Transplant shock

Sorry to all my fab readers (who I love loads!!!) but I am experiencing transplant shock. A very severe case of it I'm afraid. The books don't seem to apply to the the rare and unquie case of the Carrius Gaultius so I am having to fight through this unaided by professional knowledge.

Lots of rest and warm drinks, not much in the way bad weather conditions and certiainly but sadly no reading or writing for a while. I have however been  placed beside a gorgeous bunch of Persian Buttercups (I do know the latin but my brain is fried and spelling is not good at the moment) which is utterly delightful. Once things settle I can post photos of the blooms - just need to find my camera leads etc in amongst all these freakin' boxes!!!

From now on I am going to be much more sympathic to plants that I wish to move around the plot. Let me tell you!!!

Stay with me and enjoy on set of Spring - cold though it may be; I can see blue sky! Though no Lottie visits for us - first because I'm a mess; second, it's been snowing again and third, we have lots of work to do in this new place called home. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

When is the best time to transplant a Carrie??

The 'Carrius Gaultius' ( common name - Carrie) is a delicate plant and needs much pandering to and a great amount of mollycoddling. She (for this 'plant' is a girl) prefers a sunny climate but in dappled shade, plenty of water and a comfy soil; not to stoney and diffinatlely not clay - she hates wet feet. She doesn't do winter cold snaps well, they often result in a period of grumpiness and rather unattractiveness; a nice blanket goes down a treat at this point. Prone to pests and diseases she is none the less a delightful little (max height 5ft 1.5 inches) plant that can bring joy and darken a gloomy place from time to time if only you can stick out the tough times with her too.

Now, generally this 'plant' fears change and hates being uprooted. It doesn't mind a little holiday and a chance to see another aspect of the 'garden' but generally it is a homebody. So the diffficult question remains - When is the best time to move a Carrie???

***

It's happening on Wednesday folks and this girl is getting a bit stressed as part of her roots are in one place and part in another. And her new home is only for 6 months so she'll be off again to another site just as she is settling in to this first move and getting used to being under someones else's cover and in their space! Oh my. Any suggestions as to how to make this transplanting process run as smoothly as possible would be greatly appreciated.

House plant anyone?

Oh golly gosh (by that read something a little a lot ruder), this time next week we'll have the hire van and be transfering our lives from this house to Mamma G's. Everything must go, including the pots in the garden, some hardwood cuttings, divisions of fav plants and the contents of the shed! Again I say golly (again use your imagination as to what I'm really saying).


So I was thinking, in our new pad we will be living in a loft conversion and thus there is loads of light and there won't be much room or indeed structural stabilty to have much furniture up there. But one thing I do want is a house plant and for this I require help. In the past I've only ever had ivy or spider plants in my house and I hate them!!! Well I love ivy, but outside for goodness sake not as a feature plant in my room. Downstairs, i.e. in Mamma's House - there are lots of christmas cacti which always seem to be in flower, maybe we should buy them a calendar? So dear friends, no ivy, spider plants or cacti; what can you suggest for a girl to have in her new home to add a little greenery and joy??


There are lovely gardens front and back including fruit and veg so I have that covered, this is just for me to admire as I work away. But I feel utterly lost in this domain, maybe I should just have some flowers bought in every now and then and have loads of photos up?? Oh I don't know...


By the way I still feel bloody awful and still haven't been anywhere near my lottie or even the garden outside the door. Stinky weather, one's mood does not help!!!! I need the spring. Off to hide under my blanket again, until next time - HUGS xx

I'm back :)

It has been brought to my attention that I have let my 5 mins of fame go to my head and really, I must get back to work. Thank you Mo for the kick up the bum that I needed, I have blogging to do!

Well, let's talk about the allotments then. Nothing is happening on the plots. The weather has put stop to things on our sweet little slices of Eden and not a thing has been achieved, apart from talking about it!! But to be fair our whole weekend there was taken up with the gutting out of Mamma G's attic room and en suite bathroom, painting it and generally working our (not so little unfortunately) bums off getting it ready for us to move into. This was Andrew's old bedroom and bathroom built as a loft conversion so there are lots of memories there and Mamma had also been using it as storage for the past while, all this equalled much work to be done. But we managed it and everywhere is painted and today the new carpet goes down! This moving house lark is very hard work and we've got to do it twice this year, hahha (manic laughter).

