The Memory Keeper

I've been scrabbling about in the back of kitchen cupboards today in search of jars. Not a case of efficient forward planning for marmalade making or potential jammy goodness or even the perfect pickle, but in search of just one suitable jar for a new project. I eventually came across a jar that has been decorated by either my mother or my sister - as well as the butterfly, a dragonfly and a bee are flying round its periphery. I'm not sure yet whether this jar will be big enough but I am hoping to use it to collect a year's worth of written reminders of what has made me feel happy - not necessarily big events but the little everyday happenings, that make you smile at the time. The idea comes from a friend who empties her jar out at the end of the year and reflects on all the positive things that have happened even in bleak years. I've already got one or two snippets to put in - a rainbow on New Year's Day, two robins feeding together at the bird feeding station again on the same day, as well as the fact that  yesterday afternoon I solved the identity of whodunit in Susan Hill's latest book 'A Question Of Identity', a hundred pages or so before the end! Time now to find some paper to jot these down before they slip away like dreams into the forgotten zone. How will you be recording 2013?

'Double Dipping'

This 'double dip' autumn continues broken only briefly by the first frost last Sunday. Any thoughts of lifting the dahlias had to be put on hold as I was heading south for a few days. I have come back to find frazzled leaves but still need to lift them and find them a des res for the winter. Other than that most other things escaped damage and it has turned mild again. Before I went there was time to sow a few pots of sweet peas. The sowing I made in October was most disappointing as only seven seeds germinated out of fifteen. I am not sure how old the seed was but I picked up a packet of a new introduction 'Prima Ballerina' and hope that they fare better. I have never sown sweet peas so late in the year so yesterday I switched the heated sand bench on in the greenhouse. Maybe some bottom heat will encourage them to get going. I must order some more sweet pea seeds for spring sowing - definitely 'Matucana' but also want to try some different varieties. The catalogues have been arriving in dribs and drabs including the arrival this week of Elizabeth MacGregor's new catalogue which I am really looking forward to browsing through. Somehow online catalogues are never quite as satisfying. I have had a quick flick and am tempted by a few plants.

Himself has been busy this weekend relocating the bird box that we fitted with a camera earlier this year. We were hoping to be able to watch 24/7 live action from the nest but it was not to be. We were initially encouraged to see leaves and twiggy bits arrive and held our breath in vain for some time. Our most exciting moment was when we saw a wood louse scuttle across the floor of the box. So we have decided to try another venue next year and have finally decided on its location. The box will be spring cleaned next spring and a few starter leaves added for encouragement. Maybe there will be fledgelings to report on then.

Meanwhile the leaf sweeping goes on and on. I have been wondering when the leaves in the photo are going to relinquish their hold and where they will land. The tree - a cherry blossom belongs to our next door neighbour - it had lost all its foliage on the same date in 2009. So for all the talk of a premature start autumn is still going strong.

Catch Me If You Can!

It seems that all of a sudden that the traffic lights have turned to green and that everything has accelerated at once. No time to press the pause button now.  At the allotment the newly planted apple trees are settling in - more leaves have unfurled each time I visit. I think that I could see blushes of potential blossom today. The garlic is shooting up and the green tops of shallots have now broken through the soil. The raspberries and white berry are already showing their first sprigs of potential fruit. I have planted the first lot of potatoes - one row of Nicola, whilst the rest of the bed is planted with the most unromantically named BF15, which I am hoping tastes better than its name. The rest of the beds are cleared and are awaiting planting up as spring progresses. In the greenhouse I have pricked out the tomatoes this week. Cucumbers and courgettes are through, whilst beans and basil are sown but have still to show signs of life. Time for a full inventory soon just to remind myself where I am up to. For once I have managed to keep up with labeling until this afternoon, when a rather loud buzzing near my ear distracted me from the task in hand.  Result : I now have two different types of tomatoes suffering from an either or identity crisis. Now that I've gone off the straight and narrow there are bound to be more incidents.

There has been a similar spurt of growth in the garden too at ground level and above as the trees are flushed with that delicate magical growth of early spring. So much happening all at once and this weekend the first plant sale and garden visit of the season. Before I disappear into a veritable all consuming haze of green, I would like to point you all in the direction of Allotment Heaven, where the lovely Maureen has a great giveaway on offer. This would be of particular interest to any rose lovers as it is a copy of David Austins new book 'The English Roses'. Good luck!

