Ravendale House

One day while i was working in the picture gallery i'd started on a shoestring about ten years earlier i just decided i'd had enough of shopkeeping.

The truth is, i'd always wanted to live in the countryside with a bit of land to call my own and the chance to "do my own thing" -- in other words, be able to come out of my door without an audience -- make a nice garden -- play loud music -- grow my own food. You get the idea.

goodbye gallery     hello ravendale house    the house    potted primulas

So i was delighted when five years later i found myself the proud owner of Ravendale House, a renovated 19th century cottage out-in-the-sticks. With a completely lawned front garden and a small field attached, about ¾ acre altogether, it was a blank canvas.

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At the end of last year I wrote what I thought would be my last post on the subject of the pub at the end of the garden. How wrong could I be? Things are beginning to happen.

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It occurred to me the other day that in all my ramblings I’ve only ever written about ivy in passing, and I think it probably deserves a post of it’s own. It’s simple really, my advice on ivy would be, “Don’t do it!”

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It’s the same every year, as winter approaches I’m always determined to continue gardening right through until Spring, let’s face it you can always find some jobs to do in a garden this size. But every year I don’t seem to manage it.

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Here’s a bit of observational trivia that you might find amusing.

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Yesterday was a pretty normal day for the beginning of January, dull, cold and very, very, windy. At 11.50pm I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed.

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The next best thing to a heartwarming story to start the New Year, is having a good old clear out of drawers and cupboards. And so with that in mind I’ve spent the last few days delving into the darkest recesses of sideboards, kitchen cupboards and the like. Let’s face it I’m hardly going to do any gardening, it’s been blowing a gale here.

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You can’t beat a real-life, feel-good story for the beginning of the year, and they don’t come any better than this heartwarming tale that I read about earlier today.

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Well, after over-indulging over Xmas, we went for a walk up the lane yesterday, it was very mild for the time of year. It actually felt like Spring.

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Back in September I wrote a review of my gardening year, which you can read about here. To be honest, I think the 7th of September was a bit early to be reviewing the year, but I guess I was short of something to write about at the time.

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