Yes Fruitcake I confined myself to the conservatory today. It is going to be milder tomorrow so I will do some pruning then. Luckily I have miles of good paths to work from and good working boots. I bet there are snowdrops appearing now.
Very dull this morning but mild so gardening outside is on the cards. Green wheeliebin gets emptied tomorrow so will cut down brambles and fill it with them. I can wear my new tough leather gardening gloves which being thermal lined have already been useful for filling up the freezer part of my fridge freezer. Looking out in the garden I see loads of hazelnut catkins already and the old leaves have not all fallen off yet. The squirrels will be happy again.
Splendid gardening weather out there. A beautiful cat , mostly white with a bit of black came and joined me . Not knowing which neighbour it came from or its name I said "I bet your name is Snowy" and it came over and rubbed itself against my trousers. Good guess I think. I have a beautiful grey one up that end of the garden but my neighbour who owns it said its name was Smoky so I now have Snowy and Smoky to keep me company. Lots of the brambles had taken root in the limestone path where the tips had touched ground so I pulled out marvellous root balls . They come out easily thank goodness. The birds were singing as if it were spring. There is still a great deal of food for them especially black ivy berries which the blackbirds love. It is more environmentally friendly and cheaper to grow food for the birds rather than buy it with all the transport that entails.
It was so mild today I was able to switch off all my heating while i was out in the garden which reminded me of how much I save in my fuel costs having a garden that needs my attention most days of the year. If I lived in a flat without a garden no doubt I would be in it more and need more heat. As it is I come in so warm from my exertions I do not need to switch on the gas fire for half an hour or so after I come in. No doubt I would have to fill some of my gardening hours elsewhere for amusement which would cost as well. There is more to a garden than good fresh food and lovely flowers, especially if it is a wildlife garden. Nature can always be relied on to provide entertainment without repeats.
Green wheeliebin full up and put out for the garden waste truck tomorrow morning. I compost a great deal of my green stuff but there is always plenty of the rough stuff for the recycle plant to turn into compost. No doubt they have a shredder.
Hi Marion and Happy New Year, I dipped in and out of last year's thread and this year intend to pay more attention, it makes such good reading and you are so knowledgeable
I am very envious of your Orchid, none of mine are flowering at the moment, although I do have buds......yours is so tall and pretty
Quite mild here too Marion, its been 7·5c today, but the wind blew up very cold so did some potting up in the greenhouse. I agree that the birds think its Spring, I watched 2 cock pheasants sparing today while mrs p looked on, fight it out boys!
You orchid is beautiful, I have never had one.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
You can share my orchid, Lyn, as it is in my kitchen(darker than the conservatory so nearer to the jungle understorey it comes from) and will be photographed ad nauseum! I srarted off with cymbidiums from one I had given as a present a few years ago and now have five pots of them. They usually flower from February onwards for me. Happy New Year, Sunflower Lady. I do hope you enjoy my efforts to be ecologically friendly in my garden this year. Bristol being Green Capital of Europe is a great honour and keeps the mind focussed. I am hoping the candidates for Parliament will do all their canvassing on bicycles this year and our traffic pollution will be decimated!
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You were right to stay indoors today Marion, I spent the morning at one of the allotments and am still thawing out now
i found out the hard way that one of my wellies wasn't very waterproof!
Fruitcake that's a good excuse to sit with your feet in front of the fire with a nice big cup of tea
Yes Fruitcake I confined myself to the conservatory today. It is going to be milder tomorrow so I will do some pruning then. Luckily I have miles of good paths to work from and good working boots. I bet there are snowdrops appearing now.
Very dull this morning but mild so gardening outside is on the cards. Green wheeliebin gets emptied tomorrow so will cut down brambles and fill it with them. I can wear my new tough leather gardening gloves which being thermal lined have already been useful for filling up the freezer part of my fridge freezer. Looking out in the garden I see loads of hazelnut catkins already and the old leaves have not all fallen off yet. The squirrels will be happy again.
Splendid gardening weather out there. A beautiful cat , mostly white with a bit of black came and joined me . Not knowing which neighbour it came from or its name I said "I bet your name is Snowy" and it came over and rubbed itself against my trousers. Good guess I think. I have a beautiful grey one up that end of the garden but my neighbour who owns it said its name was Smoky so I now have Snowy and Smoky to keep me company. Lots of the brambles had taken root in the limestone path where the tips had touched ground so I pulled out marvellous root balls . They come out easily thank goodness. The birds were singing as if it were spring. There is still a great deal of food for them especially black ivy berries which the blackbirds love. It is more environmentally friendly and cheaper to grow food for the birds rather than buy it with all the transport that entails.
It was so mild today I was able to switch off all my heating while i was out in the garden which reminded me of how much I save in my fuel costs having a garden that needs my attention most days of the year. If I lived in a flat without a garden no doubt I would be in it more and need more heat. As it is I come in so warm from my exertions I do not need to switch on the gas fire for half an hour or so after I come in. No doubt I would have to fill some of my gardening hours elsewhere for amusement which would cost as well. There is more to a garden than good fresh food and lovely flowers, especially if it is a wildlife garden. Nature can always be relied on to provide entertainment without repeats.
Green wheeliebin full up and put out for the garden waste truck tomorrow morning. I compost a great deal of my green stuff but there is always plenty of the rough stuff for the recycle plant to turn into compost. No doubt they have a shredder.
Hi Marion and Happy New Year, I dipped in and out of last year's thread and this year intend to pay more attention, it makes such good reading and you are so knowledgeable
I am very envious of your Orchid, none of mine are flowering at the moment, although I do have buds......yours is so tall and pretty
Quite mild here too Marion, its been 7·5c today, but the wind blew up very cold so did some potting up in the greenhouse. I agree that the birds think its Spring, I watched 2 cock pheasants sparing today while mrs p looked on, fight it out boys!
You orchid is beautiful, I have never had one.
You can share my orchid, Lyn, as it is in my kitchen(darker than the conservatory so nearer to the jungle understorey it comes from) and will be photographed ad nauseum! I srarted off with cymbidiums from one I had given as a present a few years ago and now have five pots of them. They usually flower from February onwards for me. Happy New Year, Sunflower Lady. I do hope you enjoy my efforts to be ecologically friendly in my garden this year. Bristol being Green Capital of Europe is a great honour and keeps the mind focussed. I am hoping the candidates for Parliament will do all their canvassing on bicycles this year and our traffic pollution will be decimated!