Anyway can't complain, it is going to look lovely and Mamma is great (Maggie adores her Granny) and I'll still be able to blog away as there is broadband at the house - yippeeee!!!!!

So apart from that and a couple of serious nervous breakdowns, I have been busy trying to relax get some sleep. 2 months, two months of about 3 hours a night and yesterday I finally slept all night and all day :)

Now to some important Lottie News; a Extraordinary General Meeting has been called for. Oh dear :(
There was a letter sent out to the assocation members and it contained another letter signed by a number of people who have called for a EGM soon; they are unhappy with the way things are being run (or not run) and feel the committee is split down the middle and thus practically useless. Which in one way is true, the committee isn't split as far as I am aware but they have very limited powers (read none) and thus it can appear that they aren't doing anything. Our council still runs the whole place and our committee is sort of a talking shop.

I do hope this goes smoothly and the meeting is a time were people can have their thoughts and concerns listened to without it descending into a row. I fear we sometimes forget how lucky we are to have allotments in the first place and I also fear that making too much of a noise will make the council think twice - I can't lose my plots ~ I'll lose the plot !!!(pun intended even though embarassingly bad).

So there we are, all updated, now I'm off for a wee decaff and a homemade gingerbread star - yum. I leave you with a seaside photo to calm the mind....

5 mins of Fame

Firstly I would like to tell you that the issue of Women's Own magazine in which I briefly feature is now on the shelves for all to see (including a cheesy photo of me). I am very much honoured and proud to have been able to spend the word of Ecotherapy and of Mind that little bit further, let us hope it touches even 1 person out there.

Secondly, during this week I have steadily gotten more and more mentally ill, resulting in a nervous breakdown and shakes and not being able to talk much or look after myself well. It has taken quite some time to type this and I am giving myself a horrid headache in doing so. Complete rest is the key and an appointment with my psychartrist in the morning. I tell you this only so you will remember that I too am suffering. I hope to share with you the bad days and the good, in that way you shall not be deceived into thinking Ecotheray is a miracle - it isn't but it DOES help.

I wish you a happy weekend and may all this heinous weather and hatred that Mother Nature is bestowing upon on Earth end soon. Keep warm my friends, keep healthy in body and mind and think of those less fortunate.

I thank you all for you rcontinuing support - you help me fight each day. Hugs xx

A winter's dusk....

The sun was already dipping far beyond the hills. Lengthy shadows permeated with the cold frosty mist lay over the freshly tended plots, still speckled with dirty snow. Here and there under the belly of the sky, heavy with clouds, you could see a few rosy streaks of sunlight, their rays highlighting the City in the distance and the sparkles of ice by your feet. The wind, laden with the smells of thawing earth, of sweet compost and the sound of pheasants and cows, cut through you like a blade of ice, chilling your very bones. The ground below your frozen toes is unyielding....it's time to go home. The allotments are sleeping.


Nothing much to report about the plots these days my friends. But I continue to grow; I as a person I feel I am growing all the time. Andrew is my soil, my light, my water and with him I grow. The seeds of love, of hope can not be stunted, will never wither if we are as one.

Happy anniversary darling x

*sorry for my lack of communication in the blogosphere - I am just so very tired*

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.

GrowVeg, how I love thee....

I really must make a point of praising the most fabulous forum ever: growveg.info. As I said, yesterday I was feeling really bad (once the Hubby came home I felt better, kisses to my Andy) but during the day I was so thankful for all my friends at grow veg. They keep me busy and helped me talk out my worries and let me into theirs too, where I was able to help in return. It's not just a gardening forum oh no, we chat about growing all sorts and share recipes, our hobbies, our holiday photos, our troubles and our happy times. I swear I have made so many really good supportive friends that I can't imagine not being a part of the family. We even do secret Santa which is so much fun and their are pub quizz style competitions in 'real time'!!

