On the Upsidaisy

 Apologies, dear Reader. Had I known I’d be away from here for a month I’d have likely said so before I vanished. Something like, ‘Blogging Holiday - Back in February!’ But I didn’t know so there we go. What can I do, eh? 

The problem, I think, has been the feeling of being swamped by an overwhelming and inexplicable sadness. I’m going to blame the dark days of January even though we’ve been blessed with some blue sky sunny days and mild temperatures. I’m also going to blame the last dregs of hormones seeping from my post-menopausal bod AND the continuing shizzle surrounding Covid, because why not?  I’ve never been a great fan of Winter - the lead up to Christmas is okay because of all the twinkly lights and bonhomie, but January? Bleurgh. I’ve done my best to mitigate the misery by reading lots of novels, making ambitious plans for the garden, sewing, watching comedy TV, avoiding news reports and squeezing the cat until he says, ‘Bloody get off me, will you?’ Enough stuff, then, to come through it alive. Hurrah!!

And here we are at last, well into February, and slowly the sadness is lifting and taking with it the grumps, the random tears, the undue sensitivities and the feelings of ‘What’s the point?’ The days are lighting up well before 7 a.m now which means I can rise at my usual time of 6.30ish without having to blunder around in the dark because I don’t want to disturb Andy (I am Lark, he is Owl) and tempting Fate with games of ‘Near Death By Cat’ on the stairs. And sunset is occurring around 6 p.m which is far more acceptable than 4 p.m, and is giving hints of being out in the garden in evenings in the not too distant future.

A couple of updates, then: 

Firstly, Edith Bunny has a new, palatial enclosure. Andy spent two days and a not inconsiderable sum of money building it. We have also ordered her a fancy hutch which will fit onto the end of the enclosure. It should arrive next week. Here are some photos:

She went quite berserk with joy when she moved in! We are going to build more enrichment features inside the enclosure - like different levels of platform and other hidey holes - and we are on active lookout for a bunny companion or two for her. Don’t let anyone tell you a rabbit is a cheap pet, because they bloomin’ well aren’t. Still, I am expecting this rabbit Palace to be home to bunnies for many years to come so it will be worth it in the long term.

Secondly, The Great Garden Project 2022 has started with the installation of two hop bines of the Phoenix variety. These are going to be trained up the front of the pergola. I had to protect them with little mesh fences to stop the bastard chickens eating them whilst they establish. I’m also expecting a fig tree to arrive this week, which will be trained along a cordon between the hops. What with the grapevine making its way up the other side of the pergola, the space will be quite a little Mediterranean oasis! Andy said he’d dig the hole for the fig and then, when I explained what was needed, I think he wished he hadn’t volunteered. Figs are rampant things, and in order to encourage them to put their energies into growing figs not foliage, their roots need to be contained. So I required a square hole that was the depth and breadth of a paving slab, to be then lined with the aforesaid paving slabs so the fig is planted, if you will,  in an underground paving slab pot. So far, the hole is almost big enough but not quite…

Thirdly, I have a new rhubarb raised bed! It’s three feet square by three feet high and is filled with our homemade compost. I have installed a new rhubarb - ‘Victoria’ - in it, along with the feeble specimen (name unknown, probably Dave) rescued from the fruit cage where it had become overwhelmed by raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. There is enough space for me to grow a few salad leaves next to them whilst they establish themselves (or, in the case of Dave, expire completely) and next year I’m hoping to be so overrun with rhubarb that I won’t be able to give the stuff away! 

Fourthly, I had an enormously enjoyable time yesterday afternoon putting together my vegetable seed order. I’m aiming to grow about 20 different varieties this year. Nothing fancy pants because I firmly believe one should grow what one eats and not be seduced into exotic species which invariably look better in the seed catalogues than they do in real life. So : tomatoes, chillis (Andy eats these. I don’t because I’m not insane), carrots, beetroot, peas, runner beans, parsnips, leeks, cucumbers, kale, chard, courgette, a variety of herbs and salad leaves, and some sprouting seeds because I fancy doing some seed sprouting on the kitchen windowsill. I am undecided re: potatoes. Might grow some early varieties because who doesn’t love a new potato dripping in butter and chives. But main crops? Well, a lot of space used for relatively little return. 

Fifthly, I managed to get a couple of hours gardening in this morning before rain stopped play. Andy joined me and reconfigured the cold frame he made a couple of years ago so that when I lift the enormous lids they don’t squish me like a bug. I started work on the courtyard garden which is now devoid of the out of the control mock orange shrub which had grown to well over 15 feet tall and was taking over the space like a triffid on steroids. It’s gone now (took Andy 4 hours to dig it out - who needs a gym membership when you’ve got a garden, eh?) so I dug over the space, weeded, took out some perennials installed by the previous owners which I’ve never been keen on, marvelled at the HUGE worm population, and planted some primroses. There are slightly less worms in the space now because I was joined in my digging by beady eyed Mr Blackbird and Master Robin. 

That’ll do for now, I think. Time for homemade broccoli, pea and nutmeg soup for lunch. 

Love and hugs to you all! Happy weekend! xx