Blog Archives

..can someitmes help me think..

Although paradoxically, it's best if you don't think while you are doing it! Not always an easy thing to do.

I did this a few weeks ago in an idle moment, mind in neutral, just enjoying the feel of pen on paper.

Looking at it today, I interpret it as an image of how tlie world felt just then.. pretty convoluted. Is that little dot out on the right hand side me, looking at it all, or is that me in the line flying off the page - trying to escape perhaps? Or am I in the middle of that dark tangle surrounded on all sides by barriers and chaos? I wonder if all those spots could be viruses.

And where's 'normal'?

You may be relieved to know I feel much calmer now, maybe because, as well as being fun, this was kind of therapeutic....

2 Comments

Simply..outdoors, indoors....

30/3/2021

Simply..Spring forward....

28/3/2021

Daffodil February Gold doesn't flower in February here, but waits till spring arrives. I love it's reflexed petals and I love having enough to pick for the house.

My plan to garden every day of March worked really well until the last couple of days, when it has been so cold and wet that I retreated to te greenhouse, but the forecast is better for later in the week and I reckon I will have averaged the one hour a dy goal that I set myself. April will be even better! The shed is being repaired and I will get the power hose onto the paths and steps...

I like when we change the clocks here in uk. It was still light at eight o'clock tonight.

6 Comments

Simply.. fresh snow on the tops....

27/3/2021

..and fresh scones for Saturday morning brekfast.

Yesterday's photo was tle lovely prunus incisa Kojo No Mai which gets moved into a prominent spot when in flower.

8 Comments

Simply..imagine....

26/3/2021

..if you will, a tiny blue tit hanging on, upside down and by one leg to the last flower at the tip of this branch. I saw a photograph of just that on an RSPB site and wanted to use the photograph on the blog, but could not find it again. It seemed to represent how some of us are feeling, and it made ne smile.

If the blue tit can do it, so can I!

6 Comments

Simply..noteworthy....

25/3/2021

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I use this notebook as a kind of daybook. Part diary, part to-do list, part catch all for numbers and notes-to-self. It came from my favourite stationery shop Paperchase which is rumoured to be closing some of it's branches. Our high streets are going to be different when we finally get back to them....

I first visited Paperchase in London and thought I had landed in Aladdin's cave! Love it and hope it is still there when I get back to the city. Do you have a favourite store you are missing?

10 Comments

Simply..sometimes....

25/3/2021

words fail me.

Not often!

Putting out a candle on the doorstep in memory of all those who have died of Covid was so very enotional. I felt as if I faced the enormity of it, and it was like a blow to the chest.

I can't see the neighbouring houses, and very few cars pass, so only the forest saw my candle and that heightened the loneliness and isolation which has been the worst part of the pandemic for me and for so many.

Recovering, counting the days, gardening like crazy and enjoying the daffodils and the wonderful blog friends who keep me going! Thank you for being here.

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Simply..one year....

23/3/2021

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Simply..this....

22/3/2021

..is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

Almost the first thing I do is take a look to see what has germinated overnight,

These llittle specks will grow into four feet tall foxgloves, white with spotted dark wine coloured markings. Dozens of them. Isn't it amazing?

Of course they may not turn out to be white ( I collected the seed from one which appeared in the garden last year), and they won't flower until 2022, and I will need a lot of space to grow them on, but that's all part of the excitement....

What gets you up in the morning?

2 Comments

Sinply..so encouraging....

21/3/2021

It is so encouraging to look back at photos from last year and know that the garden will look like this again!

6 Comments

Simply..fun....

20/3/2021

It's affogato Sunday again!

What will I wear?

I make no apology for looking for fun and joy and delight and happiness here on the blog.

It keeps me sane, and what use would I be in the world dejected and overcome by its tragedies? In it's miniscule way, it counteracts the angst, fear and aggression out there in the shouty world.

Do check out Rosemary's super list in yesterday's comments and Grace's recommendation in the comments the day before.

Thank you for all the wonderful ideas which just keep coming in your comments. They cheer me on in these hard times, and are evidence, if evidence is needed, that goodness and kindness and love and beauty are still all around us.

