Pat how I remember these nights, we all used to sleep in the lounge where the a/c was! Do t like the sound if the snake tho, do you know where it is?
so, we have returned from a city of snow, cake, horrendous traffic and our loved ones.? It was cold but no worse than some of the days we have so guess we were lucky. Thermals never on! Such a palaver taking everything off and then on again everywhere you go, even the shopping centres have cloakrooms
Was amazing to see my girl so well and happy, if exhausted! Of course newborn is gorgeous, lots of cuddles and blessed grannie with his first smile (no it wasnt wind as he has been smiling nonstop ever since!) big sister is so proud and good with him We weren't going to take him to her birthday party but she insisted and sat holding him when everyone arrived to show him off! Touched everyones heart
It was very hard to leave them and come home, it's pretty tough even with all the help she has. Sil is not good but received his first treatment whilst we were there. Fingers crossed. No news about wee Finlays passport and unable to track but I think as soon as she has it they will come to us. Sanctions making it very difficult to get everything
I have spent today trying to source items the nursery schools said it would be great to get. No idea how I will get them there but its a start?
Lovely to see the daffs poking thro and it doesn't look long before we will get the snowdrops, witch hazel is lovely. Heard the first wood pidgeon yesterday so spring is on the way
Making marmalade today so off to check......,,,,.,.,
Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” A A Milne
A tree surgeon is coming this afternoon to assess some of my trees and conifers. Need to maintain the balance of privacy, light and neighbourly-ness when you have big trees and conifers. Pines of about 100 feet tall were removed from the garden behind me in November so I think the light into my garden will be very different from now on. Miss seeing the squirrels scampering up them though.
That'll be a huge change, AuntyRach. I wonder what changes the extra light will make, to what you can grow and where...
The ex-church next door is still not sold. I'm going to do a bit of guerilla pruning while there's nobody in residence, and "top" the beech hedge which is severely shading the end of my garden. It's just a self-sown line of young beeches next to the public steps, and the residents of our little road take it in turns to chop them back so we can use the handrail, but nothing's been done about the tops.
LilyP, so glad you had a good time in Russia with the family! It's lovely that your granddaughter is so good with the baby - not always the case, of course... Best wishes to your SIL for his treatments.
Obelixx, "frileuse" sounds like a direct translation of "nesh", a useful dialect word from Derbyshire/Staffs/South Yorks meaning unusually sensitive to cold.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I am going to use 'frileuse' or 'nesh' as soon as the next opportunity presents!
I am hoping the extra light will lush-up the grass a bit as it's very mossy at the back. The tree surgeon was great, really knowledgeable, and was rattling-off the names of all my trees as we went round. It is quite expensive having tree-work so I have chosen him because of his knowledge and experience from being Head of Forestry for the council. He can do the pruning/removal work in the next couple of weeks which will be just in time before the birds start choosing their homes for Spring.
Trees are lovely, beautiful things - but they can really dominate a space and affect the rest of your garden and what you can grow in it. I'm sure you'll notice a huge difference this year Aunty Rach.
A good, well qualified tree surgeon is worth his weight. It might be an expensive outlay but you'll be reaping the rewards for years to come. We've had 15 trees removed from our medium sized garden - mostly too big, diseased or in completely the wrong position. We've replaced 12 of them with more suitable, smaller trees in better locations. We've also had extensive work done on 3 very mature, very large trees (crowning, raising canopies etc). Expensive but worth it.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Liri - nesh is also a word used in Cheshire where I spent my teens. I use it a lot for people and plants that curl up in the cold.
Lilly - it feels like you only just left. Glad the trip went well and hope you do get them all home soon.
AR - surgeon sounds good. We shall need one to take out an ash and confirm thet two plum trees are past saving and then deal with them.
We have just used the car and a tow rope to hoik out 3 recently dead and one mostly alive dwarf conifer. All planted in the wrong place and all outgrown the dwarf phase. Maybe now the other stuff nearby will grow better. When we bought our house in Harrow there was a row of conifers along the east boundary of our back garden, all higher than the house and making the garden look very dark. They all went, to the delight of the neighbours on both sides, especially to the east as they then got more rain and sunshine.
No such trouble here but we have noticed that our gendarme horsey neighbour has a row planted along our boundary. Will have to ask him about keeping them hedge height and not tree sized or we'll lose loads of sun from the south.
What I do need is some well behaved, preferably wildlife friendly shrubs to grow along our western boundary to hide the cattle farm's sheds. Gorgeous cows and calves but corrugated roofed sheds and barns not so pretty.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
What a wonderful trip you've had - I bet it went far too quickly for you all. Glad you didn't need the thermals
Aunty Rach - big empty space can be daunting, but also exciting. I know what you mean about missing seeign squirrels using the trees, but every cloud and all that. There will be lots of opportunities elsewhere for them , and you can invite more wildlife in with whatever you plant there instead
Sun tried to make an appearance again this afternoon, but short lived. Back to the nothingy, dank stuff. At least the temp went up a bit - and it's about 3 degrees now. Woo hoo!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Hello everyone, nice to be back
good to see all poorlies are on the mend.
busy lots of hugs, I know how you feel
Pat how I remember these nights, we all used to sleep in the lounge where the a/c was! Do t like the sound if the snake tho, do you know where it is?
