Some where, round about

   June arrived and with it all fear of frost and damage fled. It seems hard to remember those long days watching through the windows as new tender shoots on the hebe were crushed....as our sturdy fuschia buds were no more.....and as anything foolish enough to have been planted within the previous 30 days ....was obliterated.  Leaving the annual cauliflowers nonchalantly battling wind, rain, hail and general Very Bad Weather  whilst the beetroot, cabbage, onions and garlic did likewise. But now? Outside is now being gently clothed with aquilegia and poppy......and a very welcome sight these are! Seeds left shuddering in the greenhouse were ceremoniously tipped onto spare ground and, unless the seedlings had Four Proper Leaves, I started again. This means that parts of our garden resemble a jumble sale! Lots of frogspawn tried everso hard, then sank without trace. Pessimistic, i feared the worst but we do have a few tadpoles still and the frogs are staying around the ...

Life seems to be downright bonkers, but upon sober reflection maybe not nearly as bad as Some other moments in previous years...... Grandchildren have been born and yet not seen in real life. For the first time in years we have not climbed into our camper, exploring & visiting across the country. I don't have the hang of casually-chic mask-wearing as yet + I'm rapidly developing a distinct aversion to supermarkets. We have reached that time of Getting The Wood In, of knowing exactly where the scarves, hats n gloves are and starting on blessed puddings and custard!  There are those scurried last moments in the garden, ensuring no lone plastic pots are left out to be blown hither and yon as the winds blast from every angle through the garden.   Today the greenhouse was hauled about and the winter seedlings finally have halfway decent shelving - the potting shelves, relocated from next to our oil tank. I certainly have limited time now to make WinterDecisions for the gar...

September round up here, so i can look back and objectively see what has been going on. Because if I rely on my memory.......! Today we are still in September but  the Very Last of our courgette plants were pulled up. And what have I learned? Why, to germinate earlier and that any gifted Must be sheltered in this garden!  Will we grow again? For sure.   Well this was interesting!  Corn  grown in buckets plus very late to germinate and plant out but in spite of everything I have got to see how these plants grow! That's a very immature husk of corn right there and there are others as well. So, although i won't be getting  proper ears of corn to eat.....i might very well have enough corn silk to make a tincture. Kale and goodness me doesn't it just keep going!  We WILL be growing these next year, they Do require more direct light in the early stages than these darlings had and I think this is Not the correct place for them. But overall? Overall massi...

Officially I am a techno phobe Is that the correct word? I m no good at tech anyway! Goodness Penninegilly finds me on Instagram, should this blog go the way of many others. So. May time and gracious everything has ramped up a gear! The garden has exploded into colour and creaking life, stems shooting heavenward and leaves waving towards the sun. Winds whistle round the garden  and the sun shines in odd places. But enough odd places for everything to be perfectly pleasant for most of the time. I m not out and about, dodgy lungs have put paid to That. So I am at perfect liberty to spend all of my days outside. And that is exactly what I am doing! When all this is either over or we have moved in an otherwise improbable manner into a more sociable situation,  I shall Miss this time. So for now For me I am making the very most of it And one day I might work out how this place works, coz blowed if I can work out how to upload images an...

"Where are you from?"  An oft asked question, but how exactly I'm supposed to answer it.... i just don't know. Literally, we have moved from another area of Scotland. Yet as soon as I open my mouth it is fairly obvious that I'm not from anywhere north of the border! Twelve years together on the suburban edges of a northern English city and altogether I had logged up twenty one years of floating around. But I am not From there. Wales for six years very happy years before that, but I am not Welsh. Four years in a southern English county left no rolling lilt to my voice. Outskirts of a south west city for another four years left no imprint. But south eastern counties and London might, all that impressionable late teens and twenties...... East Anglian? Do I sound like a Bernard Matthew's advert? Not unless my brother is somewhere close by. The Pennines left their mark, within my emotions but ask about my Mug, Rug or Cup and it's swiftly ap...

So here we have our companion; happy, relaxed and not looking In The Least like a dog who had been off his feet and seriously out for the count during most of one very long recent night. . He's thirteen years old and has managed to make the massive final retirement relocation north of the border. . It's a perfect situation for him here... beach about a mile away, decent footpath just up the back and a garden than he can hide and seek in. The village has apparently helpfully has laid on new footpaths for his enjoyment as well. Nearby beaches are being slowly explored and he loves them all. So that's him. Us? We're just relieved to live Here....and no longer in the suburbs of a large city. . It's quite shocking to reach that point in our lives when we are retired, either for age or health reasons. But given the previous  raising of children, usual employment and endless voluntary work....now....we are not apologising for Retiring, with a capital R. . And ...