Hobbies and Crafts

Well, the garden is very soggy but is waking up, we have Snowdrops, a few early daffodils, crocus and Helebores all in bloom, as well as one Dutch Iris, Pansies that have over wintered, one Nemesia in a pot and winter flowering Jasmine.

I am wondering if this sudden cold snap is going to damage any of the plants just poking through.

I'm pleased with the hellebores which are doing well but I've been very disappointed with the winter pansies this year. I have two big pots by the front door and a long trough by the back door. They have expanded to fill the space and are very green and healthy looking but have very few flowers. A couple open up, when they fade I deadhead them, and then another couple pop up but I am only getting two or three flowers at a time, instead of a lovely mass of colour. Is it just me or has anyone else had this problem?

I don't think they like the weather this year Vera, we have pansies out but not all the planys are flowering. Hopefully when it gets a bit warmer they will take us through to /april/May.

I went to put some kitchen waste into the compost bin earlier and noticed huge slugs in there feasting away, probably quite warm amongst the decaying matter.

The garden sports an all too healthy-looking crop of 3 cornered leeks, which has started to flower now.
I have never used it, although I believe it's edible.
Last summer I spent ages digging out many of the tiny bulbs these plants produce, but I don't see a reduction in numbers.

Why do invading species do so well, while we have to protect and nurture plants we want ??

That must be an age old question Gwyn, like why is your compost feeding one of the enemies of your plants? Ugh, hate slugs.

I'm a bit concerned that our daffs aren't doing very much. They started poking through a while ago but have hardly grown. They are still very small and this variety are supposed to bloom end Feb/beg March. They are going to have to get a move on.

You might remember that last time I went to the hairdresser, she brought a plant in for me to tell her how to deal with its broken bits. When I went yesterday she said she hadn't planted it back in the ground yet as she wanted me to see how well it is doing. It's flourishing :-D. Only now she is even more convinced that I am a sort of female Monty Don. :-D. I am getting neurotic about going for a haircut now, wondering what she will find for me next time.

Aah don't worry Vera Just wave your magic wand.

Ann :-D :-D :-D

Some sun here today but also light cloud 9 degrees but a nip in the air. We have been to a small local garden centre for our small number of early potatoes, they specialise in literally hundreds of different varieties. We are growing Wilja and vivaldi both second earlies this year. Wilja was good last year, we only have 9 potatoes in all to grow in containers, we just like to have a couple of meals off them.

This is an interesting garden centre as it also has something called the Butterfly Garden, This is a project for people of all ages dealing with disablement of any kind. (www.thebutterflygarden.org) This has been running since 2002. Initially it was just about gardening but now has all sorts of things people can do from cookery to dance. The provision is free with people neither paying or being paid. People go there from schools and colleges, care centres, residential homes, support organisations referred by family, friends, S Services or the NHS or they just find the place. It always seems such a happy place.

OH is out pottering in the garden, still a bit muddy out there for me but he finds plenty to do.

I googled and The Butterfly Garden looks a really worthwhile project.

I can almost taste those potatoes now. I used to grow a few potatoes in potato sacks as I didn't want to take up space in my veg garden and eating those first earlies or second earlies, fresh dug.......I'm drooling now :-). I haven't grown them since we moved but I still have the sacks in the garage. You've now got me wondering if I could grow some down one side of the house. I managed to do tomatoes in containers down the opposite side last year so maybe .........

About 10 degrees here at the moment but very grey and with a definite nip in the air. In a week or so we are off to Madeira for a short break and I am looking forward to some sun and a bit more warmth. We usually walk a fair bit, though it is very hilly, but OH's still having problems with his back so I think it will be mostly taxis and buses this time. Lots of gardens there to visit. We have been to a lot of them but I realised the other day that we have never been to the Orchid garden so that will be on the itinerary. I'm looking forward to it.

Vera lovely to have Madeira to look forward to. Are you staying in the same hotel? We taxied most of the time, but it was a car put on by the hotel. You are going at the right time for the orchid garden I think. When we went in May it was a bit late for them. It is worth a visit though.

Grey and cold here too now.

We are going to the same hotel Ann. It suits us as we pretty much only sleep and have breakfast there anyway. We're not bothered about having a big swimming pool or good gym facilities. Last year, it seemed that every time we got back to our room, the management had left us another gift. We had an extra basket of fruit, a traditional Madeira cake, a bottle of Madeira wine etc. and a big cream cake on my birthday. We've never used their shuttle car to town as we've found we can get all over the place cheaply on buses, but we might be using it a bit this time.

We'll certainly try the Orchid garden and we haven't been to the Botanic gardens for around 8 years and then it was in September so we might go there again. We will also just catch the last day of carnival in Funchal which might be fun.

I can't at the moment remembe the name of our hotel but we didn't get gifts at all.

The hotel is The Regency Cliff Ann. I have no idea why we got so much. I could understand the birthday cake as they would have seen my birthdate on my passport and with the fruit I just assumed they had plenty going spare and were sharing it around but when we also got

EDIT. Seems to have only put up part of my post! Read on

...when we also got a Bolo de Mel (Madeira speciality cake) and a bottle of Madeira I went to reception and asked if they were meant for us. If so, where had they come from? I was told they were a present from management.

Perhaps they thought we were celebrities lol. It'll be interesting to see if we get anything this year - I suspect not.

Vera how strange, I have just checked because I thought we stayed in the same hotel that you did. And we did, And got no freebies at all. We were B&B, don't know if that made a difference. They did upgrade daughter to a double room (booked as single) to be near us, but that is all. Do use the car/bus service though, it worked really well for us and we seemed to be the only ones using it all week.

We were B&B as well Ann. I am wondering if I've got "in need of TLC" stamped on my forehead as this sort of thing has happened before.

One time in Cyprus we were given a big box of Turkish Delight (called Cypriot Delight as we were on the Greek side) and a bottle of wine. No-one else seemed to get it.

A few years later we were at a hotel in Northern Spain, a small converted Manor House with just a few rooms. There was another English couple there and we were checking out at the same time. We noticed the envelope containing our bill had a tick on it and their's didn't but we didn't think anything of it. They paid and left. We paid
and from under the counter the receptionist brought out a china bowl from a pottery owned by the same people who owned the hotel. We never found out why we got it and the other couple didn't :-S

I'm not knocking it - it's very nice getting these freebies :-D

Well, the garden is getting blown around a bit today! Very windy here, the daffs are bending right down and even the miniature Dutch Irises are blowing around. Wonder if there will be anything left after Doris has passed over!

Doris has broken my plant pots Ann. :-( :-( :-(

I'm keeping my eye on all the debris blowing about :-0

Hope she goes away soon

Had to go out this morning and came back to find one of our fence panels in next door's garden. There's no way we can pick it up as the wind will just whip it out of our hands. We are on amber alert here and apparently it is going to be even worse over the next few hours. Oh good :-(

Von and Vera stay indoors in safety.

Von, was that large plant pots?

Vera, oh dear. More money to repair that unless your OH can do it himself.

We did notice that a couple of Heucheras thatw ere in pots have blown away, guess they had rotted and were sitting on top of the pots. But nothing major so far.