A Long Birthday

 I firmly believe that if something's worth celebrating the festivities shouldn't be rushed or confined to a single day. Think about Christmas - that goes on for months! So, as this year was another landmark birthday (the clue's on the cake), and so many in the last few years have been disrupted by Covid, I thought it best to not confine the celebrations to one day.

To be honest a lot of folks might consider my idea of 'celebrations' to be on the quiet side - there are no all night parties or big city trips - just a quiet outing or two to local gardens and a family get-together, but I enjoyed them.

With the weather suddenly turning sunny, I started a day or two early with a trip to Chatsworth, and another to Calke the next day while the sun was still out. 

Tired out from adventures I settled for a quiet night at home, and a Nandos takeaway (with caramel cheesecake substituting for a birthday cake) for my birthday dinner. 

The following weekend was Easter which gave my younger daughter and her boyfriend time to come down from Manchester, and my older daughter and her family joined us for a joint birthday/Easter celebration on Sunday. I started the day with croissants, cream and fresh fruit, we had an Easter egg hunt in the garden for my grandson, birthday presents, and meals organised/cooked by younger daughter, with a delicious cake which seemed too good to be vegan.

Then after the Easter weekend, I decided to pull in a short trip to Kedleston, to see how my fitness was improving (a little but not a lot).

Last, but not least, I went away for a couple of days of quiet relaxation in the depths of the Cambridgeshire countryside - a joint birthday/Christmas present for my husband and myself which my younger daughter has been saving up for for several years. It was a wonderful break and a great way to wind off one year and start the next. 

Gentle pottering at Calke

I've been putting off going to Calke this year because of my dodgy ankles, but the sun was out and the sky was blue last week so I decided to try. From the car park the route to the garden is a bit up and down (or down, then up, to be more accurate) which I thought might prove too much for me but there's a buggy-shuttle to fall back on if needed. 

Even the walk to the walled garden involved sitting and resting but I got there!. 

The first thing to catch the eye is the auricula theatre. Now. with  a display of daffodils, muscaria, and primroses, its yellow and blue flowrs and bright blue shelves seemed to reflect the glorious sunshiny weather. 

We ambled onwards, through the orangery and out into the old walled garden were Portland ewes and their lambs were doing excellent work keeping the grass short, and then into the kitchen garden/orchard.

Like most vegetable patches, the kitchen garden was still fairly empty; early April is a time for preparation, not harvesting.

The orchard though was starting to come to life with white pear blossom against a backdrop of blue sky, and slightly more lilac-hued anemones.

On such a lovely day I could sit here forever. I found a spot at the furthest end of the orchard, under not yet blossoming apple trees, surrounded by daffodils and fritilaries, and just relaxed.

I always say it but one day I'd like to have a small space like this, with trees and spring bulbs, to sit and while the days away.

From here a brief meander took us down to see over Staunton Harald reservoir, then doubled back to the garden entrance, where, too exhausted to walk, I caught the last buggy trip of the day back to the car park.
 

Spring at Chatsworth

Last week the weather suddenly turned spring-like, almost summer-y with its warmth at times, so it seemed like an excellent excuse to shrug off the post-Covid tiredness and head out - starting at Chatsworth.

Being still in that not-very-energetic recovery zone I wanted to see as much as possible with as little effort, so adopted a plan of starting high up in the garden, walking end to end, then back at a lower level. You don't get to see everything this way, but the only way to do that is to wander back and forth, uphill and down, numerous times, and I just didn't have the energy for that.

We started in the kitchen and cutting garden, where hellebores in all shades were brightening the borders, and I rested in the summer house while one of the gardeners dug ground and set potatoes in a nearby vegetable bed.

This summer house is one of my favourite spots at Chatsworth, with views over the glasshouses to distant hills, and I could probably have sat there all day, but thought it best not to.

Onwards then, leaving this area by the higher path, edged now with daffodils, which follows the hillside round above the busier areas of garden below.

I was torn over which path to follow but decided to drop lower and follow the paths through 'Arcadia', a series of linked forest glades leading up and down across the hillside.

There were a wider range of flowers here - daffodils, alyssum, primroses, and hellebores; all white.

This path took us to another of my favourite spots - a simple bench with a wonderful view over the Maze, and beyond the gardens to the opposite side of the valley.

Again, I sat rather too long and, as I'm still walking rather slowly, had to curtail my wanderings as closing time approached. There was no time to visit the Grotto or the Pinetum, instead we headed. more or less, straight down to the Maze, along to the Strid, and eventually down to the Canal Pond where the fountain had now been switched off for the night (always a sign that it's time to leave)

For more years than I can count, we've been members of Chatsworth's Friends scheme - an annual membership which allows unlimited access to grounds and house - but rather sadly we've decided that this year the cost has become too much. In part this is because we rarely go into the house (especially since Covid), and even though we visit the gardens a lot it's cheaper to pay for individual visits. We'll still be visiting, and probably just as much, but for now we're no longer 'friends'. 
 

Not good, but getting better

 I can't quite believe it's April already. Snowdrops have finished flowering. Daffodils have taken over in gardens and parks. Forsythia is blossoming against a (sometimes) blue sky. Tulips and magnolias are getting ready to move us on to the next mood of Spring. Where did the last three months go? Usually when time disappears like this it's because I've been busy but this time I feel like I've idled them away, though really it's been a period of rest, illness, and recuperation.

The year didn't start well with a fall down the stairs on New Year's Day. Nothing serious but my ankles were strained and required rest. Resting unfortunately impacted the rest of my fitness levels so when my ankles felt up to walking, my legs had become unaccustomed to the idea.

But I started small and by the end of February I'd worked my way back towards a reasonable distance (7000 steps). Then I fell foul of Covid. It didn't last long, wasn't severe, but it exhausted me, and I'm still struggling with a range of problems - tiredness and the inability to focus on tasks for long being the worst - and which, added to my general lack of mobility due to my ankle problem, have left me feeling old, overweight, and unfit.

Fortunately my elder daughter sent a link to an NHS website about Covid recovery, which explains that fatigue, low mood, inability to concentrated are all common post-viral symptoms. They should pass. Fingers crossed. And it helps a lot to know that what I'm feeling is normal.

I'm not going to leave it totally to chance though. I've heard so much about the possible long-term effects of Covid but don't feel they're things I can do much about. What I can do is make a commitment to getting fitter (and thinner), so that I face any future problems (or another bout of Covid) in good health. 

It's small steps at first, more about mindfulness and relaxation - feelgood things like a delayed Mother's Day family get-together, getting outside if possible, enjoying a potter round the garden, talking to the seedlings in the greenhouse, taking a short walk to see daffodils, or just noticing the vase of picked flowers currently in front of me as I type - but also trying to increase my daily step count (currently at 3000). April's arrival seems to have marked an upturn in the weather, it's my birthday soon (65!) and I'm hoping the two mark an upturn in my health.