Ravendale House

Today has been an afternoon of mixed fortune. Firstly the good news, it was a lovely day, the first one in ages where I’ve been able to get outside and do some gardening. I started by hoeing a few weeds from around the shed and under the hedge, it’s a bit too early for weedkiller, but I just wanted to stop them in their tracks for the next week or two, and then I’ll weedkill them properly when it’s a bit warmer.

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As an animal lover, I find it hard to kill anything, even creepy-crawlies, but there are two exceptions, clothes moths (I’ve never forgiven them for eating my teddy bear) and ants.

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What could be nicer on a warm summers day than English strawberries picked straight from the garden served with ice-cream? What could be more evocative of those long summer days of picture-book childhood, when life was lived at an easier pace?

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A few years ago I ordered some so-called ‘plug’ plants by mail order, Pansies I think they were. After a long wait they finally arrived, and what a disappointment they were. Small and weedy, not really big enough to be out on their own. Not many survived and those that did were wimps. I wrote a letter of complaint to the company but received no response, and I vowed I would never buy plants by mail order again.

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I’ve always been a big animal lover. Anything from a mouse to a moose and all points in between, I’ve even been known to rescue creepy crawlies from the water butt, I’m just a big softie at heart. As far as domestic animals are concerned, I’m very much a cat person, but I do like dogs, though we’ve never actually had one of our own. I’m telling you this because of what I’m going to write next.

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It’s commonly said that a weed is simply a plant that is growing in the wrong place. Whilst this is true to a certain extent, I feel there are a few exceptions which should be classified as weeds all the time. Here in ascending order of loathing are my top five weeds.

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I love trees, I don’t know why, perhaps it’s their great size or longevity, I just know I’ve always been intrigued by them. I can remember as a child sowing apple pips, orange pips, acorns, conkers, sycamore keys and the like just to see what I could grow.

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When we moved here 10 years or so ago, the hedges which surround our 3/4 acre plot, were about 6 feet high. You could easily add another 2 feet on to that for the growth they made each summer, which meant that by August they were untidy and very oppressive. Being so high they were a real pain to trim and although they offered good protection from the wind they did cut out a lot of light from both flower and vegetable gardens.

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Today I’ve spent a pleasant afternoon in the flower garden. The weather once again was sunny and cold, which will do just fine. Everything is pretty wet after last nights rain, (not suitable for kneeling down or digging) so I decided to turn my attentions to a geranium, a few foxgloves and the ivy growing around the bottom of the conservatory.

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Today was another glorious day, cold with blue sky and sunshine, so we decided to go for a walk along the lovely lanes of rural Lincolnshire that surround our home. What could be nicer on a winters afternoon? We chose the shorter of our ‘circular’ walks which is about 3 miles. There isn’t much to see at this time of year, but it was still good to be out in the fresh air.

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