Shiver Me Timbers!

The 'Big Freeze' continues. Today himself was waxing lyrical about the formation of the ice crystals on the greenhouse. "Look you can see flowers and trees - why don't you take some photos!" he said excitedly, whilst I was frantically checking the health of its winter residents and muttering under my breath. The orlaya grandiflora, ammi visigna,'Meteor' peas and a fluffy grass that I had sown in early autumn are looking most melancholy. They had been well wrapped with horticultural fleece and looked alert when I last peeked at them at the weekend. I stuck my fingers into the compost this afternoon and met with resistance - the compost in the cell trays was completely frozen :( I have bought them indoors into the presently unheated dining room on the basis that a gentle warming up might revive them but I am not too optimistic. Why did I not do this a couple of days ago? As to the other side of the greenhouse I must have had a premonition and switched the heated sand bench on a while ago so the sweet peas appear not to have suffered. Normally the greenhouse would have been more full but as there was a gap between old one being dismantled and new one being put up, I did not take any cuttings to overwinter.



On to more happy matters. I've had the great privilege of being asked to be a contributor to Teza's Garden Forum which will be posted on the 7th of each month. Here Teza from - Teza's Garden, Alice - Bay Area Tendrils, Deborah - Green Theatre , Grace - Gardening With Grace, Joy -GardenJoy4Me and myself will be chatting about a range of garden related subjects over the coming months. It promises to be great fun so thank you Teza for the invitation to the party! I am now off to find my specs so that I can have a good read of the first installment.

Chilly much???

There….

I feel warmer already.

You?

Thank you Garden design for the beautiful images

Winter Wonderland

Y IS FOR?



YOU will never believe the amount of snow we have had today!
or the size of the snowflakes. Well yes you would if you live anywhere where serious snow is a regular event but here in our part of the north west of England it is an exceptional occurrence. Apparently we have not had such a snowfall for thirty years. It has caused absolute chaos but has been great fun for all the children who have been given the day off school and for lucky folk like me, who did not have to venture out except to top up the bird table ~

Yet more on the letter Y can be found over yonder at ABC Wednesday kindly hosted by Denise Nesbitt.

Down The Garden Path

Well I am still feeling somewhat pogged after the seasonal indulgences and should really take myself out for a long walk. Instead I have been mulling over last year's photos and have had a few armchair walks which I would like to share. The first is a gentle meander through Strasbourg Botanical Garden early in December. Although it was a rather cool and slightly melancholy day we enjoyed our stroll. From the city centre it took about twenty minutes to walk to the garden along the side of the tram route. Our first stop was the tropical greenhouse where our winter wear suddenly became surplus to requirements as there was a dramatic rise in temperature. There was much lush greenness as well as some colour to admire ~









We had fun sniffing the spices although the once I got the smell of cinnamon on my paws my guessing prowess seemed to be somewhat blunted ~


Back outside, back on with coat and scarf we wondered down the path in the direction of a lake where we came across some most spooky protuberances. These were absolutely intriguing and for me were the highlight of our visit. They belong to the taxodium distichum or false cypress tree, which is a native to the south east of the United States ~










These little woodies are known as cypress knees and their exact function is apparently the cause of some debate. One theory is that they take in oxygen on behalf of the roots. Another is that they provide anchors for the tree in the flood plain environment where they usually grow, the surrounding soil often being rather unfirm. I was interested to find out that this cypress is a deciduous tree hence the carpet of brown needles on the ground. I have only come across evergreen cypresses before so was convinced that the tree was seriously ill, until I was able to do some research back at home.

We left the garden by way of this clematis laden with last year's seed heads ~



and an edgeworthia chrysantha showing promise of spring to come ~



Should we ever be fortunate enough to return to Strasbourg we would not hesitate to visit this garden again. Judging by the extensive labels it is jam packed with plants, many of which had gone underground for winter. It must be full of colour for a good part of the year and is a great place not only for tourists but for anybody living, working or studying nearby to enjoy regularly.

The Happiness Project

Have you read the book? I ordered it Friday and decided to hold off on resolutions or goals until I had a chance to read a bit of the book. If you've read the book or participate in a "happiness group" I would love to hear from you. It seemed to me that working independently might be easier but it would be interesting to hear how the group thing works. Don't get me wrong. I'm not unhappy but the idea of thinning out some of the unnecessary to let in more happy moments seems most appealing.

