Keeping dry and a visit to Wisley Gardens

What a very wet and windy January we have had - and February looks like being the same.

The side and end of the garden has been under water for most of the time, although when we have had a couple of rain-free days it has drained away fairly quickly.   But the ground is very very wet, and not good to work on.  I did get out last Sunday and cut back a few shrubs, but other jobs will need to wait until the ground is less sodden.  We are so glad the Council cleared out the land drain outside our property two years ago.  Goodness knows what things would have been like had it not been done.

 

 The path to the garage and vegetable garden is also flooded, as is the small sitting area beside one of the greenhouses.   Water has also gone into the greenhouse, which  makes for very damp conditions inside.   I do have the door open each and every day, even if only for an hour or so, which helps to move the air around.

The hose you can see beside the wet path is from a pump which we have in our small pond.   For the past several years it has overflowed each winter when it rains and has to be pumped to keep the water level down and the fish inside.   We have decided, very reluctantly, that next summer we will have to fill in the pond and give our fish away.   It is such a shame as we love our pond and the fish, but it is becoming  a constant battle now to keep the pump on each winter to keep the fish from swimming away.

Despite the wind and rain, there are signs of spring.  These snowdrops have been out for about ten days, and there are also daffodils peeping through.  

A couple of weeks ago, on a calm and sunny day, Brian and I decided on a whim to visit Wisley Gardens. We are only about a twenty minute drive away.  Brian wanted to try out his new camera and I wanted to take pictures of trees, my project for the U3A Camera Group.

Christmas over

It's been a while, I know, since I was last here but over Christmas life just go so busy and a bit complicated.

I went to stay with a cousin for a few days following her hip replacement, which meant I had to be super efficient (!) and get everything ready for Christmas that needed to be got ready.   Cards were written, envelopes labelled and stamped and then posted, together with the gifts that needed to be posted.

Brian and I went away to a hotel for Christmas - the first time we have done this. The drive down to Bournemouth, on the south coast, was a bit scary.  The rain was so heavy and the wind was blowing the car sideways, but we got there in one piece.  The hotel was nice, and they did their very best to instil a sense of festivity, but it was not the same for me.  I enjoyed the walks along the front, and it all made a great change.   I missed the children and grandchildren, although we did make up for it the following weekend when we went for lunch with them and exchanged our gifts then.  This all made for a long Christmas.

Since New Year, I have been very busy with memberships coming in for the Society that I am membership Secretary of  (www.thepags.org.uk).  A lot of memberships are paid by PayPal, but a lot by cheques in the post.  And now we are using Direct Debits, so that is another thing I have had to learn and administer.

Yesterday I  drove to the other side of London to visit an old school friend of mine - we have known each other since we were six years old.  She is not well now, suffers with MS and has just had a mastectomy. ut I found her cheerful and getting on with life.  She had her sewing machine out and had been altering her bedspread to fit her new bed.     She is an inspiration..