Wordless Wednesday: A wee bit wet Wednesday

   
 

And the weather forecast for 2016 is………..

Winter is coming……

Actually, the best way to get an reasonably accurate weather forecast, is to read the ‘Daily Express’ and then expect the opposite……..job done!

The El Nino affect is supposedly the strongest we’ve had in years, so the next few weeks/months could be very interesting and it certainly gets the press all excited.

It’s that time of year again where all the news channels, papers, social networking sites and other internet sites, start to warn us………that we are all in for the coldest winter for years!
Where, it will not be safe to walk the streets because of, shifty looking penguins wearing dark glasses and polar bears wearing trilby hats selling you some dodgy gear whilst trying to rip your heads off and be very careful of the ones wearing high heels and suspenders!
Anyway, no doubt sky news will be out and about interviewing them all, asking how business is and how they are coping with cold.
Though the thought of Eamonn Holmes interviewing a polar bear wearing suspenders, is too surreal even for me. When I say wearing suspenders, I do mean the bear wearing them and not Eamonn Holmes………although whatever the scenario, it would send the viewing figures sky high!
But will this year be the year they get it right about the weather?

“What a wild winter sound,— wild and weird, up among the ghostly hills…. I get up in the middle of the night to hear it. It is refreshing to the ear, and one delights to know that such wild creatures are among us. At this season Nature makes the most of every throb of life that can withstand her severity.” ~John Burroughs, “The Snow-Walkers”

As I have mentioned before, I quite like the snow. Now that I am a self employed gardener, this can bring it’s own challenges, financial being one of them but if we went through this winter without any snow…….I’d be quite disappointed.
This though, will be the first winter for many years where I will not need to worry about Snow and ice duties/rotas/meetings etc. Whilst at Trinity, organising for the winter could start as early as August/September with the ordering of ice melt, shovels and other items to keep the college open, safe and ready for the winter ahead. Certain aspects of this I will not miss,  although the snow clearing itself, I did use to enjoy and the smashing up of the large snowmen with sledge hammers and the other strange shapes that the students use to build…….this I will miss.
This year I did not/will not need to deal with any of that, I will just need to organise myself…….easier said than done. Unless the weather gets really bad, I will have enough to do to see me through to the spring.

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~Anne Bradstreet

I’ve not seen any long term forecast for spring 2016 but if you do go by what they are saying about the winter, it will definitely start off cold. Spring is an exciting month for all gardener and it is the starting block for how the garden fares throughout the rest of the year. From the lawns, borders and the trees, a late spring means the garden and us, spends the rest of the year trying to catch up or adjust to the years season’s. Throw in a wet spring like the one we had 2012 and life next year could be very interesting but we all like a challenge……..don’t we?

“Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape, lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

As for summer 2016, no forecast here just a request……..

To have a long hot summer (with a little rain at night) and it to flow gently into an Indian summer come September/October. So when winter comes around again, we will be fully charged ready for its onslaught……nice thought hey?

There is one thing I can guarantee and that is, living in this part the world, we will continue to talk about the weather, moan about it and what ever we we have thrown at us……..it will never ever be right!

Wordless Wednesday: The Travelling Trixie

   
 

The Autumnal Palette

Taken in Welney by my Mum

It has been a while since I wrote my last post and nearly a year since I left the position of Head Gardener at Trinity college Cambridge. It has been a tough first few months of my new venture but now, hopefully, I’m now beginning to find my feet and slowly starting to get into the swing of working for myself.

It was a tough decision to leave Trinity but one I do not regret making. Although, I did start to question this after having to scrap three cars in a matter of a few weeks (no Volkswagen’s were hurt or involved in this period) and then my health knocked me on my arse again! With the help of my wife and family, I’ve been able to pick myself up, stick two fingers up at all the negative shit and start to pull myself forward.

It ain’t all been bad though. I’ve had the great opportunity to have worked/working in some beautiful private gardens in and around Cambridge, I have met some truly wonderful people and the work has been quite varied too; from the design side to getting my hands dirty again……..great stuff!

So as I see my business moving into a new chapter and seeing the wonderful autumn season from different gardens and places around Cambridge, I’m feeling good about the future. I will stop rabbiting on now, so you can enjoy some of the autumn colours from my part of the world….

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

…………………………………….

Parker’s Piece, Cambridge

………………………………………..

……………………………………….

Now we are all familiar with this sight…….

There’s plenty of these around as well……….

I don’t do selfies……too ugly! So here is a shodowie instead.

……………………………………..

……………………………………

…………………………………………

………………………………………….

Now I told you about the three cars that I had scrapped in a short space of time, well these are the wheels of my new car. Hopefully this one will do better than the last three nightmares. Plus, I thought these colourful wheels reminded me of flowers? My Dad has nicknamed it the ‘Tank’ and suppose he’s Wright, it does have the word ‘Challenger’ in its name.

And finally…………..

Another picture from Welney again – taken by my Mum.

The End……

Until the next time that is…..I feel another ‘Rock Garden’ pending!