Why do I garden?

I've just stumbled back in from the garden - it is a bit cold out there now and I am pretty sure I heard the kettle call my name several times. Being on hands and knees and not moving very much whilst weeding (I love weeding, it clears the head and gives me permission to think or not to think, but to just be) however, I found I was clenching my teeth to stop them chattering.

First thing this morning - just after 7am, I pottered out in to the garden to take Moss for her first morning leg stretch and piddle and in the early sunlight I was taken how much my garden has gently moved on. We've been away for a couple of nights (wild camping up in the North Pennines) and in that short space of time - so much and yet so little has happened.

It said on the radio this morning that March had been the wettest on record for 40 years and although I did think it was a 'tad damp' (good northern understated term), I didn't think it had been that wet. I suppose, living in the lea of the Pennines we were bound to get our generous share of rain.

After a morning session in a private garden where I disembowelled a 14 year old compost heap on to very hungry and grateful flowerbeds. When I started here, the compost was an enormous unruly pile which dominated the corner it was residing in. It's taken three years to beat it back into submission and now after today's marathon digging and mulching, I just may have tamed the beast - I still have one more bay to empty but I can see that it is far less of a mountain in comparison - more of a molehill!

Just getting my hands back into the soil and feeling the weak sunlight on my face is such a boost. That combined with the scent of the awakening earth and newly emerging shoots is wonderful. However by mid afternoon the sun has slipped behind thin grey cloud and the temperature has plummeted - brrrrr. Definitely time for a brew. Happy - most definitely.

Well?

So...  What have I been doing? Well.....

Knitting ....

Himself - a moss green moss stitch pullover

Me - a simple scarf in garter stitch with left over wool. It was to be for me to wear at work but Himself has eyed it up, so I may be making another one soon....

And about to start a cardigan for me with chrimbly gifted wool in sea washed denim shades.

Cooking ...

Picture from website

Mushroom and lentil Hotpot - ye gods - absolutely delicious! (Recipe HERE)

Cranberry Muffins (Recipe HERE)

picture from website

Making ...

dozens (and dozens) of paper birds - for work, for friends and for home

Wire flowers and tiny houses to decorate the 'tree' for spring

Wreaths bases for work

Willow plant supports

Walking ...

Miles and miles in the Dales - Himself and I both losing ourselves in blue skies and gentle sunshine 

or in woodlands, breathing in deep earthy scents full of flavour and aromas

Repairing ....

Jeans, harem pants, Wool overcoat

Loving....

That crystal clear scent of the first hyacinth bloom as it swirls around the room

Reading ....

Ichigo Ichie (Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles) - still loving and learning and absorbing and trying to live by these words - and when I can put them in practise - it seems to make the day so much sweeter!

Also Vesper Flights (Helen Macdonald) - just dipped in and already enjoying it, 

and have Wakenhyrst (Michelle Paver) waiting to be picked up.

Gardening ....

At work mostly - hard wood cuttings, compost turning, woodchip mulching, glasshouse tidying,

 willow plant-support making, seed selecting(buying) 

and happy dancing when I spot a snowdrop in the woodland garden we are creating. 

Last autumn the volunteers and I planted thousands (and I do mean thousands) of bulbs - 

to see them beginning to appear is like a shot in the arm of pure delight.

Learning....

Mandatory training for work - firefighting, H&S, emergency first aid (to include gunshot wounds, pierced eyes, first to the scene responder at a multiple car pile up and removing a splinter from a finger ....) - boy do I feel prepared (NOT!)

www.freeimages.co.uk

Appreciating...

as much as I can, noticing the good, finding that moment of joy

(even when I want to grind my back teeth...!)

So - that is just a little of what I am up to - what you knitting? Reading? Eating? Making? Enjoying?

