Rushing About

I apologise for the short blog today but after getting up at 6am yesterday morning I didn't stop until 7.30pm. I had a full day at college followed by the sons parents evening, a quick bite at Macdonalds, then home to sort out cookery ingredients for a lesson today, then a little light blogging! College was more protected cultivation but this time we studied specific examples like chrysanthamums and tomatoes, then climbers, wall shrubs and roses, even more procedures to stuff into an already creaking brain! Thank goodness for a breath of air at lunch time when the  spring bulbs were a soothing and welcome sight.

"Life is a glass given to us to fill, a busy life is filling it with as much as it can hold, a hurried life has more poured into it than it can contain" William Adams Brown.

Mixed Feelings

Monday was a day of mixed weather and mixed feelings at NC. The morning was sunny and pleasant as we started pruning the willow hedge that surrounds the vegetable garden. I'd been looking forward to doing this as there is something very tactile about the plant, its suppleness makes it interesting to work with and as it had grown so bushy there was much satifaction to be gained by taming it for the time being. However after lunch the weather took a turn for the worse and we ended up finishing the weaving in in the pouring rain, undeterred we carried on and were even joined by Sir James and Lady Halena who also had a go. I found myself quite absorbed in spite of the weather which makes me anticipate the course at Harlow even more. All too soon four o' clock arrived which saw the break up of our merry winter workforce, both Paul and Nikki go off to work at the nursery for the summer leaving just Giles, Alison and myself at NC, we will miss Nikki's bubbly sense of humour and infectious laughter and Paul's wry observations. So I ended the day feeling a little sad.

I did this bit and I think it looks quite good!

"In the hope to meet shortly again and make our absence sweet" Ben Jonson

Dahlia Labour

A very quiet garden awaited us on Saturday, no lumbering Bisto, manic Shandy, or laconic Giles, just us three girls, the backbone of the work force! It was time to pot up the dahlia tubers, a boring and time consuming job but made bearable by our companionship. I often think we are like modern land army girls, we work hard but have a lot of laughs along the way. We had the task completed by lunchtime and when Lady Halena came along later she counted the pots at 192 and calculated it would have taken a single worker ten hours to achieve. There's a lot to be said for girl power!

"Honest good humour is the oil and the wine of a merry meeting, and there is no jovial companionship equal to that where the jokes are rather small and laughter abundant" Washington Irving.

Excitement

Wind and rain together are my least favourite weather and yesterday was an especially disgusting form of both. When that fine rain gets carried relentlessly by a steady breeze you might as well step fully clothed into the shower, so I cancelled Spofforth and gave the gardening day up as a bad job. Instead I went to the opticians to make a contact lens fitting appointment, now that might not sound very thrilling but it will save me the constant irritation of having my glasses swing off the bridge of my nose when I'm digging! What is thrilling however is an invitation I received whilst at college on Tuesday, it seems my pals have a spare place in their car when they go to the Chelsea flower show in May and they've asked me if I would like to fill it, would I ever! I've always wanted to visit so I leapt at the chance, I'd better start saving up now!
"I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning I say "what is my exciting thing for today?" Then I live the day" Barbara Jordan.

Shrubbery Studies

Back to Harlow after half term we were a somewhat depleted class, only seven of us and our tutor Richard, so we pushed the tables together and immersed ourselves in protected cultivation, that's greenhouses to you and I! I hadn't realised how complicated glass house growing could be, getting it right is rather hit and miss, whereas getting it wrong seems to be remarkably easy. I'm beginning to reconsider my wish to own one as they are pricey and very high maint! The afternoon lesson was straight forward, all about shrubs-the definition of which is a multi-stemmed woody perennial which can be deciduous or evergreen, so you can imagine the scope is enormous. To help us identify types and pruning methods we took a stroll around the gardens, but to be honest I find shrubs a bit dull so was much more taken with the irises brightening up the February beds. There just happens to be a small exhibition of botanical art in the foyer of the learning centre where I spotted a fine picture of the very flowers I'd been admiring moments before, so I thought I'd let you compare them too.
"The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within" William C Bryant.

