These are difficult days, with the situation changing all the time. As I write this we are advised not to leave our own homes. I have PLENTY of things to do, but many are worried about supplies of food and have been stock piling leaving shops empty. We decided to get in some supplies as well. Off loading timber on Saturday morning, 21st March One ton of top soil ................. then two tons of top soil ....... then a dash to see if the garden centre was still open. It was ! Husband decided that if he cannot go anywhere then we would spend as much time as we could in the garden. When we bought this house there was nothing in the garden at all, nothing but grass and stones. We have great plans .... and have decided to do as much as we can. Some of our plans need professional help, but some we can have a go at ourselves. We now have the problem that the builders' merchants have closed, and we need all sorts of things, but will make do for the moment. This is what one corner of the garden looked like when we moved in last year. Rather boring. Concrete flag path round the perimeter of the house, not a plant in sight. This is what it looks like now. We intend to get rid of the concrete flags and had chosen some rather nice stone but the stone yard is probably closed now. We had to dig out several tons of hardcore and builders' rubble, then I (yes me) dug out the soil from the big bags and barrowed it round the house. We used up far more than we expected. We need more ... but the builders' merchants have closed now ! This will be a rose garden. We already made one rose bed with roses that we brought with us, but these are new ones. We recently purchased - Charles Darwin, botanist, geologist, who developed the Theory of Evolution and wrote "On the Origins of the Species" in 1859. The publication of his work tore apart the academic and religious world. He lived from 1809 - 1882, and spent five years on board HMS Beagle, the voyage began in 1831. He made observations and sent samples back to Cambridge of specimens from the natural world. In South America he studied the geology and pondered over the extinction of species; on the Galapagos Islands he observed the differences between the wildlife on one island and another - and came to his theory about evolution. Will my rose evolve or grow just like the picture in the catalogue ? Roald Dahl, writer, poet and one time wartime fighter pilot [1916 - 1990]. Much loved by my grandchildren and before that my own children, who read "George's Marvellous Medicine" and "The Twits" and other titles. He had quirky plots with unexpected twists and turns, so I wonder how this rose will turn out ? I had not realised until I looked him up that he was born in Wales, but his parents were Norwegian and he was named after the explorer Roald Amundsen. John Betjeman - 1906 - 1984, writer and Poet Laureate. His poems are much loved. He was the son of a silvermaker of Dutch descent. He was passionate about preserving architectural gems which were threatened by demolition. There is a lovely statue of him in St Pancras railway station in London which he campaigned to save. China Town and Masquerade are two more of our recent additions, and we have room for a couple more (as and when nurseries are open again). Then this was in the Yorkshire Post on Saturday 21st March. Well we intend to try and do our bit and be a little bit self sufficient, and if there were any vegetable farms around here that required hand pickers I wouldn't mind doing my bit, but most are high tech machinery farms. I have served my apprenticeship in hand picking 'taties and strawberries. The theme was taken up by this columnist in The Times on Wednesday 25th March. So we have battled on with the flower bit of our garden - So that we can start the next bit - Which is making raised beds for vegetables. This is just laying the timbers out and making calculations regarding the depth and falling ground so some have to be dug in etc. Not finished yet, a bit more sawing of timbers and barrowing of soil to do. We have modest aspirations, we will just grow enough to have the fun of sowing seeds and some home grown beans and peas and lettuces. Unlike these Dutch market gardeners. This is by Joachim Beuckelaer [1533 - 1574] and is called A Fruit and Vegetable Market (with the flight into Egypt in the background) and is in the National Gallery in London. But all of this makes me nostaligic. There was a whole series of Public Information posters during the Second World War - should we be doing the same now ? Twice my father tried to join up and serve King and Country during the Second World war, twice he was sent back as he was in a reserved occupation. My mother joined the Land Army and they were Very PROUD indeed that they saved the country from starvation. And even after the war farming and food production was important, and they did their bit - along with family. My aunt and cousin helping to row-up. Well I think he is helping .... Not a very flattering picture of my father's backside ! But my uncle is on top of the load and my aunt driving the tractor. An old Fordson if I remember. This is picture of a later harvest season (because I am in it holding the mug). We called this 'lowance time. Workers needed feeding, and I had to carry the basket full of food on one arm with a scalding hot tea can of scalding hot sweet tea on the other arm up some very steep fields to the workers. The other thing I remember was having to listen to the wireless whilst making the sandwiches and then memorise the cricket score so I could repeat it to my father. I just hope that the time returns when our farmers are appreciated and held in high regard again. But back to my garden. In these troubling and worrying times it is good to sow seeds. It makes you hope for the future, that you will see them grow and flourish. I can retreat to my greenhouse and tend to my lovely plants. I am almost ashamed to confess how many auriculas I have, I have just watered them, over 150 ....... they keep multiplying ...... and they make me hum that jolly tune "In an English Country Garden" which I associate with Percy Grainger [1882 - 1961], an Australian who was interested in the revival of folk music. As with many folk tunes, there is a story behind it, and it came to the attention of the great collector of folk songs, Cecil Sharp, who heard someone called William Kimber playing it, who was keen on reviving Morris Dancing. A version of the tune appeared in the Quaker's Opera in 1728. Fritz Spiegl arranged a selection of folk tunes from different parts of the United Kingdom which BBC Radio Four used to play every morning when the World Service finished and Radio Four began, I still miss it ! An English Country Garden was part of it. Jimmie Rodgers made a version of the tune with lyrics which began "How many kinds of sweet flowers grow / In an English Country Garden ...?" and then went on to list flowers, insects and birds which never graced this part of northern Europe. There are also some parodies on t'internet with rather rude words ! I will end this wishing you all well. I will take solace in my garden and greenhouse if I can and leave you with the rather sentimental words of Dorothy Frances Gurney, but then this is perhaps a time for sentiment as no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
The kiss of the sun for pardon / The song of the birds for mirth / One is nearer God's heart in a garden / Than anywhere else on earth.
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AuthorThis is where you can share creativity with me. I believe that everyone has something creative within them, and it is a joy to find ways of being creative. Blogging is NEW to me, so here goes ..... Archives
January 2024
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