Spot of gardening this morning. There really is nothing like being outside in a bit of sunshine (no matter the accompanying chilly winds) to keep one’s brain loaded with the cheerful chemicals. I started the Great Leaf Sweep 2020 - not a huge amount at the moment, but give it a fortnight and we’ll be knee deep in the things, I have no doubt. Thirty one trees produced a lot of leafage. It wasn’t something we considered when viewing Damson Cottage on a sunny day in late March 2016...
And then I gave the hedge that divides our neighbours’ front garden from ours a light trim. And then I gave the grass verge either side of our driveway entrance a heavy duty trim. It was that or buy a taller car so I can see over the top of the undergrowth. Usually the local farmer deals with grass verge and hedge trimming along the roadside but he’s being a bit lax this year. Unless he turns up to do it tomorrow, in which case I’ve been a bit keen.
Gave the various lavenders a hair cut, too. They’ve been magnificent this year, much enjoyed by the bumbles. In a moment of madness, I almost threw the clippings onto the compost heap and then I thought, ‘No! Sort it out, dry it and then you can craft some lovely handmade lavender bags to include with this year’s Christmas presents!’ What better way to express the ‘Comfort and Joy’ theme than a lovely lavender bag? Okay, maybe a warm ginger biscuit. Or an apple and blackberry crumble. But surely a lavender bag, crafted with my own fair hands, ticks the box, too?
So I brought what was basically a scrappy heap of wet mush into the kitchen and began a protracted sort out of flower from chaff. Bambino Bobble Wilson helped, of course. Well, didn’t help, because he is the most useless of cats save for being a handy hot water bottle on a chilly afternoon. Let’s say he kept me company, shall we? The result was this...
...a tidy sheaf of lavender ready to hang up and dry, plus a little pot of flowers that fell off during the process. And now I have the joy of sorting through my fabric and ribbon stash for something lovely to complete my project! It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it...
Andy is currently in the studio working on a Christmas card design for this year. This is only fair because I made them last year - remember the glittery knitted Christmas trees? He is using the art of lino cutting and has only cut his hand once thus far, which is a bit of a record for him. I have rejected his first offering which was an image of a miserable-looking Scrooge.
‘That does not fit with the theme of Comfort and Joy,’ said I.
‘I didn’t know there WAS a theme,’ said he.
‘Well, there is,’ said I. And so he went back to the lino cutting board.
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