Lurking With Intent

Spring has definitely been lurking with intent for some time but this weekend I felt that it is definitely knocking loudly on the door. The snowdrops are now going over and hellebores, irises, little daffs, pulmonarias and primroses are now stealing the show. The ducks are paddling and quacking on the little surface water stream that borders the side of the garden. I have spied bee and ladybird. At long last the autumn flowering cherry ~ prunus subhirtella autumnalis has a sprinkling of flowers. This has never failed before to blossom both in autumn and then again in the following spring. This autumn ~ zilch! The bitter early cold snap in November cruelly frosted the flowers just as they were emerging, so they are even more of a welcome sight than usual.

I had my first proper session of the year at the allotment. I know that it's nearly the middle of March but I must confess to being a fair weather allotmenteer. The site lacks basic facilities which I can put up with during the summer months but not in the depths of winter. Hopefully this situation might be rectified in the future, as the allotment association intends to apply for funding to install a composting toilet. With a growing number of women and young families with children on the site achieving this has become an important priority. My first task was to do some much needed tidying up. Hopefully I will return later in the week to plant my garlic which I have started of in modules at home and also to plant shallots. The perimeter fencing is still to be completed. Although I am not keen on its appearance it has dawned on me that it has potential as support for climbing plants which could be a blessing in disguise.

This year I am making a deliberate effort to try to reduce the volume of seeds that I grow. I do not really need thirty plus tomato plants. So far tomatoes, sweet peppers, nicotiana mutablis and dahlia 'Bishops Children' have germinated. These firstlings are now spending their days outside in the greenhouse but are stil resident in the house at night. I have sown broad beans, 'Kelvedon Wonder' peas and beetroot in modules in the greenhouse. I plan to sow leeks, parsnips, chard and spinach later this week and something else which escapes my memory.

I have been fiddling about with my blog this week and would welcome feedback about the size of photos. Are they now too big? I am undecided.

Finally a big  thank you to everyone for their ideas and hints on looking after my reptilian like hands. There were some excellent suggestions, which I think that I will try to knit together in a separate post at some time in the future. I was surprised to find out how many of you are fellow eczema sufferers so I would like relate this information back to you.

'Walk Like An Egyptian'

Well this week my little 'Egyptian Walking' onion also known as a 'Tree Onion' made the long journey from Devon up north to the banks of the Mersey. It is now catching its breath in the greenhouse. As I am not sure whether it has come from being under cover or from the great outdoors, I am erring on the side of caution and will gently reintroduce it to the elements. In case you are wondering about the name the plant sets forth air born bulbils, each one which having the capacity to root and produce another plant ~ hence the walking. Along with it arrived a Japanese wineberry, some shallots and seed potatoes with the most romantic name of BF15. Now if one picked potatoes by name only this surely would remain on the shelf. However it is meant to be a tasty morsel - its parents being Belle de Fontenay and Flava . All these goodies will be making their way to the allotment sooner or later. We paddled our way down there this morning but it is much to wet to do anything other than observe the progress of the new fencing.

The cuttings which have overwintered in the greenhouse seem to have put on a spurt of growth in the last fortnight and are ready repotting. Some of the penstemon cuttings look a bit leggy and in need of pinching out. A task for the forthcoming week.

It still seems as if we are very much in between the seasons here. Some of the snowdrops are now going over and giving way to irises, little daffs and hellebores. I was pleased to see this hellebore open for the very first time earlier this week ~

It is one of the hellebores I bought via Ebay a couple of years ago as a plug plant. It's perhaps more spotty than I would prefer but considering it cost relatively little in hellebore terms, I am more than happy with it. Weather wise though apart from a beautiful mild day on Thursday, which I had the misfortune to observe from a train window, it is still more like winter than spring. There has been a good deal of rain and wind this week but it has been possible though at times to get out and do. Tomorrow there will be the grand ceremony of the switching on of the heated propagator and then all systems go!

The title of this post was inspired by the most catchy ditty of the same name by 'The Bangles', which I will be singing regularly to my onion to encourage it to grow, go forth and walk.

P.S. For Mey who commented on my last post wanting to contact me by email I am unable to reply to you directly. You can contact me at thegreentapestry@googlemail.com
Look forward to hearing from you.

