Looks like Spring, smells like Spring...

Around about this time last year I boldly proclaimed that Spring had returned and then found myself, less than a week later, under a blanket of snow and ice in sub zero conditions. This year I shall be a little more cautious. That said, I have been able to spend a number of pleasant hours digging in my veggie patch and cutting back dead branches and the like.

I received a beautiful quote from my friend Bren (http://www.ladieswhodo.net/) that I'd like to share:

"my garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful"Abram L Urban

Gardening is an often used metaphor when carrying out projects or realising dreams and I don't want to live a cliched life, yet, when I am outside in this wonderful place, tending my garden and growing my business merge seemlessly into one another.

Recently I have got to know Mark Rendell who provides gardening and garden design services. What I love most are his designs for therapeutic gardens, often for hospitals but also for private gardens. Here is a man that truly understands the links between life and gardening. I'll give you two examples of his approach from his site http://www.thegrowingcompany.co.uk/

Winter is Wonderful – embrace this time of stillness in the garden. See the opportunity it gives for quiet reflection on the ‘bones’ of the garden – its shape, its size, its underlying structure.

and-

The Sun and its life-giving trail – follow the shadows and plot the way the sunblazes a trail through your garden. This gives your garden its opportunities and also influences your behaviour.

As well as being a gardener, Mark is also a freelance project manager and trainer and uses the insights and inspirations from working outdoors in his training work. He'll be visiting us here next month and I'm hopeful we'll be setting up some exciting workshops soon.

Well, the sun is peeking from behind a cloud which is my cue to pull on my wellies and plant my first seeds. I hope to bring you photos of my produce fresh from the garden in a few months time.

Photos: Our first daffodils, we know Spring is around the corner when the violettes appear on the lawn, primroses poking through the fallen leaves

We'll weather the weather whatever the weather

You can take the girl out of Britain but you can't take being British out of the girl and the weather remains an ongoing fascination. Like much of Europe it's been a bit blowy here over the past week or so and the winds have had quite an impact on both the scenery and cycle of life here. Having talked about my intention to sweep up the fallen leaves for a couple of weeks, I was thrilled to discover they had been lifted, whisked around and then deposited in neat little piles by the breezy gusts. I was even more impressed to discover that the size of each leaf pile was such that they fitted neatly into a bin liner - remarkable. We have a maple tree at the end of the garden (the most beautiful tree in the valley at this time of year to my mind) and I tirelessly watch it's fallen leaves frog hopping over each other as they chase around the lawn. What a show of colour and energy! The wind has shaken the remaining apples and quinces from our trees which were then washed by the rain before finding their way into a glut of pies and crumbles. The pods from the wisteria have shaken their black button seeds onto the ground (Warning: these closely resemble chocolate Minstrels and should not be eaten) some of which will find a suitable nook to start the process of becoming new plants. As the trees shake off their coats of leaves and prepare to face the winter months, previously shielded views open up around us, I can see the hedgerows dividing the fields, I see more cattle grazing, birds are more easy to spot (I have guests staying at the moment who are keen twitchers - I hope this is the right term, and they're preparing a list that I will share shortly) and sound travels unhindered. We hear our neighbours donkey, the cows calling to each other when the farmer deposits some hay or a salt block, the chug of tractors returning home at the end of the day and me letting Mark know that his tea is ready.