(If you have ever read my Allotmentherapy essay you'll have noticed that I thanked them for their support in writing the piece and publishing it in the first place.)

Plus Flighty joined us a few days ago which really tickled me pink!

I hope you are pleasantly surprised everyone to be thanked so openly - bear hugs xx

Focus on.... Jerusaleum Artichokes

It's been a bad day. I swear if I hadn't a skeleton, my body would still be upright and workable ~ my muscles are so tense and I am running on adrenalin. I'm a tiny bit of a mess. Still not sleeping much these nights (that's almost 12 weeks now!) and therefore the double vision is worse and the depression and the anxiety and I've been crying; my brain is fried.

I do want to learn about these Jerusaleum Artichokes though, so I'll get one or 2 of our new Christmas books out and  try to unravel the mystery of these tasty tubers. I just need a doze first, please Mr Sandman.....

Ah that helped and Andrew is home and we're settled on the sofa together - bliss.

*****

So, Jerusaleum Artichokes then. We did have 2 here on Sunday but they were chopped up and put in a gorgeous stew before I could take a photo. Not that they are very exciting to look at...

* They are low maintence, prolific perennials, best planted out between January and March
* Their knobbly tubers can be harvested between October and March (that's a great harvest period!)
* They are tall wind break plants, produce lots of compostable material and have very lovely sunflower-like blooms in the late summer.
* I can also testify to their super tastiness - something like a nutty earthy potato and according to my book 'Veg Patch', they are high in potassium, iron, fibre and lots of other vitamins and minerals.

Sounds great, eh? It gets even better when you realise that they just need plonked into the soil 15cm down and 60cm apart and left there!!! All you have to do is wait until harvest time and in the meantime enjoy them growing up tall and showing off their flowers, they even like frost. Leave them in the ground and only harvest as needed; they store best in the ground. Lastly, you get around 2kg for each tuber planted, just leave some behind for next year and let the joy perpetuate.

They can be treated just like a spud (except they'd be crap baked and stuffed with cheese - too small!); mashed, chopped in soups (and risottos), roasted and baked to make lovely crisps.

I urge you to grow, harvest, eat and enjoy! xx

But Baby it's cold outside

Is anyone else feeling the cold or is it just me? The Hubby certainly doesn't seem to really have taken it on board that it is in fact FREEZING!!! Apart from all the moaning he does in the evenings, he has blinkers on when it comes to the plots.

He had me down working away on Saturday digging over yet another finished up bed and adding manure and seaweed to it. (It's going to be a potato bed soon).  Have I mentioned before that I have an Adaza? It's fab, making working the soil much easier, I wrote about them way back here but when we where in France recently we bought one of our very own. I highly recommend it as it takes a good bit of the sore back element out of digging. Anyway once manured and mulched the bed was ridged up like the others; this seems to be really working well for us - on our clay soil the raised beds can get rather water logged but this winter, even with all the rain and snow, the water has been draining away much easier; if you haven't tried it, I recommend giving it a go.

Once that was over and I had drunk up a herbal tea to warm the cockles of my heart, we went over to 14b, to the scary part..... This half has had some work done to it but we really needed to break the back of it. The previous owner had rotivated this plot and then covered it all in very thick black plastic and left it. In turn we have ended up with some pretty decent soil and no weeds to speak of. Once the plastic was lifted the ground below is ready to go. Here we are putting a large 'permanent bed', which will be split in 2 and filled up with strawberries and squashes. These will stay in place for 3 yrs and then swap sides back and forth every 3rd yr from then on - permanently. This sort of bed and system may have a fancy name, if it does, I don't know it but you get the idea.

Of course by happenstance I got a phone call just as the harder work was about to begin (we had marked out the bed but hadn't started digging it) and Andrew suddenly really needed to speak to Bill, haha. We ended up not getting any more done there and packed up (but between you and me, I was so happy; we went and got a coffee and a biscuit instead, yippeee!). Sometimes Ecotherapy can be going to the plots, getting frozen and then rewarding yourself by leaving!