'Follow The Yellow Brick Road'

Events outside the garden and lottie are taking up much of my time at the moment so no time for a diary post last weekend. I have been away for almost a week and on returning home I had a good wonder round the garden yesterday. Although it is still early in the year so much had happened in a short spell, no doubt prompted by a spell of warmer weather. The snowdrop clumps in the garden are now at their best, although the 'national collection of snowdrops' is in a sad state. I wrote about their frail state here. Since then there has been further wailing and gnashing teeth of as many of the survivors are not showing any signs of flowers this year. Oh what a to do. I can only hope that they revive but now face another twelve months to find out. More hellebores have opened and I am waiting for some to show their true colours for the first time this year. Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin' have opened and crocuses have croaked. All this colour out of nowhere in the space of a few days. It is too wet to be outside taking photos today so here is one of this exquisitely marked  iris that I took at my one and only visit to an RHS London winter show back in January 2006. Such show visits are a great way to dispel the winter blues but week day train fares from London make it too much of an expensive proposition these days.

I have not had a chance to visit the allotment but my trusted deputy himself has been down for a reccie. The work with the new fencing continues. Himself spoke to the contractors as some top soil is needed and they have agreed to drop some off onto the plot in the next week. Then I must get down to some work myself to get things into shape ready for the first inspection of the year in early April.

New to my bookshelves this week is the new edition of 'The Yellow Book,' the purchase of which always gives me a delicious tingle as it makes me think that spring is really on the horizon. I imagine that many of you are familiar with 'The Yellow Book' but just in case any introduction is needed, the book lists and describes  all the gardens in England and Wales, which open to visitors to raise funds for charity under the National Gardens Scheme. Although the information that the book contains is available online, I still get a lot of pleasure from dipping into pages full of descriptions of gardens both great and small. I have already penciled in a snowdrop garden to visit soon and an allotment site in June. Later on in the year I plan to cross the border over to North Wales, to be inspired by some colourful late summer planting here in Karen's, 'An Artists Garden's real life garden.

Going,Going,Gone!

My gardening week started on a slightly sad note but has ended on a high. I will do sad first. On Monday we visited the allotment for the first time this year. We went to shift some odds and ends as work was due to start on removing out current perimeter fencing and replacing it with a 1.8 metre high steel fence. This is not by choice ~  the local council have decided that all the plots on our site will have standard fencing onto communal pathways. The council are paying for materials and all the labour involved. Whilst I can understand the logic behind this decision and think that the plots will be more secure, I think that the site will lose in terms of individuality and character. Maybe it's just me but I like the higglety pigglety appearance that exists now. There are all sorts of wooden fences - both brand new and old, recycled from pallets and planks ~ they are different heights and thicknesses and different colours. Other folk including myself have chain - link fences. Many plots have hand crafted signs with their plot numbers or names including gems such as 'Backacres'. You can see one such example in the photo at the top of the page ~ this artwork was created by my lovely plot neighbours. There will be less scope for such charm once we are all fitted with the same fencing and there will be no more passing plants and seeds over the fence quite so easily.

In the garden the snowdrops have made great strides in the last week and just need a bit more warmth to open fully. Some perennials are showing signs of new growth which is always encouraging. Meanwhile it's a waiting game to see what's happening with the contents of the cold frame - its occupants having the misfortune to have chosen the wrong year to overwinter in pots. In the greenhouse there are still no signs of the January sown batch (replacement for November sown losses) of sweet peas germinating but the 'Solent White' garlic I planted in pots is now showing green tips.

Now for the good news. This morning I had fun taking part in the RSPB Big Birdwatch ~ most of the usual suspects turned up and a little goldcrest sneaked in an appearance at the very last minute. Then this afternoon I was delighted to discover that I was a prizewinner in the Irish Times Christmas Gardening quiz which I entered at the very last minute. I have won a year's subscription to 'The Irish Garden' magazine  - what a surprise. My thanks must go to Jane over at 'One Bean Row' - the brains behind a most enjoyable quiz. What a good way to end the week.

At The Starting Line

It's almost two years to the day when I posted here the first of what I hoped would be a regular diary type entry, enabling me to keep track of plannings, plantings and generally of goings on in the garden and at the allotment. Well I did quite well at first, then in the way of all previous diary attempts I slowly stuttered before finally fizzling out.
So I am going to have another crack at a hopefully a weekly or thereabouts diary type post. The weather has been on the cool frosty side with some frosts including a couple of rather murky foggy days - decidedly not fit for venturing out. As the third week of January came to an end I am almost all sorted in the seed buying stakes. My seed boxes had a ruthless cull over the Christmas season and I established that there was not much that I needed for the new season. One or two small orders have gone off and have been delivered. I was pleased to come across Mark Diacono's newly opened 'Otter Farm' internet shop on Friday. An order has been placed for a Japanese wineberry and an Egyptian walking onion. I only hope that they will settle into the Cheshire Plain without any great degree of homesickness.

