Snowdrops have superpowers

I went outside yesterday {sort of} by my own volition and did some clearing up, brushing the deck and clearing away fallen branches and millions of leaves. All due to the power of the Snowdrop clump.

Toby likes to run round to that hidden area of the garden to have a hearty sniff and pretend he's being a good boy and doing his morning pee pees, but yesterday I followed him to make sure he 'went' and THAT is when I saw them.....glowing ethereally in amongst the detritus. They are the happiest part of February, don't you think?

Hours later and with the air a fraction warmer and the sky still bright I was drawn back to them (via my bedroom to put on lots of layers) and tend to them as they justly deserved. Here, friends, is a photo of HOPE, literal hope.

Once I got my photo a massive panic attack had hold of me and that was the day ruined but you know, it was worth it.

Today I look at the meaning of February to me - yes, I'm Northern Irish so the Celtic Imbolc celebration does matter to my soul...I would like to cleanse the earth at the allotment by walking around it with a candle (or traditional flaming torch) but I'm not that much of a hippie. Instead, in my mind I have cleared the site and will consult Andrew on drawing a new plan.

Love and hugs
Carrie

P.S. We have 6 more pots of snowdrops 'Galanthus' for the front garden waiting to be planted.

Hope, Love and Computer gardening

Hello sweet reader; how are you? I fear don't ask enough or maybe ever and that has got to change. My wish is that you are all hopped up warm, maybe with a hot beverage and a loved one near by.

I am sitting here in my living room with my little dog and a decaff coffee (just in case you were wondering) and soaking wet hair - I just did the hardest thing - I just had a shower. When you have depression etc doing anything can literally be a battle and my mental health today is bad. And I mean BAD.

HOPE

Look! - Daffodils are starting to emerge, to poke their brave little shoots up into the world and face the harsh realities of the cold and rain and snow. I think the snowdrops are doing the same but the deck of the tea house was slippy so I didn't risk it. ANYWAY - signs of hope are appearing, birds are singing ever so loudly and thoughts are turning away from the darkness and into the joys of planning, planting and pottering. Even with a blackness eating me up inside, I feel hope.

LOVE

Last week Andrew and I celebrated 20 years of togetherness - something I never dared to hope for. He isn't fed up with little old me, he still loves me as I love him and both of us are looking forward to the next 20 years of adventures! (Light and dark by turn but always love.)

He made a book of photos from those last 20 years and it's adorable, I love it so much I can't describe it. We were meant to be Berlin but had to cancel as he was so ill with the cold but instead we had time in our pjs watching movies and napping; yes napping is one of our favourite things! And we stayed in Bullitt Belfast (a lovely hotel) and drank cocktails and had the best dinner ever and it was fab.

Shout out to Mamma G for looking after Toby!

COMPUTER GARDENING
It's still so very chilly and the weather is dreich and not looking up for the days ahead. So instead of being at the allotment (I wonder if I'll be able to find it - it's been so long, too long) we are looking at past photos, getting inspiration on Pinterest, thinking of what needs done, and even (I am embarrassed to say) playing Gardenscapes, hahaha. Gardenscapes is a silly game on Facebook where I am winning daft challenges to earn stars and then swap them for trades done to my huge garden - I'm on level 114 and it's looking fabulous, though no veg patch yet hahahaha.

Soon though we shall venture there to good old 24a with our garlic and our 'can do attitudes'. This my friend, is our 10th year as allotment holders and we plan to make it a good one :)

Love and Hugs
Carrie

Coming and Going

It was yesterday I thought of them. I knew where to look of course and under a fine layer of dead bamboo leaves I found them. Sweet, fresh green harbingers of Spring. They have burst forth from the darkness and exude hope, a reminder that warmer days and longer days are coming and we can make it through this cold, dark, dank period. We always do. But for someone like me, whose brain is heavily fogged with depression and confusion and all matter of clutter, the sight of these snowdrops is a powerful annual sign that I too can make it through another winter, another period of suffocating darkness.....

This is only a part of the hidden cluster you must walk around the tea house to get a glimpse off, but the effect is so magical. I look forward to them growing taller and flowering; that almost blinding white is forming inside.

It's a times like this that a William Peter Blatty quote always comes to my mind. In the midst of reading his book - The Exorcist, there are moments of pure reassuring peace amongst the horror and evil. This is one quote that truly lifts my spirits every time I read it and hope it goes down well with you....

It is also times like this that I wonder about the allotment and what jobs might need doing. It's fun to think of all the trees and bushes over there that look so dormant but are really working hard to rise the sap and withstand the cold. Soon there shall be buds on their branches and the joyous cycle begins again.

Not a great photo - sorry.

Already the rhubarb is growing strong and we have one crown under the forcing pot for that special treat of extra sweet branches. The beds are mulched with lovely compost and manure, no seaweed this year as it's just been too blasted cold to collect any. Andrew has already done a lot of pruning. I would like to think the garlic is poking through now too, but the weather is just too poor to go and check.

This month is truly for dreaming and planning; thinking about optimising your space, noting where raised beds need fixing, timbers replacing, looking at seed catalogues and remembering what worked for you last year. Enjoy! In no time the hard work shall begin.

******

I'm off on a holiday this week to the sunshine and other-worldly beauty of North Tenerife, time to take a break from the everyday and go climb a volcano or two. I look forward to the many different plants I hope to see, the incredible black sand beaches and the blue sky. We're booked into a small place in the middle of nowhere with hiking trails all around....