That night was my cousin's Hen Night so I needed to go out and wine, dine and party the evening away. Something I do not do and am still recovering from even though I didn't drink much alcohol at all and was on the tap water! It was a fabulous night but on Sunday I was in no state to go back to the plot and get 'stuck in', I'd only arrived back home at 3.30am. Andrew went though (crazy fool! it was so cold) and got some of the said bed dug. I slept and dreamt of dinner time - we were having lottie stew and all food is exciting at the mintue as I'm on a strict bridesmaid dress diet!! Haha.

More tomorrow ~  we were given Jerusalem Artichokes by a friend and I have to research and learn about them and then write it down here. Ate a couple last night in the stew - gorgeous.

John Cushnie

I am shocked to say that an Northern Irish gardening guru has passed away. Always enteraining, Mr Cushnie enlivened many a Garderners' Question Time for me and it is always a joy to have an Irish voice on BBC radio, especially one so witty.

Here is the BBC news coverage of this sad event - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8437119.stm

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside

Whitehead beach - lovely

Today at the allotment was AWFUL!! But being the good wife I am, I went. Standing there in the shed shivering with Maggie shivering in my arms and the hail stones falling down I can tell you I cursed the very existence of plots in the first place. It was just silly, the ground was frozen and unworkable and the bloody gas canister for the coffee to brew on was barely working it was so cold. It took a while but then Andrew admitted defeat and I got to go home!! So much for the 1st day of the New Year on the plots.

However, a few days ago we all went to Whitehead and gathered seaweed. There has, as we all know, been bad weather which brings up a load of seaweed onto the shores. We drove our car down a boat ramp and filled up our big bags 3 times over.

I highly recommend seaweed as a mulch, I have said it before but I do kind of like to emphasise these things - it's free and good for the crops! Just make sure you aren't near a sewer outlet and remove any plastic that may be in amongst the harvest and you are good to go. Ours doesn't even smell; it's very well rotted and shredded to small bits by the storms - perfection. 

the asparagus bed all snug under the seaweed

Hugs, I'm off to have a coffee and a snooze under my blanket x

The future ain't what it used to be

As far as I am aware Dickens didn't write a book about New Year so I don't know what the correct term is, I'll just have to stick with the name Scrooge; New Year's Eve ~ Bah Humbug!

I just don't get it, why do we all have to look fondly back over the past year and talk about all the wondeful things that happened? I can think of a few of the top of my head; friends had babies, friends got pregnant, and some got engaged, we won Allotment of the Year, there was the first Allotment open day, trips to Italy and France, Andrew and I turned 30, I made some fabulous on-line friends I wouldn't be without......But. There was a lot of crap too, depression, anxiety, insomina, war, deaths, constant moaning about the Allotments, oh god I despair.....

So if you're into the whole celebration of another year to be conquered and many dreams unfullfilled then HAPPY NEW YEAR  to you! Get drunk like so many people seem to think is necessary (ah, are they in fact hiding behind alcohol and secretly hate the whole party too?) and make some resolutions you won't keep. Then see you tomorrow, where nothing will have changed and it's not really Hoorah!! 2010 but in fact it's just Friday.

I'm not in the best mood as you can tell. I am just fed up with commericalism and the 'need' to be happy. I'm personally exhausted at the thought of another year ahead,  I just try to stick with one day at a time.

Kisses and hugs to you all, I'm off to eat chocolate - now there is a reason to celebrate: chocolate.

I have a happier postt planned for tomorrow on seaweed, do come back for that - I'm not this grumpy all the time :)

2 hours later.....
I've just had the panic attack I was hiding towards, and now I feel clamer with my meds and a hot shower. It sounds very big headed but I just finished reading my own words in the Allotmentherapy essay I wrote earlier this year and I feel better for it, I'm my own therapist, haha. Embrace the new year, a new season for growth, both growth of food and of soul. My deepest love to you all x

The calm after the storm - updated!

