A Seasonal Calendar - The Magic of the Spring Garden

The garden in spring is a joyous thing.  The bright yellow of daffodils blowing in the breeze; the fresh green of the leaves as they slowly unfurl on the trees; the white, frothy, blossom of the plum trees; the stiff over-burdened flower spikes of hyacinth and the self-seeded Muscari that link all the parts of the garden with their intense blue and for me, the best part is the colours of the Wallflowers - lemon, gold, bronze, dark red and gold with the  gentle fragrance that you cant quite put your finger on.  Finally, the tulips begin the flower; standing stiff and upright like rows of soldiers - opening and closing with the sun - some are old favourites, others  are new types that you are trying out and will keep for the following year hoping they will flower again.

All too soon this mid Spring display will be over and the garden will look a little bare until the early Summer flowers start to bloom and containers re-stocked after they have been emptied of their precious bulb cargo and safely stored away in sheds trying to remember to label them and more than likely forgetting.

The beginning of the gardening year - when each day the greenhouse fills with pots and trays of seed and space is becoming harder to find; when it is cold outside you find solace in the warmth of being under glass and out of the wind doing the meditative job of pricking out and nurturing seedlings in the hope of a good display later on. 

After the long dark days of winter spring is something to look forward to and there is always magic in the spring garden.

Seasonal Calendar - Spring

March came in like a lion - the winds roared and blew for days on end  as though they would never stop - rumbling round the house and straining at the walls.  Trees bent and swayed, branches snapped and littered the roads and early blossom scattered like snowflakes.  When we had decided that enough was enough the wind ceased and the days became warm and still; almost like summer but with a chill on the wind.

The snowdrops little lantern flowers began to fade and the crocus emerged and opened their faces to the sun but because of the warmer weather the season seemed to be moving along too fast and the once cold earth began to warm up earlier than it should giving us all hope that spring had truly arrived; but there were still early morning frosts and mists over the fields - Mother Nature can be deceptive and cunning, but true to form at the end of the month she went out like a lamb just like the rhyme says.

The Wandering Life For Me ...

Eyebrook Reservoir



Arnesby

Ravensthorpe Reservoir

It has been a month since I visited my space here in blogland - I am ashamed to say I haven't done any blog visiting either.  I have so lost touch with everyone - I just can't seem to keep up any more.  One of the reasons is ... I have my gardening mojo back and that seems to be taking up all my time.  Also I have been out and about exploring ... visiting all the little villages here abouts that I have taken for granted over the years without actually seeing them.  So I get in the car and follow my nose to see where it leads me and have often been surprised by where I have ended up and what I have found there.  I have a curious nature and even as a kid I went off on my own to have little adventures.  My sense of direction is improving although I do find myself lost in the middle of nowhere sometimes and have to trust my instincts to find my way home again - which makes the adrenaline flow and adds to the excitement - I also talk to myself a lot in the form of encouragement. 



Uppingham

Hallaton

Hallaton

Kilby



Eyebrook Reservoir

I am slowly restructuring the garden reading lots of gardening books of folks a lot more knowledgeable than I and taking their advice.  At the moment I am working in the Shade Garden - digging out plants that aren't happy and replacing them with those that hopefully will be happy - it is a  slow process - but I am in no hurry - I want to get it right - I do enjoy the planning and get quite excited with my plans when they come to fruition.  I just hope it looks as lovely in real life as in my expectation.  Of course, the horrendous weather we have been having hasn't helped - trying to work in heavy showers, sheltering; then the sun comes out, then more gale force winds and more soakings - not the kind of autumn I like which is still and warm and glowing - but I guess we just have to accept something we cannot change and get on with things.

Hope it isn't another month before I find time to put words to paper.  See you soon.

Elaine

The Garden of My Dreams ...

