February - lethargy

 By February I'd normally be hoping to see the end of winter, and every year I anxiously watch the weather on the second of the month, Candlemas, when rain predicts an end to cold and damp, and conversely sunshine indicates a return to winter. Then once the snowdrops start to appear, I'd be off out to walk round gardens to see displays of them.

This year didn't work out like that.

February 2nd was a gloriously sunny morning - so not a good sign - and by afternoon rain had returned. And stayed, seemingly for the whole month.

We haven't had dreadful weather - no snowdrifts or flooding issues. It stayed comparatively mild. The snowdrops appeared as they should, and crocuses a little later, daffodils appeared by the end of the month, and hedgerow sloes began to blossom.. But winter seems to have gone on forever, and I've been unable to work up enthusiasm to go out - or even really no anything beyond the absolutely necessary.

I've spent a lot of time playing 368Chickens on the phone (it's very addictive) and good old fashioned board games with grandson at half term. I've tried to keep up me daily walks near to home (on dry days) but I've not found enthusiasm for anything more.

The last week turned sunny -and I grabbed the opportunity to head out and about. A little late for snowdrops but later spring flowers are on the way.

Calke snowdrops

 

A couple of days of sunshine tempted me out and about at last - over the hills to Calke.

Spring flowers were appearing everywhere - snowdrops along the slopes below the walled garden, and besides the path to the church, witch hazel and primroses among the trees, patches of crocus and daffodils in the gardens, and, my favourite, daffodils beginning to flower in the orchard.

After so much rain a bright, warm afternoon was glorious - and hopefully a promise of more to come.

January

The year started with cold crisp weather; a bit too cold and potentially slippery underfoot for venturing outside so an excellent reason to stay indoors. We didn't get the heavy snow of other places but enough fell, just into the second week, to change the world to somewhere magical where wild beasts prowl the pavements, and, more prosaically, to  block our drive and make getting the car out impossible. 

Then it suddenly faded away over night leaving the est of the month dull and dreary. We've thankfully had no dramatic deluges of rain but I feel it's been one of the most relentlessly damp winters I've known.

To cheer things up, I'd set hyacinth bulbs in December and now they were beginning to flower plus I treated myself to a bunch cheap supermarket daffodils, both welcome precursors of Spring flowers in the garden. 

To occupy me, I started the first of my Christmas present craft kits, three trolls/gnomes off on an adventure. This was an excellent project for short winter days as it mainly involved a little crafting followed by a longer period waiting for glue to dry

Then, while the rain continued to fall, I completed another Christmas present - a jigsaw representing plants from around the world.

As the month wore on, I thought I ought to make an effort to get back to a normal rhythm and undertake something a little more practical, checking my 'to-do' list and turning frozen tomatoes into passata, and pickling the 15p red cabbage left over from Christmas.

Towards the end of the month, things suddenly became busier. We headed up to Manchester to join my younger daughter and her fiance at the Bengali Sri Sri Saraswati celebration, and the next day (fortunately dry) visited Dunham Massey's Winter Garden.

Back home, seizing another dry day, we went out to Kedleston Hall to see more snowdrops in flower, I went out for tea and gossip with a neighbour, and by the end of the month I spotted crocus on one of my late afternoon local walks.

Spring is coming! .Days are noticeably longer and, with luck, the rain will eventually stop.

 

Kedleston Snowdrops

Having visited the winter garden at Dunham Massey, I decided local snowdrops would be flowering too, so the first sunny day we headed to Kedleston Hall to see how things were advancing there.

The path snaking through trees from visitor reception to the Pleasure Grounds was lined with clumps of flowers, and walking across the lawns a bank covered in snowdrops came into view. 

Elsewhere we found a really early flowering rhododendron - now at its pea yet but with its first blooms opening. 

Round on the front parkland, sheep obligingly stood to have their photos taken with the bridge and lakes in the background..

 

Dunham Massey winter garden

It's odd perhaps to think of  garden as a place to visit in winter, but Dunham Massey is one of those lucky places that have flowers, shrubs, and trees planted to look good in what you might consider a 'dead season'.

There are snowdrops, of course, hellebores, and aconites but also early flowering daffodils (though these were a little too far from the path to photograph with my phone).

Some of the trees have been deliberately picked for the appearance of their bark - cherry and dogwoods. 

There are scented shrubs like daphne and witch hazel, splendidly flowering camellias on the brink of breaking into blossom, and striking heads of hydrangeas.

All in all a lovely place to spend a (fortunately dry) January afternoon.

 

Bye bye Christmas, and on with the New Year

Christmas decorations are down and packed away for another year, and it feels like time to be getting back to normal.

Not in any sort of hurry though. 

Nice and easy is generally my attitude, and at this time of year I slow down even more. I'm embracing the New Year gently - taking the decorations down early to avoid a last minute rush, doing some essential ironing to avoid it overwhelming me, starting one of my new Christmas craft kits. 

To describe my Christmas as a hectic whirl seems a little (lot) over-exaggerating but after busy days with something planned for most of them - seeing family, playing board games, and such - I'm craving peace, quiet, and enjoying the lack of pressure to do anything.

It's not a time to rush headlong into New Year resolutions, or trying to get next year's gardening planned - there'll be time enough for tat soon