Dastardly Diabetes

Dave has come home. It has become clear that his recent diabetes diagnosis was more of a shock to his system than we both realised, and of course I will be there to help him adjust. Ten years is a long time to be together and not consider forgiveness. We fly to the Maldives on Sunday, all four of us and God willing we will enjoy the peace and the rest. Who needs to watch soap operas when you can read Privet and Confidential!




"Most of us can forgive and forget, we just don't want the other person to forget that we forgave"
Ivern Ball

The phone call

I received a phone call from a certain somebody last night who says he wants to come home. This is one of those moments in life that you either step back from the precipice or take the plunge. Do I really want Chumdog to come from a broken home?

"Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far so you shall come back with self respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old" Ralph Waldo Emerson

Full Circle

Well the year has come full circle and on Monday I was back where I started at Norton Conyers, dividing irises. Last year we had the company of the WRAGS working party but this time we were only four, still we managed quickly enough. It always amazes me how these plants grow back from the tiniest pieces and just how little we keep for that re-growth, whilst the compost heap groans with discarded rhizomes.
Now I'm officially on holiday, no gardening commitments to tie me down, so I've decided to travel without the computer which means there will be no blogging from Sunday. Hopefully that means I shall have a complete rest and return rejuvenated and ready to face the future again, whatever it may bring!

"Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for"
Maya Angelou

I would just like to say a big thank-you to all of you who have expressed their support, it makes a big difference to know there are people out there who read my ramblings. I will continue! Nick, change that career, what's the worst that could happen?

Soothing

It was with relief that I boarded the bus yesterday morning to go to work at Norton Conyers, at the moment idle time just means chewing over the events of the past week in my mind, so thank God for the soothing routine of garden tasks. We even got to feel the sun on our backs again as the weather was being pleasant for once. We ate our lunch outside for the first time since last autumn and it was a delight to sit under the vinery kissed by the sun, with the music of the fountain playing lullabyes in our ears. If you haven't done so already come and view the garden, the main border is spectacular now, seize the opportunity to see it at its best!

"Let what will be said or done, preserve your sang froid immovably, and to every obstacle oppose patience, perseverance and soothing language"
Thomas Jefferson

Endings And Beginnings

I'm afraid I must impart bad news on today's blog, Dave my partner of the last ten years has decided he must move on to pastures new. This has come as a blow I must admit, it is scary to contemplate life alone again. However my wonderful children are helping me and we will still take that Maldives holiday but just the three of us. Picture if you will Princess Diana sitting in front of the Taj Mahal, but replace her with a lass with purplish hair and a determined expression who is looking forward to completing her horticultural goals. Jasmine, George and I thank Dave for all his many kindnesses and hope he finds what he is searching for.

"Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts. You have to remember this when you find yourself at the beginning" Sandra Bullock

Pathways

Yesterday the WRAGS coordinator came to see me at Norton Conyers, the last official visit I shall receive, that means I've only got until the end of September until my placement is over. I can't believe how quickly it has flown, it only seems like five minutes ago that we were building bonfires in the woods. Where will my horticultural path lead me next? I'm rather hoping that I'll be able to stay on in the garden as after all this time it will feel like leaving a piece of myself there, if I cannot stay. Helen the coordinator says that Norton Conyers is a model training garden and that Alyson and I have been model trainees so I guess there is some hope in that, and who would bring in the dog biscuits for Bisto and Shandy if I went elsewhere?

"There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy, and its only reward is that its easy"
Anon

Helichrysums drying in the greenhouse

Triffid Trashing

July seems to have turned into a month of bits and bobs in the garden as there are so many small jobs which demand our attention. Many of the shrubs have grown unruly with all the rain, so to begin with we pruned the Cornus and Ribes in the spring garden and cut out the branch which had reverted away from its variegation on the Vibernum. Then the tomatoes needed feeding, watering and pinching out, always a pleasant task with their fragrance wafting through the warm greenhouse. After lunch we decided to turn violent in the woods, now that the Himalayan balsam Impatiens glanulifera is flowering it is easy to spot and pull up before it catapults its seeds and conquers new territory. They were originally introduced as a decorative garden plant, but I think they look like triffids so I don't mind a bit of wanton destruction in this case!

"But make no mistake the weeds will win, nature always bats last" Robert M Pyle

Shandy also having trouble with weeds!

A Glimmer Of Sunshine

As this dreary summer of ours crawls on, remarkable only in its astonishing wetness and explosion of slug populations, I'm struck by two things a) only I could have decided to start growing my own veg in the worst summer in living history, and b) thank goodness Dave bullied me into agreeing to take a holiday. As previously mentioned I'm taking Privet and Confidential abroad again but this time it is somewhere very exotic, yes we're going to the Maldives! I don't know what I'm most excited about, will it be the beautiful flora and fauna, or simply that our paradise island is a cooking and housework free zone? Only three more weeks to slog through, this period before break up is called the silly season in our house, due to the kids abandoning their academic straight jackets faster than the teachers do their principles when a strike is called! I'll try to keep posting blogs but this is the time of year when a mum needs to develop eight arms to juggle all the things that need to be done, but at least there is definitely sun on the horizon.