My girlfriend, together with her teen-aged daughter, went on a very meaningful service trip to Kenya in 2009. When she returned she described a simple tribal life saying that many of those living in the community were almost giddy with happiness. They had very little, according to western standards and yet everyone seemed very happy. Her observation was "Life on the Mara was simple, stress free and it called us to slow down and to live closer to nature."

Photo of Lindsey and her Masai Friend

Doesn't that sound like something we all should try to do - live more simply, with less stress, slow down and connect with nature? It doesn't sound too hard.

It isn't exactly a resolution but exercise is on my list of things to do in 2010. When I turned 40 I started taking ballet and have continued classes off and on over the past twelve years. Last year I fell off the wagon but will be back in class next Saturday. The idea of wall-to-wall mirrors is a bit scary but facing one's fears is an exercise in itself, right?

Have you made any goals yet? I would love to hear them.

Garden Bloggers Muse Day - January 2010

'Ancient Music'

"Winter is icummen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm.
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing: Goddamm.

Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham.
Freezeth river, turneth liver,
Damn you, sing: Goddamm.

Goddamm, Goddamm, 'tis why I am, Goddamm,
So 'gainst the winter's balm.

Sing goddamm, damm, sing Goddamm.
Sing goddamm, sing goddamm, DAMM".

~ Ezra Pound , 1885 -1972

January has started on a bitterly cold note here. I am glad I am not a bird.

More musing on the month of January can be perused over at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

Welcome 2010! A Blank Page

It's been a long time since I posted but the start of a new year seemed like the perfect time to pickup and start posting again. I have missed blogging and connecting with so many folks and apologies for not keeping in touch. Life was moving too fast for me the last half of 2009. Lots happened and most of it very good.




I spent 7 weeks working on a Habitat build and it was a good feeling knowing that I was able to help a young family spend their first Christmas in their very own home. If you haven't ever worked on a home build you should try it. This was the fifth time I had worked on a house but the first time I worked on one from start to finish. Quite an experience.

After the build was finished I headed to Seattle to become a Godmother! I am so proud to be a Godmother for the first time. My Goddaughter, Shea is a beautiful, happy girl and since she was born, I have been able to visit with her twice already!

Our family celebrated our first Labor Day Weekend family reunion at our house. We normally head to Standing Stone Park in Tennessee but this year we decided to make it a major event closer to home. We rented a room at a hotel around the corner so that we had pool access all weekend. Thought you might enjoy a picture of our granddaughter at the pool wearing her goggles. I call this picture "Pink."

Our neighborhood has a small park and do you remember the great burlap bags that I found during the summer on the way to work? Well, they became the perfect sacks for our sack races! Yes, we had an old-fashioned field day in the park! I planned a number of games and it was such a hit with everyone. The family decided they wanted to do it again next year. The event required a lot of planning and prep work so I will carefully consider whether or not to do it again but it was a ton of fun.

My husband lost his job in 2009 but not working gave him time to go visit family in Beirut. He left just after Thanksgiving so in the weeks before Christmas I was "home alone," but I loved every minute of it. Saw lots of movies too. Have you seen An Education, Precious, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Blindside - oh,the list goes on! So many great movies to see right now. And I watched Elf and The Family Stone multiple times. The quietness and stillness gave me time to take in lots of small things I love about the holidays - all was calm and all was bright. It gave me the opportunity to hold a girl party and it was a blast. As a result of the fun we had, we have already planned a girlfriend chili party to kick off the new year.

Christmas was wonderful and one of my happiest moments was having my grandgirls with me for Christmas mass. It was the children's mass and the girls got here just in time to join the pageant as angels. It was beautiful and I hope it is something they remember forever. I know I will. My family all arrived in time for Christmas eve. My husband had promised "I'll be home for Christmas" so we picked him up at the airport at 9:00 on Christmas eve. What a great celebration we had.

My son Sami is moving to Germany. This fall we spent lots of time with he and the grandgirls. Family time took precedent over everything as we helped him get his house ready for sale and we spent plenty of weekend time just doing things together. Our family is about to shift gears in a major way. We know it will be a great opportunity for us to travel but the move will also make it harder for family get-togethers. Our oldest will be in Germany and our youngest daughter currently lives in Portland. The distances are vast. New geographic challenges lie ahead but also all sorts of new travel opportunities do too.

To me the new year is like a blank piece of paper. We have before us the opportunity to do things differently, to add a new chapter to our lives, and I'm excited about it.