Thankful For Small Mercies

Today is the last day of January, Hooray! I can't believe I've been working at Norton Conyers for four months already, however I've got a feeling that our run of good weather luck is about to end. Monday was thankfully dry but very damp and chilly and as we were attending to the sort of jobs that aren't as active and warming as some, we were soon perished. Pruning apple trees requires some thought and a lot of stopping and standing back to see where you've missed, I was so cold I was beginning to wish we were doing some digging! If I thought that was bad the afternoon brought a harder task, it was time to tackle the climbing roses, not the easiest job teetering six foot up a ladder trying to juggle hammer, nails, string, and secateurs whilst reaching above and to the side, knees knocking with height discomfort, thank goodness it's only done once a year!

"The unthankful heart discovers no mercies, but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" Henry Ward Beecher.

A Horse With No Name

I've spoken before about NC being enchanted, but even I had to do a double take when we arrived on Saturday, as standing by the entrance to the south walk was a white horse stood motionless in the earl morning sunshine. Alison and I couldn't resist a closer look so we went to stroke him on the nose out of curiosity, he wore no bridle and was very dirty but seemed calm and friendly, what we hadn't bargained for was him following us into the garden! In the end Derek popped him into the paddock where he appeared to be very comfortable, he almost looks like he's smiling on the photo. Then the jungle drums started to beat as all sorts of people came to see if they knew who he belonged to, all day they came and went but no one claimed him. Eventually it was concluded that he had been turned out and abandoned poor thing, how awful to be a horse that nobody wants, but unfortunately it is becoming more common as the recession bites. We gave him an apple and a bucket of water whilst pondering what would become of him, then Lady Halena got in touch with a niece who has some stables and it has been decided that he shall go there on Sunday, probably for keeps. I do hope everything works out for him as he is such a lovely friendly beast, I've nicknamed him Norton, so fingers crossed for a happy ending. By the way we did do some gardening but the horse story was much more interesting to blog about!
"A dog looks up to a man, a cat looks down on a man, but a patient horse looks man in the eye and sees him as an equal" Winston Churchill.

Waiting Game

I was sitting in the kitchen blogging yesterday morning, not having poked my nose outside yet it still being pitch black, the weather forecaster on the radio was painting a bleak picture so I didn't hurry with only the prospect of more housework looming. Surprisingly though by the time I was showered and dressed it was glorious and sunny, so ditching all thoughts of tidying the house Chum and I took our walk and I spent the next few hours in my own garden, when was the last time that happened? I cut back all the soggy and dead plant matter and even managed to dig over the new raised beds, I'm hoping that when the new compost bin goes in there will be plenty of well rotted stuff at the bottom of the old one to mulch everything with. I can't wait to see the back of the plastic darlek, you can't get in to the thing to turn it, I haven't touched it for three years so there's definitely black gold potential. Everything now looks tidy and any over-wintering insects have only been relocated to the heap, now it's time to play the waiting game, this year I must resist the temptation to  start sowing too early again!
"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves" Mahatma Ghandi

A Sense Of Usefulness

The ground was wonderfully soft and friable yesterday, so it was the ideal time to turn the compost heap and mulch the raised vegetable beds with this best of soil conditioners. I was more than happy to shoulder the lions share of shovelling and felt a sense of achievement when the job was completed, Diana was thrilled as she admitted it would have taken her about four days to do it alone, still not bad for eighty! Next I dug over a bed that had become over-run with mint, at least it had shallow roots and was easy to pull up, but I bet I've missed some and the damn stuff will be back in the spring if we don't apply some glyphosate. Finally Diana was struggling to remove some very deep caper spurge roots so I flexed my muscles again and managed to dig them out, I felt that I'd been of some real use to her for once. The vegetable beds are now ready for planting up in the spring, I wish my own garden was in such good order, I haven't even started to cut it back yet and there are loads of plants to be divided and moved, just my luck that on my spare day off the weather is abysmal again, I guess I'll get caught up eventually!

"The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to matter, to be productive. to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all" Leo Rosten.( and thereby you gain happiness I think!)

Tuesday Tedium

It was a distinctly dull and dreary Tuesday up at Harlow Carr, the rain beat relentlessly at the windows as we started with propagation and seed sowing techniques, spring and new plant life seemed a very long way off indeed. I wouldn't say the topic wasn't interesting just a bit humdrum and mostly common sense, but the RHS are sticklers for stating the obvious so we must learn to do the same. By lunch time we were all frozen as usual but luckily I'd brought in home made soup which hit the spot, sadly any hopes of a pleasant half hour browsing in the bookshop were dashed as it was shut. The afternoon deteriorated further as we started learning about lawns, that was indeed tedious and I'm wondering if I could risk not studying it too closely and just hope it doesn't come up in the exam? All in all a pig of a day with a dodgy car and cranky teenagers too-oh well the only way is up!
"Having decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense" Arthur Helps
P.S Happy Burn's night to all our Scottish friends
"Gi'e me a spark o' natures fire that's a' the learning I desire" Robert Burns.

Tree Knowledge

In a change from the usual routine of getting stuck straight in on Monday morning, Giles, Alison, Nikki and I went for a walk in the woods. Giles has been called away for a few days on family business so he wanted to show us where to plant the remaining hornbeam saplings, and give us a list as long as his arm of other jobs to do whilst he is away! At this point it is interesting to note that all the new trees and shrubs I've mentioned lately are bought with money made from selling logs produced from dead and felled trees on the estate, so it's rather fitting that many of the saplings are planted back into the woods ensuring that there will be magnificent trees for future generations. It was another beautiful morning, almost spring like again with the snowdrops now smothering the woodland floor. As we wandered the conversation turned into a game of ' name that tree', a talent that I'm spectacularly lacking in, I find it difficult enough to do it when they are in leaf let alone in January, I think I will have to do some swatting up if I hope to impress him upon his return. There is no need to embellish upon the days activities any further, just imagine us girls with a wheelbarrow overflowing with trees, spades, stakes and deer guards and you'll get the picture, I'm beginning to be a dab hand at this tree planting lark! the one in today's lower picture is a walnut by the way.
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance" Confusius.

Bugs Is Back

We were a woman down on Saturday but the planting continued apace in sunny but blustery conditions at NC. Fagus slyvatica 'Heterophylla, the common beech, Prunus Ttaihaku' the great white cherry, Prunus 'Kursor' with pink blossom, Labernum x watereri 'Vossii', Cornus mas 'Jelico' and finally seventy canes of raspberry Tulameen, phew! The highlight of the day had to be Giles' encounter with the rabbit though, despite us all traipsing noisily through the garden since early morning we hadn't seen hide nor hare of it until it leaped up right in front of his nose and made a quick getaway straight through his legs to the sanctuary of the yew hedge. We must have walked past him fifty times, but sly old Brer kept his head down, of course we all fell about laughing at the expression on Giles' face, I'm getting rather fond of old Bugs but I feel he may be on borrowed time now. Some pictures today of the small beauties that really stand out at this time of the year when the earth is largely barren.
"The most wasted of all days is that in which we have not laughed"
Nicholas Chamfort