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!