so, we have returned from a city of snow, cake, horrendous traffic and our loved ones.? It was cold but no worse than some of the days we have so guess we were lucky. Thermals never on! Such a palaver taking everything off and then on again everywhere you go, even the shopping centres have cloakrooms
Was amazing to see my girl so well and happy, if exhausted! Of course newborn is gorgeous, lots of cuddles and blessed grannie with his first smile (no it wasnt wind as he has been smiling nonstop ever since!) big sister is so proud and good with him We weren't going to take him to her birthday party but she insisted and sat holding him when everyone arrived to show him off! Touched everyones heart
It was very hard to leave them and come home, it's pretty tough even with all the help she has. Sil is not good but received his first treatment whilst we were there. Fingers crossed. No news about wee Finlays passport and unable to track but I think as soon as she has it they will come to us. Sanctions making it very difficult to get everything
I have spent today trying to source items the nursery schools said it would be great to get. No idea how I will get them there but its a start?
Lovely to see the daffs poking thro and it doesn't look long before we will get the snowdrops, witch hazel is lovely. Heard the first wood pidgeon yesterday so spring is on the way
Making marmalade today so off to check......,,,,.,.,
A A Milne
A tree surgeon is coming this afternoon to assess some of my trees and conifers. Need to maintain the balance of privacy, light and neighbourly-ness when you have big trees and conifers. Pines of about 100 feet tall were removed from the garden behind me in November so I think the light into my garden will be very different from now on. Miss seeing the squirrels scampering up them though.
That'll be a huge change, AuntyRach. I wonder what changes the extra light will make, to what you can grow and where...
The ex-church next door is still not sold. I'm going to do a bit of guerilla pruning while there's nobody in residence, and "top" the beech hedge which is severely shading the end of my garden. It's just a self-sown line of young beeches next to the public steps, and the residents of our little road take it in turns to chop them back so we can use the handrail, but nothing's been done about the tops.
LilyP, so glad you had a good time in Russia with the family! It's lovely that your granddaughter is so good with the baby - not always the case, of course... Best wishes to your SIL for his treatments.
Obelixx, "frileuse" sounds like a direct translation of "nesh", a useful dialect word from Derbyshire/Staffs/South Yorks meaning unusually sensitive to cold.
I am going to use 'frileuse' or 'nesh' as soon as the next opportunity presents!
I am hoping the extra light will lush-up the grass a bit as it's very mossy at the back. The tree surgeon was great, really knowledgeable, and was rattling-off the names of all my trees as we went round. It is quite expensive having tree-work so I have chosen him because of his knowledge and experience from being Head of Forestry for the council. He can do the pruning/removal work in the next couple of weeks which will be just in time before the birds start choosing their homes for Spring.
Trees are lovely, beautiful things - but they can really dominate a space and affect the rest of your garden and what you can grow in it. I'm sure you'll notice a huge difference this year Aunty Rach.
A good, well qualified tree surgeon is worth his weight. It might be an expensive outlay but you'll be reaping the rewards for years to come. We've had 15 trees removed from our medium sized garden - mostly too big, diseased or in completely the wrong position. We've replaced 12 of them with more suitable, smaller trees in better locations. We've also had extensive work done on 3 very mature, very large trees (crowning, raising canopies etc). Expensive but worth it.
LilyP so glad all went well and that you had a lovely visit.
AuntyRach - maybe you'll be nesh when the trees are down and you're not as sheltered as before
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Liri - nesh is also a word used in Cheshire where I spent my teens. I use it a lot for people and plants that curl up in the cold.
Lilly - it feels like you only just left. Glad the trip went well and hope you do get them all home soon.
AR - surgeon sounds good. We shall need one to take out an ash and confirm thet two plum trees are past saving and then deal with them.
We have just used the car and a tow rope to hoik out 3 recently dead and one mostly alive dwarf conifer. All planted in the wrong place and all outgrown the dwarf phase. Maybe now the other stuff nearby will grow better. When we bought our house in Harrow there was a row of conifers along the east boundary of our back garden, all higher than the house and making the garden look very dark. They all went, to the delight of the neighbours on both sides, especially to the east as they then got more rain and sunshine.
No such trouble here but we have noticed that our gendarme horsey neighbour has a row planted along our boundary. Will have to ask him about keeping them hedge height and not tree sized or we'll lose loads of sun from the south.
What I do need is some well behaved, preferably wildlife friendly shrubs to grow along our western boundary to hide the cattle farm's sheds. Gorgeous cows and calves but corrugated roofed sheds and barns not so pretty.
My niece gave me an amaryllis bulb for Christmas. I've grown them on this windowsill several times - they've never grown this tall before
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Wowsers Dove! They remind me of my Grandma as she always had some this time of year and when I was little I thought they were Triffids!
Seems no time since you left LP!
What a wonderful trip you've had - I bet it went far too quickly for you all. Glad you didn't need the thermals
Aunty Rach - big empty space can be daunting, but also exciting. I know what you mean about missing seeign squirrels using the trees, but every cloud and all that. There will be lots of opportunities elsewhere for them , and you can invite more wildlife in with whatever you plant there instead
Sun tried to make an appearance again this afternoon, but short lived. Back to the nothingy, dank stuff. At least the temp went up a bit - and it's about 3 degrees now. Woo hoo!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...