Eric & Anthea's garden at different times of year.

[ideasguy]

Busy day today - daughter is now home for Christmas! Had a hairy incident driving but we are all home safely.
Have to go watch a TV program. If you are free, turn over to BBC1 at 7:30. A friend of my son is singing.

[roiphil]

Thanks fro pics eric and with that slope on the hedge the snow will just slide off, love your 2 trees aswell bet they took years to get to that

[Eric Hardy]

bet they took years to get to that

53 years to be precise Phil 

[Eric Hardy]

The snow is falling heavily again. I have been amusing myself with my binoculars watching all the birds feeding on our bird table. We have two cock robins. One has it's territory at the bottom of the garden. The other has it's territory at the top. In these hard times they both try to feed from the bird table and have spent most of the day quarrelling 

Our neighbour's cat Lily has spent much of the time looking longingly up at the bird table too. It was a bit murky but I took a couple of shots. An essay in WHITE ON WHITE.



She sat so long she melted a hole in the snow 



They are a bit grainy because I had to use ISO 1600

[roiphil]

bet they took years to get to that

53 years to be precise Phil 

time well spent to acheive that shape i think

[Eric Hardy]

Confined to barracks today!!! High Wycombe was on the Channel 4 News as being particularly bad. The town lies in a narrow valley running east/west and all north south routes have very steep hills to negotiate down into the valley and back out again. Benji is supposed to be coming home from Basingstoke tomorrow and Basingstoke was another chaotic town! They had about 20 grit lorries out but they just got jammed between all the cars that were stuck! About 100 people were stranded at our local John Lewis store. The managing director allowed 54 staff, 30 adult customers and 20 children to sleep in the display beds in the store and provided food when she realised the surrounding roads were impassable. Anthea and I viewed the world through our windows: -











 

[ideasguy]

Lovely photos Eric. Best admired from indoors, if at all possible.
Its giving us a great insight to the view from your house. It actually looks rural so you have the best of both worlds!
Hope you and Anthea are not running out of supplies.
How is Anthea?

[Eric Hardy]

Thank you George. We are quite well off for supplies. Tesco Online delivered a massive order on Sunday before the last fall of snow. Anthea was very worried they wouldn't make it because they had our turkey on board. They actually came in the allotted slot and the man kindly carried everything into the kitchen for us. He had great trouble getting away again though but he was well prepared with sacks of salted grit in the back of his van.

Anthea is improving slowly, thank you. She is still hobbling but is not in so much pain. A long way from being trouble free yet.

Unfortunately Benji won't make it today. They will try tomorrow morning. We spoke to him on the phone and he was quite cheerful and philosophical about it. I think they were wise not to attempt it. There is fog to add to the problems today.

[roiphil]

great photos eric, stay inside and keep warm, i have just had to have a wander across the field, the misses thought she could see a horse down in the next field and i must admit it did look like, but on closer inspection  it was just the way the snow was sitting on top of the rushes, snow blindness playing games on our minds    and i rescued another lady she went to turn around at the top of our rather large drive entrance and because it is on a downward slope could not get traction up it, the only way i get out is by using my 4wd, look like our snow could be starting to melt does not seem as cold today our lane is still like a sheet of ice though all of the snow compacted down on it

[NightHawk]

A lovely set of photos again Eric.

A snow scene like that can best be enjoyed looking at it through your house windows, where you're snug and warm and don't have to go out in it.

You've done the right thing Eric by stocking up with your essential supplies to get you through the worst of the weather.

We still have snow lingering around here (not nearly as bad as you have it, and other parts of the country), but with temperatures fluctuating between -9° C and 2°C it's not getting chance to thaw.

We shopped online and got our weekly food supplies delivered today too.  Don't like going out unless it's absolutely necessary.  I'm a confident driver, but it's the other idiots that cause the problems that I don't like, especially in adverse weather conditions. 

Hallucinations Phil ??  I suppose it's better than seeing little Pixies or Elves at the bottom of your garden.    That 'horse' didn't have a red nose by any chance did it, and answered to Rudolf?

Anyway, it's great to hear that you've been the good samaritan again and rescued that lady in distress.  A deed to be proud of.

Laurie.

[roiphil]

Hallucinations Phil ??  I suppose it's better than seeing little Pixies or Elves at the bottom of your garden.    That 'horse' didn't have a red nose by any chance did it, and answered to Rudolf?

Anyway, it's great to hear that you've been the good samaritan again and rescued that lady in distress.  A deed to be proud of.

Laurie.

Hallucinations no (not yet) but i do recall saying to myself "silly woman seeing horses down" but i said this out in the field  where the wife could not hear 

[NightHawk]

Hallucinations no (not yet) but i do recall saying to myself "silly woman seeing horses down" but i said this out in the field  where the wife could not hear 

Very wise decision there Phil. 

Laurie.

[Eric Hardy]

I have been a bit quiet recently having not much to report except snow, but I thought this is an interesting phenomenon which has never happened to us before. Our lawns were last cut on the 11th November, much later than usual but they had been growing. Usually after about a week the stripes of the lawnmower have vanished but here we are, at the end of January, after many frosts and having spent two weeks under snow and the stripes are still clearly visible and the lawn looks fresh and green as though we have had no winter all. Has anyone else experienced this?
By now we often have a few bulbs beginning to show in the grass but there is no sign yet.