So then, it's all over for another year. What was all that about? My goodness the worry we get ourselves into over presents and family dinners etc, now all is back to normal; the shops are going through the hell of sales, selling items we bought a couple of weeks ago for much less than we paid for them, people are going back to work and the house still has decorations up but otherwise looks the same (bar the piled up recycling in the corner). Christmas ~ such a drain on the resources, financial and emotional.

I should of course take photos of all the glorious presents I recieved; the books on gardening especially (of which we now have 2 new Alan Titchmarsh, 'Joe's Allotment', 2 River Cottage books [one on veg, one on perserves] and a Nigel Slater veg book to name a few). We were spoilt rotten as usual by eachother and by Mamma G. Plus I recieved lovely gifts from 3 good GrowVeg friends, one of which was a secret Santa and it's driving me mad trying to think who it is!

Soon all the decorations will be taken down, the cards put in with the recycling and the chocolates devoured. The vouchers are already spent, well most of them. We went up to Belfast yesterday and surprisingly we didn't get elbowed about all over by crazy bargin hunters, actually it was quite enjoyable, but for the black ice I slipped on and landed on my posterior. I even managed to get the fire brigade out to tend to a christmas light decoration that was commiting suicide (sometimes Christmas is all too much...). Funny, it blew and threw out sparks and melted plastic down onto the street and I was the only one who did anything. Does everyone else live in their own self important little worlds all the time or is it just the draw of the sales that does it?

Today we go to the Allotment for the day. Left overs in a picnic hamper and a large supply of coffee to help us stick it out, boy is it going to be cold! I have a funny feeling we won't see many down there today, I hope I'm wrong though, this is the time when there is lots of soil prep to be done and plans drawn up for the new year. I for one shall be trying to work off the Christmas pudding and some of the chocolate *blush*, though in my defence I didn't go overboard this year.

Well off to try and get a nap (still suffering the insomina!) before we have to get up and out. x

P.S. Our Brussel Sprouts were delightful, steamed and still with a bite to them, it's the first year I have enjoyed them ~ maybe my picking them the day before had something to do with that. It's such a satisfying job. The following may be offensive and even shocking to some......

Our own sprouts and my sister-in-law loves them raw!!

My Merry Christmas Wishes to everyone

May your turkey be moist and succulent, cooked the whole way through and stuffed to perfection. May you win most of the crackers you pull and the games played, but not rub it in.
May you receive gifts that you actually like and not ones that go straight into the emergency present drawer.
May the gifts you give bring joy, as you have thought carefully about what that loved one would like.
May you remember to wear a baggy jumper and trousers which you can unbutton desecretly ;)
May you not be alone, but instead surrounded by those you love, even if that means being wrapped up in the arms of only one special person.
May you not over do it too much ~ you'll only feel sick later on ;)
May the family and especially any children not drive you up the walls and make you want to pull your hair out.
May you enjoy the celebration, the time together, whatever your religious persuasion or indeed secular feeling on the whole thing.
Most importantly ~ may your vegetables, that you grew, taste fabulous; even the super stinky brussel sprouts (hold your nose, if you must, but eat one!)

I am aware that for some, Christmas is a very difficult time of year and to those I give my love; my wish is that you simply get through it and come out the other side unscathed. I too struggle to find the joy.


However:

A Merry Christmas to all x

woof! x

In the bleak mid-winter...

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. We are right, slap, bang in the middle of winter. Living with an archaeologist I have become more aware of the significance of this time. In Ireland we have the Neolithic site Newgrange (fascinating place to visit), a place where Andrew took me in our courting years to experience (albeit through the medium of electric lighting) how this was a place devoted to the celebration of the Winter Solistice. I urge you to follow the links and learn more about this place.

Becoming more connected with the earth, the seasons and the weather, I have noticed the vital importance of these celebrations. Many years ago I would not be sitting here with electric lighting, warm oil-fired radiators in a very soft sofa with a laptop! So I think of why and if these days are important to us now. I think they are. We still feel the terrible pull of winter's grasp, dragging us into the depths of coldness, bad weather and darkness; our gardens and allotments can't be tended to as much, most wonderful vegetables will not grow in these conditions and we rarely get the Vitimain D we require from the sun.