Go on spill the beans - I love to hear what you have been up to :)

small moments in an unsettled world

 

I am very grateful (and extremely lucky) that I work in an environment (pun fully intended) which is healing. There are instants which make me gently hold my breath as I watch or see or notice a small precious moment. This week was no different but I thought that I would share just a few of these gems with you. Like going back to pick up my chilly mug (Jayne) and discover I had plonked it down just moments before in a nest of Erigeron Karvensis (Mexican fleabane) daisies and seeing the combination made my heart sing.

Spotting a very dark ladybird pupae on a richly purple dahlia leaf in the cutting garden, hopefully it will emerge before the frosts so that it will be able to overwinter as an adult. If not, we will carefully put the cut off foliage in one of the sheds so the pupae (there were dozens) can mature in safety.

Sharing my lemon shortbread biscuit with a Robin whilst working in one of the private gardens I maintain.

Ravelling 400gm balls of wool blend into 100gm yarn cakes before starting my next project - my sense of smell is rather random at the moment but I could catch a delicious scent of lanolin when I buried my nose deep into the huge and squishy balls of wool 

This idiot. 

Who drives me both crazy and fills my heart with equal measure - she has not been coming to work regularly recently as she 'looks after' who ever happens to be at home at the moment, so on the odd days that she puts on her 'work clothes', the dog harness, she is beyond excited. Her day is filled with rounding up wheelbarrows, collecting up sticks, herding volunteers and supervising our work - by the time we get home she is ready for her food and a well deserved nap!

And the princess. Pan. Still aloof and occasionally cranky but then who isn't? She has definitely mellowed and decided humans are not that dreadful. She has her favourites (makes that very obvious!) however, she is definitely the hairy heart of our home.

It is little moments like these which keep me grounded. I need to get myself ready for work, another private garden, a moorland wild meadow where Moss can come and play whilst I am there. She will be delighted......!

Thank you every one for your lovely and encouraging comments regarding my attempt at Kaketsugi mending - it is on hold at the moment as I am waiting for a packet of needle threaders to land in the post then I can get on with the final few threads - hardly any left to weave in. Then I will tidy away the remaining threads and hand it back to its owner😊

Enjoy the rest of your week, hope you too find small moments that fill your heart xxxx

Take it easy Tuesday

There is definitely more than a hint of autumn in the air today. I can taste that metallic toffee tang which curls around the garden at this time of year. I am having a quiet day, first day back to work on Monday and despite all good intentions of being gentle with myself and allowing the garden team to continue with their fantastic efforts - I ended up walking nearly five miles (I have just checked my tracker) which goes someway to explain when I returned home last night I could barely move off the settee! So today's private gardens will have to wait another week - fortunately I have a very understanding client and it was she who suggested I take it a bit easier today.

I have finally (after how many attempts? over how many years?) finished Himself's North Ronaldsay Aran  light grey jumper. I bought a bumper pack of the wool when it was still affordable (just) and it sat in the stash cupboard until I was ready for it. I have just been on the website and see that the price has more than tripled, very glad I purchased it when I did. 

As a bit of an aside - with all the knitting and unpicked the various attempts, it meant that I ended up with several pieces of wool which needed joining together. Years ago, I used to knot the wool together until I learnt to splice - which I find give a far better finish. I might be showing 'how to' do it to those who already know but if you don't - hope this mini tutorial helps 

• Make sure you have a nice length to work with - about 5cm on each piece of wool to make the splice
• Untwist the ply - I used a large tapestry needle
• Splay the individual strands
• Combine the two pieces together by alternating the strands then ensure they lie against the opposite piece of wool
• Dampen your free hand slightly and begin to roll gently between your palms, checking to see if the strands are still in place
• Finally roll quite vigorously back and forth to 'felt' the fibres together until you are happy with the join.
• You can - if you fancy being brave - tug reasonably firmly to check if your splicing has worked.

The splice I made is in this bit of knitting - about half way up on the left. So all that remains is to gently soak the finished jumper and block into shape, Himself and Youngest have both tried it on and considering what it had to go through to get to this point - it looks good 😊🧶The only problem now is I have caught up with all my wips ....hmm so what to do now?