I am not sure what is happening at the allotment but a trip there is on the cards in the next few days. Meanwhile in the garden the snowdrops are showing shimmers of white - just a few more days. Out of my diminished special snowdrops the early flowering 'Faringdon's Double' is in flower. Lots of promise on the hellebore front and pulmonaria rubra 'Redstart' is now showing colour - this usually flowers in late autumn but not this time around.

I made my first trip of the year to a garden centre  today -  two to be precise - they are within a mile or so of each other so you can't visit one and not the other - well that is what I tell himself. There seemed to be fewer winter interest plants on sale than there usually are - a result of the cold winter I wonder.  I was looking out for seed potatoes but was disappointed that the range available did not seem as varied as last year. I looked for 'Lady Christl','Belle De Fontenay' and 'Ratte' in vain but did come home with 'Pink Fir Apple'. A new ornamental pot also slipped into my basket along with a packet of pak choi 'Rubi'. One of the garden centres had a sale and I could not resist a half price cornus sanguinea 'MidWinter Fire'. This is to replace an old straggly red stemmed cornus, which I have not pruned as ruthlessly as I should have done over many years. I think that I should still be able to take some hardwood cuttings before I dispose of the old shrub. We stopped off at a well known DIY store on the way home and a couple of small deliciously scented sarcococca confusa firmly attached themselves to my personna. So my first garden related retail therapy session of the year ~ I dare say it will not be the last. Has anybody else been indulging so far this year? Do tell.

Just For The Record

Before autumn’s cobwebs well and truly descend time for a recap of what has been happening or not at the allotment. The weather has been challenging to say the least. The long cold winter meant that it was late in the day before any serious seed sowing began but some benign spring weather kick started everything off quite fortuitously.

I think that I have finally got my head round the art of what distance to leave between various crops when I plant them at the lottie. It has only taken five years! I now know that I can fit five French beans in across the raised beds whilst six shallots will rub along nicely head and shoulders together. Tasks that used to be a matter of serious measuring on the whole can now be accomplished by eye.

The year’s successes? Without a doubt it has to be the strawberries. The plants were given to me as runners by my lottie neighbours in the late summer of 2008. I potted them up in a hurry, before we went on holiday that year and planted them in the ground in late spring of 2009. This year they produced more than enough strawberries for us. Throughout June we dined on strawberries most evenings as well as passing them on to neighbours and friends. I almost got to the stage when I never wanted to look another strawberry in the face again and was almost gleefully pleased to turn my back on what was left of them when we went on holiday in July.

The other satisfying crop was the shallots -bought from Wilkos but annoyingly I  have forgotten to record the variety. From less than half a raised bed we now have over a couple of hundred shallots to enhance winter stews, casseroles and soups. I will save some of the smallest ones to plant in the spring. Other successes this year included courgettes - ‘Romanesco’ fared better than ‘Green Bush’, French beans flourished including the new to me dwarf 'Stanley’ and my tomatoes did so much better than last year’s dismal showing. Note to self ~ grow ‘Czech’s Excellent Yellow’ and ‘Ferline’ again but not’ Japanese Black Trifele’.

In the iffy category - garlic - some absolute monsters but also some diminutive heads - quite puzzling as all planted in the same area and no pattern to their final size.

There were of course disappointments - peas and potatoes did not flourish. I have never grown potatoes in the ground before only in containers. Whether it was the dry spring and early summer that did not agree with them I don’t know but the yield was poor. I will try again next year. The other challenge I set myself this year was to master successional cropping but have to admit failure as far as this objective is concerned. Life has been a bit topsy- turvy since May, so sometimes there has been unplanned physical distance between myself, greenhouse and the allotment. Still there’s always next year. In the meantime I will soon be setting down to some serious reading of the new catalogues, as well as a couple of new books which look as if they might be influential and inspirational when it comes to making my plans for a new season.

