A Garden Post

I have duplicated some pieces of this post on two other gardening related blogs I maintain, so humour me and trust me when I say it’s not a senior moment!

http://gardenersfridayforum.blogspot.co.uk

http://rainbowallotmentblogger.blogspot.com

We can’t really complain about November this year as the weather has been quite kind.

Thomas Hood’s poem comes to mind; here is the last verse ....

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member--
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,
November!

I’ve tidied my garden in a wildlife friendly way and planted up a few more tulips.  Being able to see the bare bones of the plot gets me thinking creatively about my projects for next season.   I should carry a notebook and pencil in my pocket as these are usually forgotten by the time the session is finished!

The leaves seem to have remained until later in the month compared to last year and I enjoyed a visit RHS Harlow Carr.

 

The AGM of Yorkshire in Bloom was held in Temple Newsam, which gave me  the opportunity for a  stroll in the grounds.

 

 Temple Newsam House

 

On the way back, as the sun was still shining,  I couldn’t pass the Canal Gardens at Roundhay Park without a peak in.

The allotment where I am a volunteer has also slowed down, so I will be spending more time in the parks.  The afternoons are very short at the moment but we are only three weeks away from the shortest day.

Broad Beans Aquadulce Claudia  

The upside is that, theoretically, there should be more time for writing.

 

Hornsea Museum, Healthy Writers, matters Horticultural and the Last of the Haussmans

Hornsea Museum

We had an enjoyable visit to Hornsea Museum which is situated in Newbegin, the main street of the East Yorkshire seaside town.

The museum is in a former farmhouse where the Burn family lived for 300 years up to 1952   the experience was made more interesting for the children by hiding small, toy mice in every room which had to be spotted and ticked off on a sheet.  The adults liked this bit too!

The exhibits are arranged in rooms; bedroom, parlour, kitchen, washroom.  There was also a schoolroom, blacksmith and barn.  Other artifacts of local history are displayed here and examples of Hornsea pottery, once manufactured on the site of the Freeport Retail Outlet, are shown in chronological order.

 

http://www.hornseamuseum.com/ 

 

Horticulture

This month’s flower arrangement of foliage and pale flowers:

At the Gardener’s Club Forum,  Sally Henson gave an interesting talk on Madeira - Garden of the Atlantic (and also birthplace of Ronaldo and where kapok trees grow).  The photos of the plant life were amazing. 

 The Botanic Gardens

 One farmhouse was for the family, the other for the cattle

 

Healthy Writers Club

http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/p/the-healthy-writers-club.html

Nudged to “get off may butt” as they say across the pond, I signed up for Shallee McArthur’s challenge, which has served to make me aware of the amount of exercise (or lack of it) I am getting as the weather takes a turn for the worse.   

So, the Friday round up goes like this:

Walked to our local park which is 15 minutes  away on foot. Roundhay Park is one of the largest city parks in Europe with over 700 acres of parkland, lakes, woodland and gardens.  These photos were taken at the Canal Gardens.  

 

A spell of dry weather allowed some heavy sessions of gardening, including cutting up a heavily pruned tree and mowing the the lawns.

Can you tell I am being rather vague with days and time spans?

Target  for next Friday: Use my Pilates and exercise DVDs on alternate days for 30 minute sessions.

Last of the Haussmans

This play, a debut for Stephen Beresford, was screened at the cinema from the National Theatre in real time. It was a strange experience as the whole set was visible with no background music or close ups. We saw the audience applauding after the first act and had the same interval as the theatre goers. Julie Walters, always worth seeing, plays the ageing hippy, Judy Haussman, the mother of a dysfunctional family, who lives in a ramshackle seaside house.  Her children were acted by Rory Kinnear and Helen McCrory.

Acting and entertainment value:  excellent.

 

 

Concerts and Parties

Attended Ellie's nursery concert.  She's been singing the songs for weeks but on stage, faced with a bank of parents, she didn't utter a word.  However, she did wave and blow a kiss to her grandma.

 

My faith in human nature has been restored when a bag containing a fair amount of money was left in Tesco by guess who (and it wasn't me) was handed in intact.  Pity we cannot thank this anonymous good Samaritan.

The ice and snow has all but disappeared for now although the weather people warn there is more to come.  I took the opportunity of a walk to the Canal Gardens.  I felt quite sprightly even though my granddaughter observes that I have an old neck.   I noticed that the water was frozen solid but there were signs of growth in the herbaceous border, if you looked closely.  I could even detect the shoots of bulbs emerging in my own garden - not that I'm comparing it to the park.  I read a saying "Live each day as if it were your last and garden as though you will live forever".  I think I will adopt this as my mission statement.

We think it's cold here but it was minus 25 in Sweden and Freya couldn't go out.  The weather didn't stop her grandad who disturbed a hibernating bear and lived to tell the tale.

Sunday was Louis' 5th birthday party, shared with another boy in his year.  Forty young children in an indoor play area plus parents in the cafe area can be really noisy and the party was enjoyed by all and no catering or tidying up afterwards. 



 the cake

  

Another meeting of the 'bolby' club; how quickly a month goes by.   We exchanged  news and speculations and were treated to a scrumptious chocolate and apple cake which was baked in one of those new silicon cake 'tins'.  I don't understand why they don't melt in the oven.  I have requested the recipe, if anyone is interested.

Have been asked to look after a neighbour's gerbils for a few weeks.  I haven't actually seen them as they are snuggled down in their straw bedding.  They're not stupid, the weather has been freezing.

Bought a squirrel proof bird feeder.  I'll outwit the little fellow yet!




 Yes, just for you - the feeder on the far right

  






It is a tradition to go to Monika and Dave's on the Sunday before Christmas.  The table was laden with home baked mince pies, stollen and biscuits and of course plenty of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink.  A very friendly crowd of neighbours, colleagues and ex-colleagues (of which I'm one).  I got a lucky bag to take home with one of her famous advocaat cakes.  I am putting on the pounds due to lack of exercise, contentment or greed.