Hands in the Soil

The resident (male) fox in the grounds at my place of work

Just finished a mixed week this week and ended up by yesterday (Friday) not feeling too good at all, mentally or physically. However having just completed four and a half hours in the garden including giving the grass its first cut in a month, I feel invigorated and energised and back to my normal self. I've taken a week off work next week to do some 'me' stuff.

Despite continuous rain and showers, the grass was dry due to quite a strong breeze last night yet the ground underneath is still fairly wet. Often, grass can go yellow with too much water, yet the grass has remained green and lush and looks good for a cut. 

I've potted up the last of the plants, some cactus dahlias and trailing begonias. A mixture of ground cover and medium tall perennials are now potted up outside. Lily 'Stainless Steel' and dahlia tubers are in pots along with some other begonia corms. Petunias and geraniums I planted up three weeks ago are looking well and are growing in the shelter of the greenhouse overseen by my lovely green man. Some trailing begonias I've ordered are not due to arrive on time, I think the late frosts a couple of weeks ago may have delayed them at the nurseries.

Being fortunate enough to be able bodied and reasonably fit for my age, I count myself lucky that I can get into the garden and do the things I enjoy. Being with nature is a wonderful experience even though in the domestic garden environment it tends to be a manufactured one. Nonetheless, to get  my hands in the soil brings me closer to Mother Nature and keeps me grounded. To be able to touch and admire trees, watch the wildlife and breath fresh air is so important to me and today I bought a small portable radio to take to my greenhouse to listen to when I use the warmth and shelter of the glass as a bolt hole, safe from being interrupted or being molested by domesticity.

I have a lovely family around me and some friends who I admire and adore but there's just something about my own company which attracts me. Is that being selfish or arrogant? 

American author Alice Koller (bn 1925) who spent many years deliberately living away from other human beings said, "Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your won presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement."

Chat soon

Ta-ra

Dear Iceland, we said send cash, not ash!

The greenhouse heater has been lit for the last few nights and tonight is forecast a frost which just shows even though days are longer and warmer, Mother Nature comes and throws a low-baller every now and then just to keep us on our toes. I also solved the mystery of a leak in the small fish pond tonight which is fed by a waterfall. The pipe that feeds the top of the waterfall was split underneath and water was dripping away into the earth before it got to the waterfall.

A great weekend in the garden paid some dividends and it's all looking neat if not a little bare of much variety of colour - although there are thousands of shades of green.

I feel sorry, in part, for those who are stranded abroad. Some need to be genuinely home for various reasons and some are struggling with money to keep them in sustenance. I obviously wish them well. The rest however should be laughing into their suntans. Work would never dare sack them for having unauthorised absence - after all - it is a Force Majeure - an Act of God "a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events."

Sue the Almighty. (No, His name's not Sue - I mean take a civil litigation for goodness sake - don't be picky about my poor English!)

I wanted to do an Icelandic volcano joke, but I thought I'd wait until the dust settles.

Here are a few more that are circulating:

There’s no pleasing the English. The last time they got the Ashes they were over the moon.

Went outside today and got hit by a bag of frozen sausages, a chocolate gateau and some fish fingers. Someone said it's a fallout from Iceland.

What do Cheryl Cole and the Iceland volcano have in common? They both chucked out ash.

Dear Iceland, We said send cash, not ash.

It was the last wish of the Icelandic economy that its ashes were spread all over Europe.

Chat soon

ta-ra!