bees buzzing around, and actually yes,Continue reading “The world waking up”
Tag Archives: Gardening
The New Year starts here
Maybe a little late to wish a happy new year, but I will anyway. The year still has that hopeful feeling to it, a long time before we start to ask where the year went and what are we eating for Christmas dinner? Aubergine moussaka this year. Even the cat refused turkey scraps by theContinue reading “The New Year starts here”
Self-Defence for Gardeners
There’s been some long gaps between postings this autumn and winter. So what have I been up? In brief – a lot of writing, a most enormous amount of wall-building and not enough gardening to save us from a Zucchini Tsunami and the Giant Monster Squash. The wall in question is the second wall forContinue reading “Self-Defence for Gardeners”
Gold and Brown
This dry spell has been going on for months, and now we are all used to it. It’s been over three months since we saw any reasonable amount of rain – even for a dry region like ours, this is definitely out of the ordinary. Local weather forecasters have said that we have had 1%Continue reading “Gold and Brown”
Of apples and pears
Haven’t posted for nearly two weeks. It would have been dull. For most of that time, we have been watching paint dry. Still painting the living room – and of course, filling in the cracks and the gaps between skirting board and wall, sanding down the filler, covering the elegant green blobs on the niceContinue reading “Of apples and pears”
Best Wishes for 2022
I found a card last month that said; “2021. A great year. Unless you wanted to go anywhere, do anything, or meet anyone.” I sent it to a friend who needed a laugh. But looking back on 2021 earlier today, we were pleased at what we’ve achieved in the year. Rosebeds, repaired compost heap structure,Continue reading “Best Wishes for 2022”
You know it’s all over when…
We play a word game along the lines of “You know it’s all over when…” While I was working, Christmas was all over when I went back to work, which would have been the day after Boxing Day (having packed up early on the afternoon of Christmas Eve). Having given up work (or on thoseContinue reading “You know it’s all over when…”
Spaghetti Western
We visited friends in Gloucestershire when lockdown eased enough to make it legal, and descended on the local plant nurseries like locusts. I’d had poor success raising seedlings for the polytunnel – well, I’d had the usual success rate, but as the weather in April was more like February, I wasn’t able to plant themContinue reading “Spaghetti Western”
Ready for winter
After all the designing and re-designing and searching for the materials and cussing and working… we have a woodshed. Anyone who thinks it’s too large needs to think that we have to have a roof over it, and a roof high enough off the floor that we don’t have to crouch when we go insideContinue reading “Ready for winter”
Putting the garden to rights
We arrived home from our visit to friends on Monday and unloaded the plants I’d bought on our nursery tour. There were – a lot of plants. I wanted to plant them all this week, but the weather’s playing jokes. From cold and dry in April to wet and mild in May to warm andContinue reading “Putting the garden to rights”
Julia Chalkley 