Hugs
Carrie

Homecoming and hope

Welcome friends, to the last day of February. Already there are glorious signs that the world is waking up, that colour shall abound once again and we shall be in the arms of nature and her bounteous wisdom. The television is bombarding me with images of pain and anger, real suffering and worry and I am not blinding myself to it, however, for my own well being I need to focus on this beauty, this newness that is all around. I need HOPE.

~ Snowdrops and Crocuses ~

~ Tulips peeping through ~

~ Tiny Celeriac seedlings ~

When I think of planting a bulb or seed I think of the many times in my life where I feel as if I were at the bottom of a deep well. Misery is heaped down upon me as shovel loads of soil backfill the hole; I am scared and alone. It takes an unbearable length of time but slowly I overcome yet a new pile of dirt and eventually things work so I am always standing on top of the new soil. Tamping it down under my feet....I raise higher and one day there is my face above the ground level.

This magical world of bulbs and seeds coming to life gives me some hope for happier days ahead, and more importantly, a jolt of joy and hope just for a moment - enough to keep me fighting :)

I have much to tell you but for now I shall leave you with your new month's poster :) And a sincere wish that you too are taking the time to notice the changes, the new life that is coming into the world. Stop a moment and realise that this is important for our souls, so dark from wintertime.

Hugs

Goodbye January

Well it's been a rough old month of the flu and more of the flu and then a wee bit extra for luck! The weather has been appalling and quite frankly I am ready to embark on another month :)

However, this month has also brought some joy in the shape of getting back into my blogging with renewed vigour, being featured in the ever glorious Grow Your Own magazine under the Ecotherapy section, meeting loads of fellow allotmenteers on Twitter and most recently, doing a guest post over on the lovely Simon's blog spadeforkspoon.

Me in 'Grow you own' magazine

Screen grab of beginning of guest post :)

I read in The Guardian that 'the blog' is now 20 yrs old. Wow. Grow Our Own, my humble offering, is merely 5 and a half years old but the changes I have seen in those years are difficult to believe. I remember feeling completely lost and alone, not able to find other allotment bloggers for ages and now, it's possible to be hooked up to hundreds of people in no time via Twitter, allotment forums, blog directories, magazines and Pinterest to name a few. I love this virtual world and my small space within it though had I known the exposure I would have picked a bloody better name, hahaha :)

Nothing much has happened on the plots as they sodden and well, did I mention I have had the flu ;) But plans are formulating and we are just waiting for a break so we can get started.

I decided for the first time ever, to try and make a wee photo/quote poster for you, you can download it with impunity (if you want to) and stick it up in your shed :) A pressie from me to you xxx

Well I'm off later to have a lovely evening stay at a posh hotel with my hubby :) That's the best sort of thing to do on a very cold, windy, rainy Friday if you ask me :) Mine's a whisky, thanks!

Hugs

Just resting; waiting...

I'm one of those people who feels they really ought to be doing something constructive at all times, every day, all day. It gets to the point where I can't sleep due to the things that I could be doing, should be doing... I'm my own worst enemy. I know I have rather poor mental health and I know that my medication makes me tired and the constant fights with those demons in my head leave me confused and exhausted but...Well it wasn't until I caught this cold/ manflu from Hades that I finally (its been months in coming) let myself rest.

'Let myself rest', ummm, that's a complete lie; I was forced to rest, body and mind. I have found over the past weeks and particularly since Sunday that I am weaker than water and yesterday I slept until 5pm. PM my friends!!

But as I lay there in bed last night I thought about it and realised that it was a blessing in disguise (as a lot of blessings are); I'm feeling more peaceful in my noggin and a little more willing to listen to my body. One golden thing about all this resting is that in closing my eyes I can see for miles... I can see into the past and think of what the future could hold....

Anyway, this all leads me into a beautiful segue into the recent package that come through our door.

Seeds! Lots of seeds :)

Joy upon joy, hundreds of little specks of HOPE landed with a small thud on the hall floor. They too are listening to their inner selves in a way, they are sleeping too and preparing for better days ahead. Nature always has the answer... it's miserable outside, there is little happiness to be found in the constant rain and cold, very little happiness to be found in the flu....maybe we all need a little hibernation or at the very least, to slow down.

I've written this up as a list and added a new page up the top so you can see as anytime what exactly we have chosen this year. Naturally this list will get much longer and I haven't even ordered my flowers or all the other things we need :)

Happy Photo ~

********

Confession time - I have been up for hours; showered, cleaned the en suite and then steam cleaned the en suite, put washing on, vacuumed upstairs and have already been writing this for over an hour!! I am such a hypocrite and will probably never get better at this rate! Plus the fact that the hall still hasn't had it's second coat of paint and it's driving me bonkers - I need to strap myself to a seat.

Hugs

It's not January anymore

Yes!! Today saw the start of the year (January is a bad word in my mind - I try to ignore it with all my might) February is here my friends and I can barely stand the joy. It's only a wee month and then bam! it's March etc...

For this auspicious occasion I went out into the garden, simply desperate to find springy-ness and hope for the year to perk me up. Here is what I saw....

So happy the Beech hedge is filling out and the box hedge is smelling fabulous and looking so healthy :)

 Yes! Big, fat, juicy tulip bulbs are popping through all over the place :)

 AIliums and lots of tete-a-tete bulbs have poked through and are looking super :)

 See? more!!! ;) Plus the Jasmine is happy and grew so much last year - I have happy tingly feelings :)

 Still the snowdrops keep coming; so delicate and so very white they glow :)

And the winter flowering cherry has been in bud for ever, I love it but never more so with the blue sky behind it -  blue sky is the bestest thing ever :)

I am smiling a lot today as you may have noticed and the weather looks okay for tomorrow too = Allotment Time!! Happy Days :)

Love and hugs and Happy February to you :)