The Old Tennis Court

Monday was a day composed of lots of finishing up jobs, like almost all of February that had gone before amalgamated into seven hours. A half hour of pruning the peach trees was followed by yet more tree planting and tractor driving practise. We trooped down to the old tennis court to plant six walnut trees, I'd not been there before and found it a somewhat desolate place with weeds growing through the old court surface, that is where I took the pictures of the old urns that top the walls. Hopefully when Giles has finished the new planting scheme it will be transformed into a nut walk, but that is for future generations to see. He says that in its hey-day it would have been quite a status symbol complete with a revolving summer house to follow the path of the sun, but now it is a bit melancholy and not somewhere I would like work alone. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was haunted like the big house and imagine the ghostly echo of tennis balls reverberating off the walls when no one is around!

"The lawn is pressed by unseen feet, and ghosts return gently at twilight, gently go at dawn, the sad intangible who grieve and yearn" T S Eliot.

A Fear Overcome

Every day at Norton Conyers is a remarkable experience but Saturday turned out to be more so than usual. We started with a lesson in how to service the tractor by changing the oil and fuel filters, not something I would normally find enthralling given my aversion to all things mechanical but bizarrely I found it very interesting. The beast being duly looked after we loaded it up with large bags of sapling trees, stakes, guards and tools and set off to plant them in the woods, the only thing was I had to drive! Now I haven't been behind the wheel for over ten years, and never that of a tractor, I've often wondered if I would ever drive again but I managed, and more to the point I absolutely loved it! So I've been on cloud nine ever since and despite having 180 trees to plant the rest of the working day flew by. Come the summer I will be zooming around the estate grass cutting every week, there's no stopping me now!
"Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them" Brendan Francis

view over the ha-ha

snowdrop carpet in the wild wood

A little last minute instruction..........

.........and away I go!

Don't forget to click on the photos in order to see them displayed in picture box.

Asset Redistribution

The schools are off for half term this week, so no college yesterday, just the joy of a trip to the opticians with the children, also no Spofforth today as I'm taking the teenager shopping in Leeds. That will no doubt hurt my wallet, but I suppose I mustn't grumble having spent all last months training allowance on a new compost bin. Here it is in all its glory, I hope my little garden can provide enough green waste to fuel it. I disposed of the plastic darlek in time honoured tradition by placing it at the bottom of the drive with a free to good home sign sellotaped to the lid. It had gone by the time we got back from town, it's amazing the quantity of junk we've off loaded in the same way, saving us inconvenient trips to the tip, just the old guinea pig hutch to go now! Due to curtailed gardening activities this week I'm not sure if I'll blog anymore, but keep your eyes peeled in case something interesting occurs, if not I'll be back on Monday.

"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give" Kahlil Gibran

NFU DON'T BRING ME FLOWERS..........

Well I'm all bonfired out, if I were a boy scout I would have earned my fire making badge ten times over by now. Yesterday was our last day working in the woods and I'm not sorry, it was fun at first but after 25 hours of lumber-jacking, singed eyelashes, eyebrows and hair it's definitely time for a change! At least it was a much nicer day with the countryside looking vibrant again after casting off its icy drabness. Today of course is Valentine's day, that eagerly awaited date in any romantics calendar, it's a good job romantic is an adjective not often heard in this household as Dave is away talking to a load of hairy farmers. No candle lit supper for us thanks to the NFU, just a bleary eyed crumpled Nogger arriving home at 10.30pm, thanks a bunch you guys I reckon you owe me one!

"Who, being loved, is poor?" Oscar Wilde

Meet The Dogs

It was a relentless minus five degrees as we started work at NC, so cold it was hard to strike a match to get the fire going, next time I shall bring a fire lighter-cheating I know but we will be warm a bit quicker! I thought it was about time that I introduced a very important member of the team, Bisto, he is a rather portly and aged chocolate Labrador  and truth to tell he doesn't smell that great most days, but he takes his role as garden dog very seriously. Imagine his chagrin on Saturday morning as Giles introduced us to his new dog, Shandy, a spritely twelve year old black patterdale terrier inherited from his sadly deceased father only recently. Coming from an elderly owners home, that small dog must have thought she'd died and gone to heaven when introduced to Norton Conyers. Within the first five minutes of being shown the wood she'd flushed out a rabbit and the look on her face was one of pure triumph, that look continued at lunchtime when having ousted Bisto from his customary sleeping blanket she managed to look as though she'd been a garden dog all her life! The look on Bisto's face however was so mournful that I swear he would have been crying if dogs could form tears, Giles stepped in and spreading the blanket out wide made sure there was room for both. I think we are all in for some fun and games with that little dog around and she may even reduce the gardens rabbit population.
"The greatest love is a mothers, then a dogs, then a sweethearts" Polish Proverb

