It feels like winter again here – we awoke to a dense grey landscape of fog this morning and I could easily have pulled the covers over me and stayed put. There was no wind but the damp coldness seems to penetrate through to the bone and after a jaunt around town for paint samples, plastic water pipe and screws I was glad to get back home and in the warm.
It is perhaps just as well no gardening was undertaken this weekend as the little shoots springing up here and there are better off hidden and protected by the dead leaves and stems of last year’s plants which I leave for this reason. Our garden is 700 feet above sea level here with the Pennine hills looming above us at about 1600 feet over the ‘Isle of Skye’ road (a local name – you can read about it here) …..and Holme Moss not far away at about 1720 feet. So we know about cold and chilly weather and I can guarantee we will lose some of the plants over winter.
I bought a nice little terracotta planter from B&Q for my friend’s birthday. I would have planted it up with herbs but couldn’t find any so I bought 3 pots of dwarf bulbs instead. I took it round to him later in the afternoon, rang the doorbell and stepped away. He was delighted with his gift and once the bulbs are over he will be able to grow herbs in it.
Before tea I looked at the February task list to see which of the tasks remained – anything without a satisfying tick against it is rolled over to the March list – to my surprise there were only 3 tasks out of 28 not completed (two of which are craft related and not urgent by any means).
- Sand down the DAS clay tags I made
- Cut out the interfacing for the tablemats and tack together
- Email the new owner of the caravan site by our cottage
I like to have my plan of action mapped out for the month in my year book. I assign a few pages each month for jotting down any tasks and ideas, books to read, websites to browse…..whatever takes my fancy. I stick in cuttings from magazines of recipes, decorating ideas that catch my eye or a new beauty product I might try. It is basically a catch all. Each year I begin a new notebook and the old one is placed on the shelf for reference. This month will be all about Mother’s day and preparations for Easter and I have no doubt a lot of gardening notes.
And birthdays…….. there are lots of those in March.
I am not sure how much longer we will have Master Freddie with us but I know I am going to find it hard when he goes back to nursery; I have got so used to having him here and taking him for walks. He is an absolute joy.
Must go and get some sleep now ready for the early start tomorrow. x
where the journey takes me 2 
a sweet post again dear lady. thank you.
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Thanks Deb.
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Such a lovely gift for your neighbour. I’m sure it will lift their spirits. Yesterday was brilliant sunshine from a cloudless sky from dawn to dusk, and today we have a hard frost. Winter is definitely not over here.
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We have taken a step or two backwards here.
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That’s a very thoughtful gift. I recently bought a filled planter to give as a present but I rather wish I’d made one up myself instead. Yours is lovely. X
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Thanks Jules – I like it so much I wish I had got one for myself!
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I really like your idea of a yearbook…different from the journal I do in that you put ideas and photos, etc. and job lists all together. May give that a try, as I love journaling and keeping records, especially of the garden. Loved the gift…lucky friend!
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I started the notebooks 3 years ago and I refer to the older ones to see what I was doing then and repeat some of the ideas in there. If there are recipes in the notebook that I tried and now make a lot I take a photocopy and put it in my recipe folder.
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What a double edged sword! Ending of restrictions // loss of Master Freddie spending days with you.
I sort of do the same thing with my diary – lists, thoughts, jobs, plans, ideas. I don’t really keep them for many years afterwards. I do keep them for one year following – mainly as I have addresses, passwords, etc.
While you had a last hurrah of coldness, we had a hot and humid day yesterday – 32 degrees and felt like 90% humidity. It was wonderful to go for a swim at 6pm after giving up on my walk as it was too hot.
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I am not a fan of this weather from March to end of April as it can be warmer and milder one minute and then back to snow. I would prefer to get all the cold weather over with and wait longer for the warmer weather rather than keep going backwards.
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I can’t think of a nicer gift, especially at this time of year when we are looking forward to seeing signs of new life in the garden. When the bulbs are done it will be so nice to move onto herbs.
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I will be doing this gift again I think it worked out quite well.
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That’s the most perfect gift — especially with the weather unable to make up its mind whether it wants to be winter or spring (well, that’s what’s happening here anyway!)
I love the sound of your yearbook — it’s like the commonplace books they used to keep in Victorian times (I may have made that up…possibly a different era?!). I wish I could keep myself to a single notebook but I have an annoying habit of wanting one for every different thing…I should really try and condense myself 🙂 xo
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I am a stationery lover and would have lots of notebooks but I needed a catch-all for all those bits and pieces of interesting things so the year book does that for me.
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You have a busy month ahead (aren’t they all?) so I hope everything goes according to plan. I didn’t realize you were so high up – no wonder it’s chilly!
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I see other blogger’s gardens coming into bloom so much earlier than mine – even our garden in Scotland which is much further north will be in bloom before here!
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