2014

Sticks & Stones

2014 is off to a slow start for me. Winter is never good for us arthritics… cold and damp seep into our souls as well as our somas and getting out even to tidy up is tough.

I managed in a few days of cold but clear weather to tidy some of the debris the storms brought with them but do little else.

Then, in search of sun (and birds) we went to India and Dubai for virtually the whole of February leaving our yard to nature and a once weekly visit by a neghbour.

But good weather is forcast and I hope to start the ‘spring cleaning’ soon, if my old bones are up to it.

Marching on…

We are back and soon found that nature has been doing its thing even although we have been neglectful. There is frogspawn in the pond and crocuses and daffs almost out… good weather is forecast so the clean up will soon begin.

Mayflower…

As I write (8.30am 18th May) a wren is singing at full volume in the fig tree and the sun is already warming my office.

Despite my hopes arthritis has been plaguing me and I’ve done virtually nothing to our patch. Over the last few weeks the garden has been well watered by nature and the increasing warmth has meant that suddenly we went from bare boned bushes to lush leaves and from tight buds to burgeoning flowers.

The fact that all I do at the moment is observe is not relevant to nature. Gardens change season to season and year by year wether you work dawn to dusk or neglect them entirely.

A big change is coming to my tiny yard… the tall Forsythia, so beloved of my dozen resident House Sparrows is suddenly leaning into the garden smothering the Mock Orange and threatening to destabilize the garden wall. Its evergreen neighbour has taken a long step forward and the Lilac blocks the back gate. The latter two can be trimmed but the Forsythia will have to be cut right back leaving a very large hole and removing the prime perch of skulking birds!

Share the tranquility