Plenty To Look Forward To

Yesterday afternoon was fit for neither man nor beast and I don't think it's due to improve next week, freezing rain that was a new one on me! There is no gardening to be done when the weather is as foul as that, consequently I don't have a lot to tell you about today. Instead I thought I'd share with you the things I've got to look forward to when spring finally breaks. Top of the list is filling up my smart new compost bins, custom built by Mark and Lisa of Greengate Gardening Knaresborough 01423 541687, they are really nice chaps and have done a smashing job, picture to follow when I've tidied up a bit! Then in early March I'm attending a grafting course with the Northern Fruit Group and hope to come away with a couple of heritage apple trees for the back garden. April brings the willow weaving course where I will make a wigwam for my french beans to grow up and then it is Harrogate spring flower show. So maybe I should be grateful for some quiet times now!
"Nobody gets to live life backwards. Look ahead, that is where your future lies" Ann Landers

Winter Reflections

As the garden in Spofforth is still under snow I had an unexpected day off on Wednesday, a luxury which bought me an hour back in bed after I'd seen the children off to school. It was also a pleasure to have a spare five minutes to watch the garden birds, although they are very hungry they seem to delight most in having a good drink of clean water in this snowy weather, it reminds me why I bother to defrost it every morning at six o'clock! As I have a little more time I thought I'd compile another slide show of all the winter scenes I've captured recently. Do let me know what you think to them and the blog- my e-mail address is ali@privetandconfidential.com


View Slideshow (Opens in a new window, then hit refresh if slideshow doesn't start automatically).

"Of winter's lifeless world each tree now seems a perfect part; Yet each one holds summer's secret deep down within its heart" Charles G Stater.

A Walk In The Park

Just when we thought the RHS course was getting easier, having been lulled into a false sense of security by familiar terms like propagation, Richard our tutor hit us with a really intensive morning full of phrases and techniques we hadn't come across. I mean we've all heard of leaf cuttings before but little did we know there are petiole, lamina, leaf chevrons and squares to contend with, and we have to name examples in Latin for each method. Root cuttings, bulb scales and five different types of layering were next, followed by the piece de resistance grafting and budding with appropriate root stocks to memorise! It made the afternoon session on trees look like a walk in the park, which incidentally is what we all needed at lunch time to clear our heads. Thank goodness it's half term next week, chance to recharge our batteries or catch up with homework!
"Awake thou wintry earth, fling off thy sadness! Fair vernal flowers laugh forth your ancient gladness! Thomas Blackburn.

Rabbit Rave Up

The city of Ripon was in festive mood on Monday morning, despite the snowy conditions over the weekend everyone had been hard at work decorating the streets with Union Jack bunting for the Queen's 60 year ascension day, they were also ringing the cathedral bells every hour to celebrate. They weren't the only ones having a party as we discovered when we arrived at NC, it soon became apparent that our little Bugs has invited an awful lot of his friends to join him, there were rabbit tracks all over the garden, far too many for a single bun. The little devils had been having a smashing time nibbling the unguarded apple trees, it was a good job the sweet williams have a fence around them as they've worn a track right around the outside trying to get in. I feel something more forceful will be needed to sort this problem out now. We went back into the woods for the whole day again, logging, chopping, sawing and feeding the the same bonfire that we'd started on Saturday, it was still alight! All in all a fairly exhausting day but working in the sunshine and snow was fun, however I don't think I've ever been so dirty, it was a wonder they let me on the bus to go home!
"In the spring at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt" Margaret Atwood.

