Smug yet humble (pt 2) plus autumn raspberry tips

Reflecting on Friday....looking towards the future.... as the clocks spring forward this evening! (*edit - sugar that's only in America)

Wow, this is part 2 of my 'smug yet humble too' post. What a huge moment is was for me, yet as I commented in that post, it doesn't look like much to everyday people who don't have my particular problems (physical and mental). Never mind. I still feel good about it. And thank you for the encouraging comments, they make me feel like a champ. This was first of many walks to that sign and back and I can build on that - oh check me and my positivity out!!

I couldn't go today so the Hubby has gone off to cut back the Autumn Raspberries* alone whilst I rest here and try to gather myself up for a trip to Belfast and maybe a visit to a nursery. We need a little pop-up greenhouse and I need to get started on my cut flower bed - oh yes! buying tubers and bulbs :)

Later there is going to be some seeds sown and a clear out of the home shed...spring has arrived and we need to get into gear! 

* Those 10 celeriac seedlings from Friday have become...65!

* The 3 little daffs are in flower and ohhh yellow is such a happy colour!

For now let me leave me with this, one of the best poems in the world and one that sums up how I have been feeling under the reign of winter - well *blows raspberry in winter's face*...I made it and spring is here - hurrah!!

* Pruning your autumn raspberries * 
 - Be brutal, you want loads of fruit this year too so cut those old canes right down to ground level!
- You should have your canes arranged and growing with supports. We have ours in a straight line with supporting wire tied across them at regular intervals. Tie any new stems to these wires as your plants grow; do it lightly with twine so as they grow they have freedom to move a little in the wind and not snap = disaster!
- Cover the ground with fertiliser of your choice and use loads of our dear friend - well rotted manure as a mulch.
- Never let the soil dry out! Raspberries are very thirsty and need water to make them extra juicy ;) Ummm raspberries eaten from the cane in the warm Autumn sun....heavenly


Hugs

For Ali and Doug

An Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warms rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.


May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

Snowy blanket

Up very early again, the insomina sedated only or a few hours due to a busy, panic fuelled day. We saw friends in the evening too and though very enjoyable indeed, I does make me tired to socialise. So here I am again up at 5.30am to have my comforting porridge and honey. Of course it is still very dark in the kitchen but this morning there is an eerie yellow glow through the back door window panes. It is snowing. It has been since we went to bed, it was just starting then, now there is a good thick blanket over the world, my world that I can see from my safe home in my dressing gown. I open the door and all is so hushed, the snowflakes fall in utter silence and lay themselves on those already settled. The wind is up a little and the air is frosty; Maggie awakens in her bed and after an icy blow through the open door she makes a gruff noise and nuzzles further into her blankets.

With snow outside my window falling steadily and getting thicker I am reminded of the tog system of duvets. Over the hours that tog raises to extra thick, if only it were fluffy and warm. The street looks prettier and I feel safer, how can there be pain and suffering in a place so cottony and muted?

I am reminded of an old favourite:

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though,
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the wood and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

Sleep tight everyone x

National Poetry Day - nothing to do with allotments but what the heck

I wasn't going to do a post today, I haven't been well but the Hubby is sleeping on the sofa beside me and I've been dandering around some friends' blogs and think I will. National Poetry Day could easily have passed me by with out a care in the world but I do have a favourite and it is very important to Andrew and I, it was read on our wedding day.

Had I the Heaven's Embroidered Cloths ~ W.B Yeats.

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Plus I always loved Horace's :

Happy the man and he alone,

He who can call today his own,

He who save within can say,

Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.

Just my wee contribution x