Serendipity!

These moments are to be treasured, these moments of fortunate coincidence, of happy chance and the good fortune to be there to see it and, almost better still, to record it. A short walk in the garden this morning brought me to a shaft of low sunlight shooting under a large camellia - Camellia 'Donation' …

Two Ladies Stopped by…

There has been a lull in gardening updates. Let me trot out the excuses - bad weather, a garden which is completely saturated, it's been cold, I've been lazy, unenthusiastic and have done very little gardening in the last while - so there was very little to write about and I wasn't in good enough …

Briefly Brexity

December 9th: I placed an order for A Passion for Snowdrops with Summerfield Books (in the UK) December 10th: Summerfield Books acknowledged receipt of my order. December 10th: Summerfield Books had finished processing my order and had dispatched it with Royal Mail. £14.95 for the book; £4.60 for postage - a total of £19.55. December …

Easy Peasy!

That's what I thought - easy peasy! - as I set out to write this post but I was quickly brought to my senses. I had a thought of organising a selection of photographs from the past year, a type of retrospective, but when I arranged all of last year's images into one folder I …

The Snowdrop Scene

It won't last; I know it won't; well, it probably won't - a diary of sorts reporting on how the snowdrops are doing in the garden! A report at this time of the year is a simple and straight-forward affair as the number of snowdrops in flower is small but, as the season continues and …

Dinner for Two!

I'll be brief for that would be most appropriate on the evening that's in it - Christmas Eve! Our practices of many years have come down upon us with more than a sense of "There's no fool like an old fool" for we have continued the practices of many years without ever considering that times …

A Mid-Winter Miscellany

We each have two gardens, that garden that our eye sees and that garden of our mind and of our imagination. There are days through the year, generally in summer, when these two versions of our gardens align and we look at our work with a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness. However, this aligning …

Snowdrop Anxiety.

To the best of my knowledge psychiatrists have yet to place this condition within the spectrum of mental ill health but there is little doubt that it is a cause of great tension, stress even suffering for those with a more than normal interest in growing snowdrops and is particularly prevalent at this time of …

A Dirty Day!

It's a dirty day, a day without a glimmer of sun, a day dull and overcast and, while it hasn't rained, it and everything about it is wet and clammy and miserable. It is as day when those with any semblance of sense would settle down with a good book, a coffee or something stronger, …

Barra-caded!

Storm Barra has arrived, is with us and will remain with us for a while longer. Our area has an Orange-level weather warning in operation - very strong winds, heavy rain, probable flooding, some damage etc - and has lived up to the forecast so far today. I was woken around six this morning by …