[ideasguy]

We spotted our first snowdrops last week Eric and I can see the new bulbs that James and I planted poking through nicely.
Not as far on as Malcolm though!
I'll have a look for the stripes later. Currently the front lawn is under snow! It arrived again on Friday and didn't melt yesterday. Brrr!

[roiphil]

I have been a bit quiet recently having not much to report except snow, but I thought this is an interesting phenomenon which has never happened to us before. Our lawns were last cut on the 11th November, much later than usual but they had been growing. Usually after about a week the stripes of the lawnmower have vanished but here we are, at the end of January, after many frosts and having spent two weeks under snow and the stripes are still clearly visible and the lawn looks fresh and green as though we have had no winter all. Has anyone else experienced this?
By now we often have a few bulbs beginning to show in the grass but there is no sign yet.

not here our grass was growing rather quick think i last cut it in late november and a couple of weeks ago it needed cutting again, then we had the break in of horses which done th job for me the field (back garden is now nicely short) which is good, at the moment taking down old fences and putting up new, plus getting a new project of the ground in the field next door but more on that later (no volunters needed this time unless you have a spade  )

[Eric Hardy]

The February weather has not been conducive to gardening. We have had early morning snow and frost for three days running but by lunch time each day the snow has melted. This afternoon by 3 pm the sun was out and my thermometer was reading 40 degrees F.

At long last I have managed a little digging. The frost has done its job and the soil was very good for turning over. I am under strict instructions from Anthea not to overdo it and my ration is one square metre a day. Applied daily it is surprising what can be achieved.

The snowdrops are looking good and at long last the bulbs are thrusting through the grass. I have had to mark the vulnerable ones with sticks to stop people trampling on them. It is good to feel that things should be getting better from now on.

Indoors an amarylis that was given to Anthea as a bulb for Christmas is flowering. It is rather an odd one, not the type I am used to. Here are two pictures. Has anyone seen similar ones?

 

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Yes have seen them in catalogues Eric, cant't say I like them though. 

Rain on and off here today, but have managed to get in the garden with a printout of all the plants we have, sorted in their garden areas.
Checking if we still have the plants, or some have crept in that I didn't know about. Then nipping in to get warm again by updating IGpro with the results.

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

Malcolm, you are a champion and hero!
Matter of great interest, what is the extent of your losses?

Weather here is very similar Eric. Snow a.m. clearing during the day. I go out each morning first thing and feed the birds - they must find it hard to get a breakfast otherwise in these conditions.
I have a new feeding area outside my office window and they come in droves. Its interesting to watch how they behave - some are peaceful and sharing by nature, some are selfish and bullies (a subject for another topic )

[Lyn and Malcolm]

George said

"Malcolm, you are a champion and hero!
Matter of great interest, what is the extent of your losses"

Not sure as some plants have not showed their heads above the soil yet
Give it another month and I will report any losses.

Malcolm

[Eric Hardy]

Yes have seen them in catalogues Eric, can't say I like them though. 

I am inclined to agree, Malcolm. I must say I was slightly disappointed when it bloomed. Different, though!

I have a new feeding area outside my office window and they come in droves. Its interesting to watch how they behave - some are peaceful and sharing by nature, some are selfish and bullies (a subject for another topic )

We have two robins. One's territory is the bottom of the garden, the other's the top of the garden. The bird table is at the top of the garden and when Robin 1 visits the bird table there is always an almighty barney with Robin 2 

[ideasguy]

Blackbirds -v- Thrushes? Perhaps I have one particularly grumpy blackbird!
Robins -v- the rest of the bird population? They are ferocious little creatures!
The most placid? Doves! Today I watched them feed together from one little handful of seed - no bother.
In their midst, some smaller birds - they just shared shoulder to shoulder and allowed them to mingle
 

[Eric Hardy]

Two days of sunshine and spring seems to be in the air at last. There are even midges in the garden today 

A few signs of spring recorded today (2nd March 2010)

Three hellibores: -







Three crocuses: -







And snowdrops which have been out for some time already: -

[ideasguy]

Gorgeous! Spring is well and truly here. Thanks for posting those Eric!
Have you ever cut crocuses for a posy indoors?
They are magnificent They open up to their full extent, and have a lovely delicate scent.

[Eric Hardy]

Have you ever cut crocuses for a posy indoors?
They are magnificent They open up to their full extent, and have a lovely delicate scent.

No, we never have used crocuses for posies, George, now that's a thought!

[Eric Hardy]

April 1st: I have been trying to decide what has and what has not survived the winter. We have three small tree peonies, two are breaking into leaf but the third shows no sign's at all  . I won't touch it for a while but I wonder how long it will be until I can be certain it has succumbed. One large pink cystus has definitely died but we find that they only seem to last 5 or 6 years. Anthea keeps a steady stream of cuttings going so that we can replace any that give up the ghost. We are longing for some dry weather. We actually had a fine morning for a change and managed to get a bit done. In spite of the wet there has been a sudden rush of growth in the last week.

Last week we went on a wet 3 day trip to the west country with our Canadian son, Mark. At Lyme Regis I found someone had just thrown a bouquet down on the shingle. It must be the gardener in me, I had to do something and Mark caught me propping it up (my camera seems perilously near the stones  )



And this is the shot I took afterwards