"If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work"
William Shakespeare  Henry IV part I

Hedges

The willow hedge can be seen top left

We descended into dullness once again on Monday, both the weather and the tasks, Giles was away so no dogs to cheer us up just wet and dreary gloom and hedge cutting, a job I distinctly dislike. During the summer months it is a chore that comes round with boring regularity, but once completed I must admit it is worth doing for the improved look of the garden. Alyson and I cut both the small cotoneaster hedge and the willow hedge that surrounds the vegetable patch by hand, a seven hour grind and when I got home I noticed that my own hedges need doing too!

"The master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the seeds, and pulls the weeds. If you merely stroll through the garden, you are but an acolyte" Vera Nazarian

A wedding In The Garden

Against all the odds the weather improved greatly for the wedding on Saturday, Sir James and Lady Halena admitted to visiting York Minster on Friday where they lit a couple of candles with a plea straight to the man at the top for an improvement, which was obviously heard! There wasn't a lot of gardening we could do in the morning with marquees and caterers all over the garden so we contented ourselves with creating some welcoming flower arrangements, dead-heading the Iceberg roses and generally tidying anything else that was a bit rain battered. By three o'clock the guests had started to arrive and when the Bride and Groom appeared we too had a glass of champagne, although we weren't as smartly dressed as some of the guests!

"The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love they will bloom like flowers" Thich Nhat Hanh

Drenched

There is no doubt that Thursday mornings walk with Aunty Fran and Paddy was the wettest we have ever taken. I knew it was raining when I set out but as we often take the dogs out for a couple of hours I decided it was prudent to wear full waterproofs, I needn't have bothered the rain just soaked right through them! The paths turned into streams and pretty soon I had a tidal wave of water sloshing back and forth in my boots with every step. Chum looked pretty miserable too as he had to scrunch his eyes up against the deluge, even Paddy neglected to roll. eat or chase anything unsuitable. I ended up putting Chum back on his lead as a terrific clap of thunder sent him scuttling away in fright. I hate to worry you folks but they are predicting a months worth of rain over the next two days. Heaven knows what our poor Norton Conyers bride will be thinking, I just hope she's got some posh wellies!



"No one can write knowingly of the weather who walks bent over on wet days" E B White

Talented Twosome

Spofforth garden from the attic, you can see the fruit cages on the right.

Back at Spofforth yesterday it was time to put the fruit cage up, the red currants are starting to blush and the blackbirds were looking hungry. That was pretty much the only gardening we did as Diana wanted to show me her pictures. We went up to the studio which consists of two rooms in the attic, one in which Di draws and the other that Brian uses to make frames for her work. These rooms can only be reached by a pull down ladder, they never cease to amaze me this wonderful couple, they both scampered up that ladder without any hesitation at ninety and eighty respectively, I can't begin to imagine the energy they must have had in their youth!

"Put your talent into your work, but your genius into your life" Oscar Wilde

Di's brilliant pastel of a white parks bull

A Fond Farewell

We took a field trip on Tuesday as our last day of college, the stresses of examination over it was good to socialise with friends forged over a years worth of study. We gathered at the walled garden at Scampston with its Piet Oudolf designed planting schemes and for once this year the weather was kind to us. After coffee we ventured into the garden armed with a booklet which corresponded to numbers next to the plants so we could identify key examples, a very neat and useful solution. On the whole I thought the planting very effective and the atmosphere restful, a completely different garden in style from Norton Conyers, call me biased but I prefer our own plant-mans garden to the vagaries of fashionable design! We took a very pleasant lunch outside and then it was time for us to part, a slightly sad ending for what has been quiet a journey for all included. Many thanks to our tutor Richard for coaxing us through the mysteries of the RHS,and good luck to all my fellow gardeners, may your lawns always be green and your herbaceous borders bountiful!

The graduation (hopefully) class of 2012!

"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each others worth" Robert Southey

Preparations

There's to be a wedding reception at Norton Conyers next Saturday so you can imagine how busy we've been getting everything ship shape for the big day. It doesn't make for interesting blogging really as I've not had much time to reflect and admire the garden, but I did hoe the vegetable patch quite carefully and think it looks good, as do many of the flower borders. All we need now is some sunshine so the garden will be at its best and the bride's dress doesn't trail in the mud, fingers crossed. I'm looking forward to seeing the peach house decorated it will make a change from the old green teapot and a packet of dog biscuits! Although we shall have to make ourselves scarce once the guests start arriving I hope to be able to share a few photos with you next week.

"The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today"
H Jackson Brown

Tidy veg patch

Dahlia Sean C, a very cheerful fellow!

My darling Jasmine is fifteen today, happy birthday sweetie xx

Fruit Salad

Alyson is having a well earned break so it was just Giles and me yesterday, which meant I had to get the onward bus from Ripon. I needn't have worried though as the nice bus driver dropped me off right at the estate gate. The day turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag, we had lots of weather from hot sun to torrential downpours and we tackled lots of unrelated jobs, weeding and hoeing of course but also helping Lady Halena move some furniture up at the house. My favourite part though was picking the first fruit crops of the season, I came home with two punnets of strawberries, strings of red currents like jewels and warm fuzzy peaches plucked straight from the trees. Perhaps you could call it my just desserts!

"Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in your fruit salad"
Miles Kington

Another sharp shower

No point planting anything in here, this is the ginger fox's spot!