Good afternoon all. Didn’t realise it’s been such a long time since I’ve put a blog up. If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter (X) or Instagram I’ve been putting photos up regularly. But this has just slipped my notice. Anyway I will endeavour to blog more this season, sorry I’ve been away for a while. Even though it’s the winter the garden is still producing some wonderful surprises….not as prolific as the summer mind you, but it’s still giving us little treats. I still have a few veggies growing, mainly leeks and Brussels Sprouts and I’ve just harvested the last of the parsnips. I’m rather ..read more

Well what a weekend that was. Busy busy. Mark and I were away for the weekend, which is generally all the holiday we get together at the moment as we’re both just so busy. We drove, or rather Mark did all the driving, down to Hampshire late Friday afternoon once I’d finished work. We had dinner at the hotel and then an early night. On the Saturday we visited the Gardeners’ World Spring fair at Beaulieu. One of the clients that I garden for surprised me by very generously buying a couple of tickets as a thank you for all the hard work I do in their garden. As we were driving the short distance ..read more

This year I’m getting compost as and when I need it (which at this time of year is frequently). They have a special deal at our local independent garden centre on compost when you buy 3 bags, so I’m buying 3 bags at a time. However with so many seedlings to sow and especially prick out, 3 bags doesn’t last long, as I’m sure you can imagine. Maybe when I go tomorrow I’ll buy 6 bags. The wind is coming from the north east today so it rather bitey, so I think the best place for me to have been today is in the greenhouses, which I was. There was lots of pricking out to do, and I still have more to ..read more

The garden is a bit like a class of school children. When the teacher is around they all behave perfectly, but if the teacher is away and a supply teacher comes in, then they mess about…..I know because I was a kid once. Now I was away on my little holiday for 7 days, yes just 7. Not 2 weeks, not 1 month. Just 7 days. The garden decided to go completely loopy in that time. Yes apparently the rain was “Biblical” so Mark said so everything got a good watering, but they all seemed to misbehave. The fairy garden is just a mess as my Palm Cordyline decided to shed all of its brown leaves. I just ne ..read more

I had a little holiday recently. I was hoping to keep you posted on where we were during my week away, but the wifi on the canal boat was a little hit and miss….well more miss than hit. Sometimes it’s great that way because you can really get away from it all. What more could you want than to spend 7 days on a canal boat with 7 other people, all of us bell ringers. I know to some people that would seem like a nightmare, but for us 8 it was heaven. This was the second time I’ve been on a canal boat, the first time was last year. Our boat was called “Josephine” and what a fine boat she was to at ..read more

Sorry for not being in touch for a while, but the last month what with one thing and another. I’ve been out in my garden little and often, but that’s generally just been me tying in and side shooting my tomatoes, weeding, pruning, harvesting, planting out various flower plants and the obligatory watering of everything. I’ve been grabbing the odd 30 minutes I’ve had before I go to work, and then a little time after work while the dinner is cooking. The weekends have been full on with one thing and another and Mark and I were a way for one weekend as well. I’m working on a few Saturday’s, just a ..read more

After the last couple of weekends being frantic, one with ringing for the Jubilee, and the other with a retirement party and collecting George from university, I finally had a weekend to myself and at home. Saturday morning was busy with shopping and getting pet supplies, the chickens eat so much. The afternoon was house chores and we had a BBQ in the evening which I managed to get it all cooked before it rained. There are 6 of us in the house at the moment so that’s a lot of food for a BBQ. Still the best thing about a BBQ is the left overs for the next couple of days. This is only the first ..read more

For those who don’t live in the UK this weekend was a 4 day Bank Holiday. We don’t usually get these, but we were celebrating our Queen being on the throne for 70 years so they added a couple of extra days holiday in. Being a Bank Holiday and being self employed, if you don’t work, you don’t earn any money. So with that in mind I did work both the Thursday and the Friday. If you’re thinking that being a 4 day weekend that must have been relaxing (even if I was working 2 of those days) think again. I don’t think I’ve been busier. Not only working, but on the Friday, Saturday and the Sunday ther ..read more

Where has this month gone? Where has this year gone? I know the older you get the quicker times goes, but this is ridiculous. Another weekend and lots more to do in the garden which is brilliant. Saturday morning I tidied the pots and containers out the front of the house, giving them a good water afterwards. The Perennial Poppies are starting to bloom which is wonderful. I just love their delicate petals, such a shame they don’t last that long. Once that was done it was a tidy up of the car boot. It tends to get messy during the working week so the weekend is the perfect time to sort out any ..read more

Yes I know it’s unusual for me to blog mid week, but there is a lot to do in the greenhouses and out in the garden. So before I go to work I try and pop out in the garden and do a little something. I also pop out again when dinner is in the oven. Little and often at this time of year is the key. It’s that time of year when you have to shift bits around in the greenhouses as some plants have to stay in, others are going out soon and there is a lot of tidying and organisation to be done. I like to think of it as doing a puzzle, so a little bit here and a little bit there, you can’t do that, unti ..read more