As we dive deeper into August I look at my garden and despair.  Plants are sprawling, flopping, going over  - every year I say to myself that I must try harder; pure more effort in; make the garden work all year round; but I never seem to succeed. The garden always falls below expectation.  I don't want it to be perfect just pleasing to the eye - so I go in search of other gardens to see if they achieve what I have failed to do.  Well, the other day I found it - a garden I would give my right arm for.

It was bursting at the seams with plants and colour; so much so that you didn't know where to look - at every turn there was something to catch the eye - I can't remember when I  have found a garden so exciting.  The owners called it a Garden Library attached to a small nursery specialising in unusual perennials - it is a showcase for the nursery so you could see what the plants looked like when they  had grown to maturity.

It really did take your breath away - I came home full of ideas - it was inspirational.  I looked at my garden withy new eyes  and felt even more dissatisfied but it gave me heart to make changes.  Obviously it will never look as good as this because I don't have the space but I could make more of what I do have.

So - let the transformation commence.

Elaine

A Day in the Country ...

 "These people have learned not from books, but in the fields, in the wood, on the river bank. Their teachers have been the birds themselves, when they sang to them, the sun when it left a glow of crimson behind it at setting, the very trees, and wild herbs."

―Anton Chekhov, "A Day in the Country

 

 

There is nothing I like more than a change of scenery preferably somewhere like a nature reserve.  So we crossed the border into Northamptonshire and visited the Tichmarsh Nature Reserve at Aldwincle.  It was just what I needed and lifted my spirits no end.  Somewhere like this with water and trees unusual insects and wildflowers brings me to my happy place where I suddenly feel calm and it makes my heart swell - just observing what is around me and drinking it all in - a day in the wild.  I have missed all this while I have been busy at home feeling stifled and claustrophobic - here, I am in my element.  I felt refreshed and renewed and just a little tired after a long walk.  And I think to myself - why didn't we do this sooner!

 

 

 

Until next time



Elaine

 

 

 

 

 



Soul Searching ...

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else

is the greatest accomplishment

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson          

Time is fleeting.  But I haven't been wasting my time over the past few months even though I haven't been writing about it.  My days have slowed down and I have taken the opportunity to observe, take stock and find what is important.  Just as you would use a camera to capture a moment in time, I would normally write about it; to instil it in my memory; but you can't possibly remember everything or even photograph it all.  And so I realised that I cannot possibly, in my mind, join in with everything on 'social media' - I tried at one time - but found that by doing so I was actually missing out on other things that were more important to me.

Not sitting at the computer for several hours a week gave me more time to read; to reflect; to meditate; and just to be.

I have been indulging my love of art; not painting myself, but looking at art and wondering why particular pictures inspire and draw me in - with unexpected results.  Something I had let lapse over the last few years.

So, no, I haven't been wasting my time, just looking in different directions.

The Journey 
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
‘Mend my life!’
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognised as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.
Mary Oliver

Till next time.

Elaine

Absence makes the heart grow fonder ...

Just thought I would pop in for a quick visit. As you can see I have given the old blog a bit of a re-vamp - thought it needed a little facelift.  I don't suppose there is anyone out there who remembers me - but oh how I have missed this space and all the people I have come across over the past few years.  I am feeling nostalgic at the moment and suddenly felt I needed to speak to you all again.  I know I have been gone for a few months which is quite a long time in blogging terms but although I moved over to Instagram because of its ease and quickness, it's just not the same as a blog.

Not that much has been happening in the Rosebank household needless to say - I'm still doing all the same stuff - gardening, growing veg and taking pictures - but the writing has gone for six - I can't remember when I last wrote in my diary - which is most unusual for me  - I guess I just needed to take time out for a while and gradually let things slide.

When I have time I have a quick read of your blog posts to see how you are all getting on and what is happening in your lives  and find that life goes on whether or not I take part in the blogging world with my small contribution.

I hope I can find time to put up a post now and then and that there is someone out there who will still read it - but I know that blog followers quickly disappear when you don't post regularly. 

Till next time.

Elaine