Creature Comforts

It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I made my way to NC on Saturday morning, it was well documented that heavy snow was expected in the afternoon so I'd made arrangements for Dave to pick me up at 1pm, hopefully before the white stuff really got going. It was another challenging day for being a gardener, bitterly cold with no hope of putting spade to soil so we retreated into the woods to attend to some forestry work. The boys had been hard at work the previous week felling dead trees and overhanging branches so there was plenty of tidying up to do, Giles instructed us to gather up all the brush and make tidy piles for the small creatures of the forest to use for hibernating or nesting. Then we lit a small fire to keep the chill off, I love fires there's something so primordial about them but I think I got a bit close as my eyebrows felt distinctly crispy later on! The morning wound on as we happily worked with no sign of the predicted snow, I was beginning to feel a little bit foolish as 1pm approached and the others were starting to pull my leg, I think they thought I just fancied an afternoon off, but at last, five minutes before Dave was due it finally started to snow, so feeling somewhat vindicated I left them to it and retreated home to some creature comforts of my own. I'm sure the others wouldn't have lingered long either once the big snowflakes started falling, it just remains to be seen whether it is worth going in on Monday, if the snow is still lying there will be little to be done.
"May you always have walls for the wind, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire" Irish Blessing.

Snow Business

Everyone is anticipating the big snow event tomorrow, will it actually happen this time? I for one hope not as I'll be gardening up at Norton Conyers, on the one hand it would be lovely to see the place during a white out but not so lovely to get stranded there. I've told Dave to keep a watchful eye on things and if it looks like turning problematic he is to come and get me. Looks like yesterdays Candlemas prediction is about to ring true! Not a lot to report on today, our walk was unremarkable which was just as well because I forgot my camera, it was very cold but the one advantage of that is the enormous amount of mud we normally encounter was rock hard. Today's picture is of hazel catkins in Di's orchard, I'm rather pleased with it, I may be sharing some snowy shots with you come Monday. Have a good and safe weekend everyone and if it does snow make sure you get out there and enjoy it!
"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing,wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating, there really is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather" John Ruskin

It's Groundhog Day!

I think we managed a top temperature of 3 degrees yesterday and Diana and I found it hard to get going, but we pushed on with some more pruning in the orchard. The first to go under the knife was the beauty bush Kolkwitzia amabilis which had become a tangle of peeling stems, it was quite a battle to cut out the oldest and extract them from the others, Diana says it will be worth seeing in the spring when its blossom lives up to its common name. How eager I am to see all these dead twigs turn into something identifiable! A couple of crab apples were given a trim next, fairly routine stuff really, just cutting the vigorous new growth back by about two thirds, making a slanting cut away from the the chosen out-ward facing bud so that the water drips away from the growth point protecting it from rot. By then Di was getting cold and as she says there is still plenty of time to attend to the other trees so we retired indoors for an early lunch, that enabled me to sneak off early and get some more homework done, no rest for the wicked! Today is Candlemas day, in Christianity this signifies the presentation of Jesus at the temple, in British folklore it was the day that all Christmas decorations were traditionally removed from the house (Imagine coping with the tree that long!), and it is used as a weather prediction day, what else! We are now half way between the solstice and the equinox also. In the good old US of A it is groundhog day which pretty much amounts to the same thing, if said critter pokes his nose out of his burrow, doesn't like the look of the weather and goes back in watch out!
If Candlemas day is clear and bright
winter will have another bite.
If Candlemas day brings cloud and rain

winter is gone and will not come again.

Miracles Do Happen

Well miracles really do happen, we've seen the back of another January and this one without the awful weather that the press have been bleating on about, but more exciting than that, they've fixed the heating in our classroom! I think they finally took the hint when we were all sat in our coats last week, anyway the engineer was called and he expected  to be there for five minutes but ended up taking all day to correct it, the only problem now is that the ventilation is rather noisy, but we feel it would be churlish to mention it at this point! It's a lot easier to stay focused when you are warm and as the day's lesson on taking cuttings was something we were all fairly familiar with the morning flew by. Back to the dreaded lawns in the afternoon and even that was more interesting as we focused on pests and diseases and wildflower meadows, much more my bag. So I'm feeling a happier bunny in general this week, February admittedly is not a very inspiring month but at least it's short and the days are lengthening more and more, the earth is awakening again!
Pics-Rain spattered euphorbias and fantastic new willow sculpture at Harlow Carr.

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle.....a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream". Barbara Winkler