http://ravendalehouse.com a garden lover's journal Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:08:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en You know when Steve Redgrave famously said we had to shoot him if he ever went near a boat again? Well I feel the same way about buying plants/seeds/bulbs by post. Why? Well I'll tell you why. With the exception of last years red geraniums and begonias, everything I've bought by post ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2010/01/19/never-again/ We have a new visitor to the garden, in the shape of a moorhen. He arrived on the 9th of January, and I've seen him every day since. Although we do have a pond, it is very small and overgrown, and I've never seen him anywhere near it. Instead he seems to ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2010/01/17/a-new-visitor/ We've had loads of snow here over the last few weeks, much more than in the last 11 years. No gardening going on, but I found this picture which made me smile. Perhaps I'll go out and build a snowman! http://ravendalehouse.com/2010/01/08/snow-2/ I've spoken before about my garden birds and how I love watching their antics in and around the bird feeder. Well today I've been concentrating my attention on a thrush. I'm no bird expert, but after to-days goings on I've come to the conclusion that my previous sightings have been a ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2010/01/01/802/ Spring Summer Autumn Winter http://ravendalehouse.com/2009/12/30/seasons/ I know I've been a bit absent recently. That's partly because I'm not doing any gardening at the moment, but also because we've just had the most stressful 8 weeks imaginable. It started on the 21st of October when Peter's computer got infected with a hideous virus, despite all the ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2009/12/18/life/ Yesterday teatime I was in the kitchen making the tea, it was about 4.10pm. It was already almost dark, the temperature had plummeted, and the forecasters had warned us to expect a severe frost. Yet there he was, regular as clockwork, having a bath before he went to bed, my little robin ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2009/12/01/brrrrrrr/ The gardening year is like well written prose, punctuated like it is with er -  - - - - - well, punctuations! There are certain jobs that have to be done throughout the year which mark a little point in time, and break the year up into smaller pieces like paragraphs ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2009/11/26/gardening-grammar/ My mum used to say that at her great age she'd seen everything, but in truth there's always something new and exciting to see however old you are. Take this week as an example. Yesterday morning we were sat in the kitchen at 11.30 am having a cup of tea. As ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2009/11/17/never-too-old/ I think my body is still operating under British Summer Time. We put the clocks back 3 days ago and yet I'm still waking up at 7.15am instead of 8.15am. Having said that, we're enjoying such lovely weather at the moment that it's really a bonus. Yesterday afternoon we sat in ... http://ravendalehouse.com/2009/10/28/various-stuff/