What's a 'holiday'?! I have a vague recollection of leaving our cottage when the girls were young and sleeping in a tent ... but so long ago! @Hostafan1 my uncle was given 3 months to live last February ... 11 months later, he was told that he was misdiagnosed.
Can't you ask a neighbour to water your pots, and offer to do the same for them when they go away? The other thing I do is deadhead absolutely everything that repeat flowers, just before I leave.
Water the pots well, don't fertilise them and put them in the shade if possible. Water flower beds before you leave, they will be fine.
I do quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing as OH lives in England and I live in France. I used to have a house sitter, now I have a handy man but I'm sure watering doesn't get done as much as I would do it. The plants that suffer most are annuals in pots in the sun. French sun can be very hot, but they usually perk up again when watered. I used to have a lot of pots, now I've moved to a smaller house and don't do them anymore. I do have pots in England but they are in the shade, mostly herbs. NDN waters them when she remembers. They can go for a while without being watered.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Do a Chelsea chop on plants now that can take it, pick loads of blooms before you go, so the plants will flower when you get back.
I'm going off for a month or so and a family is staying in the house while I'm away - mutually beneficial. The kids will enjoy the garden, the husband is a good and careful gardener. I get to explore and will get back when the dahlias are popping.
I wouldn't think of it as "abandonment". You are getting away.
I'm nearly in the same boat
Hostafan1 (not quite as bad as your situation). My wife now needs a wheelchair to go anywhere and is just
too ill to literally go anywhere. I've been trying for six months now
to get her to her Mothers home in Guernsey as she's 94 and who knows how long she's got.. Each time I book she gets
ill again and we have to cancel .I spend my days taking care of her
needs now. Not something either of us expected.
My advice to anyone do
your travelling when you can if you have the means to as none of us
knows what's around the corner.
As I approached
retirement I planned to travel further around the world to go to
those places most tourists don't go. I hate tourist destinations. You'll never see me anywhere near lots of people. I've hiked through the Alps and
Pyrenees sleeping in my one man tent (bliss). Climbed ( There all walking mountains) Mount Toubkal ( Morocco), Kilimanjaro and La Vetta del Gran Paradiso (Italy) . Worked for a
charity in Northern Zambia and Tanzania an eye opener to real
poverty in the world. Trekked through Nepal to Annapurna and on to
Butan and much more.. Sadly now all gone to me.
Selfish of me to
think any further adventures are now lost to me I know, given my poor wife's illness but we only
have one life and I wanted to see as much of this fascinating planet and build as many memories for old age as I could before I re-join the universe as matter.
Sorry for my little
rant feeling rather Curmudgeonly ( have I spelt that right). Maybe
I'm in the wrong thread apologises.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
Last time we had a holiday was 13 years ago. Too complicated,2 dogs,plus the garden. Weekend before last, went away for 1 night. Had to arrange it when my daughter wasn't working,I watered green houses,house plants,still had to leave list,how often,what time,wat food for which dog,where they sleep. 13 years ago,it was a lot more animals,garden,house plants too much aggregation, queues at airports,no thank you!
Chaos at airports, roads clogged, petrol prices through the roof, stupidly high hotel tariffs...Think I'll stay at home & save up to pay for my energy & food bills this winter.
I'm going away tomorrow but only for a week (taking parents to a cottage at the lovely Plas Cadnant gardens - they haven't had a holiday since before covid). The containers are on a drip irrigation system. I put the timer out yesterday and checked the drippers. I'll do a bit of Chelsea chopping and cut the grass later today, newly-planted things and houseplants will get a good watering this evening and everything else will fend for itself. Fortunately we had a useful bit of rain a couple of days ago.
Posts
@Hostafan1 my uncle was given 3 months to live last February ... 11 months later, he was told that he was misdiagnosed.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
The other thing I do is deadhead absolutely everything that repeat flowers, just before I leave.
I do quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing as OH lives in England and I live in France. I used to have a house sitter, now I have a handy man but I'm sure watering doesn't get done as much as I would do it. The plants that suffer most are annuals in pots in the sun. French sun can be very hot, but they usually perk up again when watered. I used to have a lot of pots, now I've moved to a smaller house and don't do them anymore. I do have pots in England but they are in the shade, mostly herbs. NDN waters them when she remembers. They can go for a while without being watered.
@Hostafan1
I'm nearly in the same boat Hostafan1 (not quite as bad as your situation). My wife now needs a wheelchair to go anywhere and is just too ill to literally go anywhere. I've been trying for six months now to get her to her Mothers home in Guernsey as she's 94 and who knows how long she's got.. Each time I book she gets ill again and we have to cancel .I spend my days taking care of her needs now. Not something either of us expected.
My advice to anyone do your travelling when you can if you have the means to as none of us knows what's around the corner.
As I approached retirement I planned to travel further around the world to go to those places most tourists don't go. I hate tourist destinations. You'll never see me anywhere near lots of people.
I've hiked through the Alps and Pyrenees sleeping in my one man tent (bliss). Climbed ( There all walking mountains) Mount Toubkal ( Morocco), Kilimanjaro and La Vetta del Gran Paradiso (Italy) . Worked for a charity in Northern Zambia and Tanzania an eye opener to real poverty in the world. Trekked through Nepal to Annapurna and on to Butan and much more.. Sadly now all gone to me.
Selfish of me to think any further adventures are now lost to me I know, given my poor wife's illness but we only have one life and I wanted to see as much of this fascinating planet and build as many memories for old age as I could before I re-join the universe as matter.
Sorry for my little rant feeling rather Curmudgeonly ( have I spelt that right). Maybe I'm in the wrong thread apologises.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw'
I'm just in auto pilot, Groundhog Day mode.