Fortunately Eldest has supplied the perfect antidote to my 'Down Time Stress Syndrome' (yes it is a thing!) by producing two sets of jeans which need a little first aid here and there .... watch this space👖👖🪡🪡🧵

Thrum of rain

As I type, the thrum of rain, the radio, the cat and dog all keep me company. I should be, at this point, getting ready for work however on a Tuesday I work for a private garden rather than the walled garden so I am able to move my working hours around the weather. 

Oh the deliciousness of getting back into bed with a mug of tea and the laptop and listen to the rain for that extra hour and know I can spend a the rest of the morning quietly with myself as I potter around the house. 

A few days ago, after another much needed band of rather heavy showers, I took my camera and the dog out into the garden and captured raindrops on the foliage and flowers. It was not until I downloaded the images and realised the wonderful refraction qualities of some of the droplets.

Thank you everyone for your generous congratulations for Youngest and his lovely girl - they are having a well deserved break at the moment before they launch off again. 

I remember having that energy (once!!)🤣 

Himself and I have some time off later this month - really looking forward to getting on to the hills and doing lots of walking (and sleeping) and of course taking photos.

Finally after a bit of meandering, a rather fuzzy image of a lovable furry face. We call these snoot shots and strive to 'get that perfectly bulbous schnozzle photo' although it often requires the subject not to wriggle or suddenly get camera shy. 

Unfortunately my mug of tea and that extra hour have gone although the rain is still steadily falling - I might just put the kettle back on ..... ooh what a devil! This unexpected bit of down time is absolutely delicious and I shall make the most of it - enjoy your Tuesday and I hope you have time to savour a moment of 'you-time' with a mug of your favourite brew xxxx

The thirsty garden

After the searing heat from the last couple of days (yes even I agree is was definitely the wrong sort of warm and sultry summer weather) today we woke up to gently overcast skies and even more gentle rain. I could feel my garden crying with relief.

I was working this morning and I delayed going out for about twenty minutes as the rain was heavier at that point, however I decided the best thing to do - was to go out and get wet with the gardens.... so I did. And whilst I listened to swallows chittering over head with my hands in damp soil I kept catching myself smiling.

And it was wonderful.

The smell of petrichor, the taste of the mist as it swirled around my head, the light pinprick of droplets on my forehead and the accumulating rain droplets on my eyelashes were magical.

In Africa - rain is a gift, and now in the uk - today - it was too, our precious thirsty garden is just that - very thirsty.

I hope you were gifted with some rain today - gentle, cooling and essential xxxx

Pond Dipping

This time of the year gardening sort of completely takes over - you push push push leading up to this point with sowing seeds, weeding, potting up and pricking out gradually getting more and more frantic.

Then suddenly the garden explodes and the roses are in full bloom and filling the air with their sultry perfume, the foxgloves are racing each other as they reach for the sky with bumblebees busily foraging their every bloom. The daisies with their ever cheerful faces follow the sun, fill the borders and sprawl across the path.

For a few short but very delicious weeks the garden is ripe and voluptuous with indulgent flowers and intoxicating scents and I am happy. (well almost - there is that oxymoron of ... do I humour the daisies which are lying across the path looking gorgeous and enticing or do I constrict their happy laissez-faire attitude and corset them up with supports??) 

Definitely the former!

And the title? Pond Dipping? Well whilst working in a private garden today I accidently stepped off the edge of a natural pond and lost my left leg in the water.... I dripped and shed duck weed for another 40 minutes before I finished.  There was still water in my boot once I'd got home! There was only Moss to laugh at me and she was too busy sunbathing to even notice. Such a supportive sidekick......

However, I don't think I would have it any other way. Life is for living, for the here and now, for the flowers and their fragrance.

Hope your Thursday was a lovely as mine - but you don't have to pond dip (unless you REALLY REALLY want too!)