So, no I didn't get up before dawn to witness the solistice sun rise and I was in the shower over the sun set but I have had my own little celebration of this, the shortest day of the year ~ I'm in the middle of gingerbreadmen making. Tomorrow, my friends, the days offically start to get longer, spring is on her way and with that in mind I am happier, more ready to conquer the Christmas period and all its madness, ready to plan ahead and think of the rebirth of my allotment and the growing of seeds.

This could be a day of real depression and oppression - there has hardly been any day light. But instead it heralds the start of a new dawn. That's worth celebrating! x

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

OOTS - for VP

Prepare yourself to be... underwhelmed my dear; I think this is a far cry from what you are used to. I haven't gone round people's houses yet (bit scared really in case I get bopped on the nose) but here are Carrickfergus' 2 town center Christmas trees. The first is in the Civic Center and is really quite nice, the 2nd, well ...... and this is it's 'good' side.....

There are also some colourful planting boxes outside the Civic Center.

So on to Belfast and I was concentrating more on not getting killed by the over zealous (read darned nasty) Christmas shoppers than on my photos to be honest but here are the few I could get.

The City Hall and the City Christmas tree with the Contential market going on.

Our newest Shopping Center 'Victoria Square' with fabulous single colour swathes of lights, loads of trees and one of the biggest fake Christmas trees ever in the world (I think anyway).  I swear it's about 40 ft tall!!! Just look at the people next to it - real normal sized humans!

So there, not terribly exciting I will promise to do better, when not being jostled about by angry, flustered women doing their christmas gift shopping. Oh tis the season of giving and peace and loveliness - NOT. Glad I'm done shopping myself, praise be to the internet!

I must really apologise for the way this post has turned out, I'm just not so good at the old photo placement now things have changed with Blogger.

SLEEP!

I broke through my 3 weeks of insomnia last night (and quite a large part of today). It's been so nasty, just running on sugar and panic. Today I am trying to get as much sleep as possible so I have a few new pictures for you instead of a read. I'm off for a nap, hahaha. Fingers crossed I have turned a corner ~ 3 weeks my friends 3. Boys a dear (as my Nana just to say).

Of course they're were a lot more but as feared I feel asleep while these ones were loading and now it's getting late, hehe. Sleep is my friend again!

Not hating Christmas so far - part 2

The wreath.
Last Saturday (which I have some nice photos of for tomorrow) Andrew, Maggie and I went to the local forest. (Colloquial - 'Up the Dams'). We gathered seed heads and little beech twigs, willow whips, conifer, laural, holly and some berries. Andrew took all the heavy bits, I had my little harvest basket full of winter wonder - I felt a little like the lady of the manor gathering things with the head garderner for a dinner party centerpiece (wow, that is rather more embarassing to admit than I had thought).

Maggie had the best time too, we don't go up there often enough. We used to go more regularly but then the Lottie took over all our free time. But can't complain; in both cases we're outside in touch with nature and listening to the birds. Which reminds me of the recent research Mind did on Ecotherapy - they comissioned the Univeristy of Essex to compare the effects of a walk in a country park with a walk in an indoor shopping center on people with varying mental health problems.

* 71% of people reported a decrease in depression after the country walk

* 90% had increased self -esteem after the country walk.

But back to the wreath. Turns out they are very easy and satisfying to make. Back at the lottie, Andrew worked away and I got to making the base out of the willow branches and red dogwood stems (they came from a plant on our plot). This just requires lots of twisting around eachother and maybe a little twine every now and then if things are very springy. Then it was all  fun filling it in with the various leaves, seed heads, and berries. I would recommend florists wire at this point to hold them in place, a bit fiddly but worth it.

At home I tidied it up and added more (fake) berries and a ribbon. Andrew was going to put on his blue star lights and I was going to let him but praise be he changed his mind. What a relief!!!! It would have looked terrible and would have destroyed a lot of the more fragile elements. Phew!!

So here it is on our front door - I hope it says 'Welcome'. I'm pleased for a first try ever - next year will be better.

There are lots of other fab wreaths being made by bloggers here and here for instance, for more inspiration.