Ear,Ear

Give me an hour or so pottering in the garden at this time of the year any day. It beats mid summer gardening hands down. Fingers might be dropping off, nose might be running etc., etc but oh it does such wonders for the spirit. This morning's snow showers gave rise to a decent enough day so I have spent some time outside. Hampered by coat, scarf and gloves I have not actually achieved much. I did briefly take the gloves off and sowed my first seeds of the year (onions Rijnsburger and Red Baron) but mainly I just mooched, looked and made plans. Whilst looking I came across this fungi growing on the bark of a rather dilapidated buddleia. I have come across this before but never in the garden. It looks quite disgusting but fascinating at the same time.



I think that it's time to remove the shrub as despite bearing a few leaves it does not look like it will flourish again. Wonder if I can persuade himself to do aforesaid deed. It does not require his strength but I am worried that I might topple over. Would that I were twenty years again and more athletic. Then who am I kidding - have never been athletic. Our garden has a small stream on one boundary - aforesaid fungied shrub is just on the edge of a rather disconcerting drop down to the stream. I have visions of falling in and floating off, as in the above painting of 'The Lady of Shalott' by Millais. I would certainly not look as romantic as I wended my way downstream to the nearest culvert.



Back in the warmth now feeling reinvigorated. Hopefully there will be more opportunity to get out over the weekend. If not with the arrival of the March editions of 'The Gardener' and ' Gardens Illustrated' and a book to read before Tuesday's reading group meeting, I am certainly not short of reading matter.

The Year Of The Blog

The last entry in my blog each year has been usually one of very few posts - I am delighted to say that this year has been the exception. It is the year that I got into blogging and although I have not yet matched the prodigious output of some fellow bloggers, I am more than happy. This state of affairs is mainly due to the encouragement of fellow bloggers including all the lovely folk on Blotanical. Thanks for all your comments, suggestions, enthusiasm and great sense of humour in 2009 - it means a lot to me. I am looking forward to seeing my blog grow during the next year. I am pleased to have the chance to be involved in a new project come January at the kind invitation of Teza over at Teza's Garden. This will come online on a few days and I am sure it's going to be fun. It was also a pleasure to meet up in real life with fellow bloggers - The Patient Gardener and Veg Plotting. Hopefully we will see each other again before long and I hope to meet other bloggers in 2010.

As for the weather what can I say ? 2009 has been weird, wonderful and wet! Sadly it has bought its share of misfortune and grief in the north west of England when the inhabitants of Cumbria suffered dreadful flooding. That's only my tiny corner of the planet and as usual throughout the world the elements have reminded us of their tremendous power.



The allotment fared well. I would like to say flourished but I would be exaggerating. It benefited from having so much more of my time lavished on it, as 2009 was the first full year of me not working. I grew the usual suspects but also strangely enough some vegetables I have not grown before. Nothing exotic - carrots and peas but they were delicious. I am not sure why I have not grown them before but will be certainly be doing so this coming year. In fact next year's early peas have already germinated in the greenhouse and are fleeced in anticipation of frost tonight. I still have not got my head round the art of successional planting but hope to get nearer this year. Himself is working tomorrow so I will be spreading myself out on the carpet - seed boxes, reference books plus pen and paper in hand. Bliss.


As for the garden there is much to do. Sadly looking back on the last decade the garden has suffered - it is extremely overgrown and neglected in places. Now that work is no longer consuming my time and energy 2010 is time to tackle some of the big tasks that I have been putting off. It is going to involve the removal of one or two mature but unhealthy shrubs, reclaiming paths and a whole border which has more or less been swallowed up by some pernicious ivy. I have also got a nasty patch of vinca to sort out - I will save this for when I am in a bad mood.



New plants wishlist for 2010. Well I am going to try to be restrained (where have I heard that before ?) and wait until I can see the wood from the trees. Having said that there are one or two hardy geraniums on the list to add to the ones I already grow. You can see one of my favourites in the garden in this post. I am also sure that I will be tempted by some of the beauties that I have recently drooled over at Gardening With Grace and Mr.McGregor's Daughter. In fact I may just have to stop visiting all you bloggers who tempt me by featuring such desirable plants on your blogs.

Well 2010 is almost done and I'm off to Liverpool later to round up the year with a Chinese meal in the company of himself. Wishing you all a happy, healthy and peaceful new year. May all your plants prosper in the new decade. See you on the other side.

Absolute Musts!