2 Comments

Simply..a blamk canvas....

19/3/2021

Six new packets of seed and space to fill! Sweet peas on the canes, and I'm thinking poppies and gypsophila. A tray of ammi majus have just germinated. I want an ultra pretty, frothy effect and will try a different combination in each quadrant....More delight.

Sitting in the sun with a very early breakfast today I heard a woodpecker in the forest, saw the first butterfly and watched in amazement as a red squirrel pottered around the table, oblivious of my presence.

6 Comments

Simply..a wave of gratitude....

18/3/2021

A wave of gratitude swept over me as I lay on my back on the picnic quilt in hot sun today, gazing at this summery sky.

Like sweetness, we must take our delight where we find it and I am looking forward to reading J B Priestley's Delight which is new to me.

Can you think of something that delighted you today?

8 Comments

Simply..Don't think. Do.

17/3/2021

So says Alfie to Bella in my faourite happy film This Beautiful Fantastic. He also says You can speed read but you can't speed garden.

My minimum one hour a day through March is proving the point, but I am really pleased with the difference so far. I think I am happier because I have made a commitment to it. I feel less like I am in limbo.. And the date for the Stay At Home order to be lifted is now 2nd April, not the 5th. Little bits of good news and little bits of progress - all good.

Have you found ways of getting out of 'limbo'? If that's how you have been feeling...

6 Comments

Simply..this week's flowers....

16/3/2021

I am on automatic pilot in the garden! Scarifying (two wheelbarrow loads of moss from a patch 5 by 5 metres) and cutting grass. It was a beautiful day today and I really enjoyed the physical work in the sunshine and thinking of nothing but the job in hand. Simply Live.

2 Comments

Simply..we must take....

15/3/2021

..our sweetness where we find it.

And if that means cake, so be it!

6 Comments

Simply..sweetness and light....

14/3/2021

An old pot of half dead violas was popped into the greenhouse to be decanted and sent to the compost heap. But the two remaining tiny buds opened. Who could resist those little faces?

Gardening is hard work, but the rewards can be very sweet.

6 Comments

Simply..a moment....

13/3/2021

I may not have friends at my table (yet) but I did have sunshine for half an hour this morning, and flowers.

And more to come - white campion,wild cornflower, ammi majus, dill, gypsophila Covent Garden and dahlia Bishop's Children.

It's all about the garden now....

I like that all these plants need my tender loving care..

4 Comments

Simply..back to winter!

12/3/2021

Fresh snow on the hills this morning, but I still gardened - though only for half an hour.

The snowdrops have been brilliant this year. Bigger than usual and long lasting. I will divide my smallish clumps soon.

4 Comments

Simply..refreshing....

11/3/2021

Thank you Liz! I had seen this on Gardnere's World some time ago, but didn't know this young man worked with Sarah Raven and has published a book - The Flower Yard. The 7 minute video is charming. A new voice on the gardening sccene is quite refrehing.

Another day's gardening here between rainbows. That's 11 days in a row - beginning to make a difference.

The video appears on my Edit page and disappears when I press Publish - sorry - will try to fix it tomorrow - too tired now!!

You should be able to see it here. I's love to know what you think.

4 Comments

Simply..keeping going....

11/3/2021

Simply..what could be a better way....

9/3/2021

9 Comments

..to spend a stormy evening than to plan and dream about the garden and listen to Rachmaninov on Radio 3?

Remarkably we had seven days in a row without rain and I've worked hard in the garden. The fun part is yet to come, but I have scrubbed and raked and edged paths, cut back and weeded the floor of the greenhouse and thrown away junk and rubbish. Tonight the weather has changed so for the next few days I will do what I can in the greenhouse and the shed.

I am eagerly awaiting seeds from Chiltern Seeds and summer plants from Sarah Raven - lime green and pale lilac petunias and nicotiana sylvestris for the black pots. I have a number of little pots of Fired Earth paints which I used for painting picture frames and I think I will paint the canes with the mix of subtle neutral colours I have left...

Are you making plans - gardening or otherwise?

9 Comments

Simply..smile....

9/3/2021

Simply..spalling....

7/3/2021