Completing the circle

It could be said that 2021 has been quite a ride - a complete sea change in fact. It was incredibly difficult to choose a photo a month so, rather than trawl up and down until I saw what I wanted, I have chosen at random the first one that catches my eye and have written about that one  .... 

Top left - January : I started a new job, as head gardener in a walled kitchen garden as part as a charity which works to help with people's minds and mental welfare. It has been a steep learning curve, not just how to manage a large vegetable garden so that it produced a steady flow of fruit and vegetables to the cafe and for sale rather than a series of gluts, but how to manage volunteers, meet their needs, teaching them new skills, making use of their existing skills base, form a community and a safety net whilst getting the best from them - I am still learning.

Top Right  - February : I, on a whim, sort of 'sashiko style' stitched my work trousers all down the left leg. Why? Well why not? It does sometimes start a conversation, which when meeting someone new does help break the ice.

Bottom Left - March : Although we walk all through the year, March really kicks off walks that are further afield.  This particular walk resulted in a rather muddy and wet (but very happy) dog,

Bottom Right -April : A good month for walking,  gently balmy days, camping, once again a happy (and usually muddy) dog.

Top Left - May : Wild camping as often as we can, we walk along pathways strewn with cow parsley. The light levels are clear and bright and days are warming while nights remain chilly.

Top Right -June : I'd decided to allow the garden to gentle 're-wild' and for a brief few weeks in June, it was beautiful, romantic, flower filled with birds, insects, frogs and hedgehogs. However, it was not long before it became not so much 're-wild' but down right savage so required a bit of a machete job....

 

Bottom Left - July : Warm and wet. Sunny days that warmed me to the bone and rainy ones that drenched me in equal measure.

Bottom Right - August : Dusky hot days melted into sultry evenings with the most glorious sunsets

Top Left - September : The call of wild camping and walking had us revisiting places we love, sharing them with Moss who delighted in swimming in rivers and the sea, walking in woodlands and along the coast line. May have to take her back!

Top Right - October : The mellowing of the seasons, softened the light, made things feel reflective and contemplative. 

Bottom Left - November : I tentatively dipped my toe into the loom-weaving waters and was dragged off into a delight of weaving. The rhythmic movement and the gentle building of the woven fabric really pleases me - I know I need lots more practise and I have been experimenting with reasonable success - I shall certainly be playing with this a whole lot more!

Bottom Right - December : take today, this misty early morning photo brings the circle around back to January when I started at the walled garden.  I wrote - this year has been quite a ride and a rather good one.

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Don't think you have reached the end of my waffle just yet!

I have just one (or three) more photographs to share with you - December 2021 to me will be forever linked to festive wreath making, the pictures only show about half of what was made .... 87 in total to be precise ... a mixture of wreaths made by myself (44) and the rest made by participants of the wreath making workshops.  

It has been a busy month.

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