Monday, January 28, 2008

Where the bloody hell is Winter?

"Winter" 2008 has to be the most prolonged bout of Autumn ever: We've had so much rain here in the UK that you'd swear it was actually Summer, except it's cold and it goes dark earlier.

Yesterday, 28 January 2008, the rain and wind stopped leaving a beautiful 'Spring is just around the corner' type of day backed up by the sounds of the birds in full song - you know it's nearly Spring when the birds start singing naughties to each other.

The grass had grown so much with the recent mild weather that I had to mow it (though I just topped it really). This is by far the earliest I can remember mowing and I also managed a good deal of gardening; clearing up dead stems from last years bedding, tidying up leaves and digging the borders (being careful to avoid the almost in flower Daffodils and very much in flower Crocuses). So now, when everything comes out properly they should look stunning rather than a few dots of colour set amongst an unkempt mess like last year.

Typically though, I arrive home from work this evening, get out of the car while smugly admiring my beautifully kept garden only to hear that Winter is about to descend! Temperatures are going to plummet and we'll likely have snow by the weekend. Let's hope that singing naughties is as far as the little birds got and they put their nest building on hold for a while. I hate the years where everything gets into the full swing of Spring only to be killed off by Winter having one last tantrum.

I also visited a plot of land that my Dad used to use as a vegetable patch: He has said "we" are going to get it sorted this year, and as I need somewhere to grow my beans (a few pots worth last year were lovely but not nearly enough) I have said I'll help him.

Vegetable patch? Vegetable patch? Vegetable patch? Vegetable patch?

As you can see by the pictures there's a fair bit of work to do! I reckon if it wasn't winter and that lot was in full leaf you'd be wondering if there was a sleeping Princess trapped in a castle somewhere amongst it!

So I'm currently reading up on my previously not even glanced at books on allotments and vegetable gardening trying desperately not to think about the brambles under my finger nails and back breaking digging that's required to get the plot something like.

I know I'll love it once I get started though :)