All this rare sunshine is going to my head. I have had a surfeit of fresh air this week and as I have toiled at the allotment the grey matter has been in overdrive. I have come to the conclusion that I must :

• Do some serious research into chemical toilets or porta potties (to use a quainter phrase). Perched over the bucket in the shed this morning, I had an alarming moment when I heard loud buzzing, which I think was in the vicinity of a certain very exposed part of my anatomy ! I did not dare to turn my head to look in case I toppled over.
• Treat myself to Anna Pavord's new book 'Bulb' which I flicked through in Waterstones yesterday. Already laden down with shopping I could not manage to carry this heavy tome as well. First impressions were of excellence - masses of information and beautiful photography. I would like to have lingered it over it longer but I always feel guilty if I leave without making a purchase. I know it's slightly early to mention the dreaded C word but this could be my yearly gift to myself book. However Waterstones have got a special offer on the book at the moment. Should I return later in the week and then ask himself to hide the book until the appointed time? Decisions, decisions. Also on my book wish list are 'Veg Patch : River Cottage Handbook 4' by Mark Diacono and 'Garden Wisdom' by Leslie Geddes-Brown'.
• Find out whether there is such an item as a waterproof, smudge-proof notebook. I have given up taken a notebook to the allotment as they invariably get dirty and/or damp. However I find that I do not always remember what I want to do or need to do. It would also be useful to be jot down notes and thoughts for future reference.
• Take a tape measure with me to the allotment to measure the raised beds. I need to get some porous membrane to cover the beds over before the cold weather sets in. Now if I had the aforesaid notebook I would remember to put the tape measure into my allotment bag.
• Plant onion sets and garlic next month. Before I can do that I need to order them but that's the easy bit. I also need to get my head round my hit and miss rotation system and work out where I can plant them. That should take some time says she scratching her head.
• I must plant my bulbs before the end of November and not half way through January when in previous years I have risked severe frostbite to accomplish this task. As I have only bought a bag of sixteen tulip bulbs up to now this should not be beyond the realms of possibility. I shall just have to stay clear of bulb websites, catalogues and garden centres for the foreseeable future. Sounds easy.

Well I think that's enough musts for me to be getting on with for the time being. Time now to seek inspiration for what I can do with a mound of damsons.

"Who Knows Where The Time Goes?"

"In summer, the song sings itself." ~ William Carlos Williams

So here we are almost at Midsummer's Day ! In the words of the Fairport Covention song oh so beautifully sung by Sandy Denny, "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?". It has been a showery summer solstice here but the forecast is promising a dry and warm week.

As the year goes on I am failing somewhat with my intention to maintain some sort of gardening diary both on this blog and elsewhere. I especially wanted to try to keep more accurate records of what I have done at the allotment. So once again I am unsure of when I planted my garlic, onions and carrots etc. and exactly when they should be ready to crop. I think that for another year that it will be a glorious guessing game. The 'Feltham First' peas are coming on but in trying to establish whether the peas are ready I am eating a fair few podsworth. However they are deliciously sweet and going down well. I wish all crops were like strawberries as it is so obvious when they are ready for eating. They are ripening thick and fast at the moment so each trip to the allotment usually sees me coming home with enough to feed the two of us. I have also been invited to top up with next doors as well, as they are on holiday so there is certainly no shortage of strawberries. I had a good session at the lottie yesterday where I weeded for England. I am trying to make sure that the plot is tidy as possible well in time for the July inspection. It was last July when I got the dreaded letter. I am trying to gets things as tidy as possible before then and also before holidays call.

I am also regularly picking bunches of sweet pea 'Matucana' from the plot which scent the hall. The flower bed there is filling out nicely now. The top photo shows penstemon 'Evelyn' and cerinthe major. In the same bed are cosmos 'Purity',nasturtiums, asters, teasels, a Japanese anenome and a stipa gigantea still very much in its infancy.

On the subject of tempus fugit, I have been very remiss in not thanking the lovely Joanne of Joanne's Cottage Garden for the 'Renee Award' which she kindly bestowed upon me - my very first blogging award! :



This award is the "Renee Award" which was created by Bella and Ces in the UK, in honour of their friend Renee.In Bella's own words "This is a brand new award and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed and watching it grow. I hope it finds it's way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns.”

I should pass this award on to five other bloggers but find it impossible to narrow it down to you. I am sure that I will still be in the spirit of the award if I pass it on to all you lovely people who visit this blog regularly, with thanks and appreciation for all your comments. My apologies for being rather remiss about replying to comments of late. Hopefully this should improve now that things are slowing down growing and planting wise - there's more time to draw breath.Thanks muchly for the award Joanne !