Preparing for the Long Night
Eh up m' jolly baubles ,
It has been a long month full of rain, then ice, then rain again. Some people would call that a sh*t sandwich, I call it a slushie surprise. Tomorrow will lead to our longest night. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice is upon us. Being part brown bear, I have officially been in semi-hibernation. Aside from the mince pie and cider stash, I'm not feeling particularly organised this year. Soon I will have to leave the comfort of the cave and venture out for extra supplies.
Please don't adjust your screens - that is a real Christmas tree sat in the corner. I finally succumbed to working parent guilt and took the kids one weekend to Travena Cross Nursery near Helston.
It was actually a hoot : singing reindeer, dancing penguins, a story telling owl, a giant polar bear to sit on, a sporadic flurry of fake snow from a 90s foam party machine, toasted marshmallows that were still on fire, mulled wine to legitimately get pissed on in a homely manner, dinosaurs wearing Santa hats, of course, we couldn't have Christmas without them...
I let the kids pick out a smallish British grown Nordmann fir. Once home, I let them decorate it whilst I put my feet up with a much needed cuppa.
With the greenhouse being iced closed for most of December, gardening duties have been performed on the dinning table. The spider plants and aloe veras have had babies and it was time to pot them on.
It is hugely satisfying to produce new plants for free.
Hmmm, do you know what I'm thinking - Christmas presents!!!
But the plastic pots are a little ugly,
so I whipped out Mumrah's 1970s trusty Bernina sewing machine and my fabric stash,
and have been experimenting with making fabric pots.
The straps on the string of hearts pot are made from old t-shirts. As they are stretchy, they can be slung over existing shelves or curtain rods. Perfect for people like me that don't really enjoy putting extra hooks up.
I must share with you some glorious recent sun rises -
Ooh, one last thing. Some of you have been asking if they'll be another seasonal video this year. Well, I am not really meant to speak about it, but I am awaiting a very special visitor to Long Mizzle Garden. When that does finally happen, I hope to share it with you. In the meantime, I still have a warehouse full of last year's eau de toilette 'Shizzle'. I can confirm the smell luckily depreciates with age.
I hope that you are well, please send gossip.
Lulu xXx
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From the Ol' Archive...
You may also enjoy these wintry posts -
My greenhouse froze too - which caused some consternation as I had arranged a delivery to be stashed there in the event there was no one at home to accept the parcel! So - armed with tape and a note to stick to the glass I marched out (ok ok slipped and slid) and failed miserably - have you ever tried to tape a note to frozen glass? No me neither .... hey ho! 😆
ReplyDeleteHaha, oh dear! Monsieur couldn't get out of our front gate one morning as it was frozen solid. I watched him battling with it from the warm of the kitchen window, tea clutched in hand. Luckily I'd put most of my succulents inside the greenhouse just before the frosts arrived x
DeleteDear Lulu
ReplyDeleteI wasn't quick enough with insulating some of my pots and I am hoping that the plants have survived. I have also had to move some plants from a relatively sheltered area to a more open one, as we were having work done on the roof and gutters. I am keeping my fingers crossed for them too...
Your little Christmas Tree looks perfect in the corner. Great idea of plants for presents too!
Best wishes
Ellie
Fingers crossed for your plants. I got most of the tender ones into the greenhouse, but a couple of the larger pots were missed out and are now looking very sad indeed. Thanks Ellie, will be over for a nosey soon x
DeleteNice tree, always best to get kids to do it, we get our neighbours daughter on the job decorating our tatty fake, but this year son 2 had covid so I had to diy as she didn't want our germs. I have been lurking in garden centres looking longingly at real trees. Look forward to your next post if you manage to capture the man in red on camera. I left one of my very big lemon trees out during the blizzard, couldn't fit it in the house - all the lemons are mushy (of course) will it survive Mrs Greenfingers? it was wrapped in fleece but it looks very ill. Have a wonderful Christmas. Betty
ReplyDeleteHaving to decorate one's own tree, what is the world coming to Betty! I hope your son is better. Lemon trees get tucked away in cold, open greenhouses or polytunnels down here, even in mild Cornwall. I 'd stick it in a sheltered corner - a rain shadow, frost free spot by a wall if you can - don't let it be soggy all winter - and wait to see if it recovers. You never know, sometimes plants spring back. When I lived up in Yorkshire, I thought the three month snow had done over my 5 ft tall Cordline, but it grew back from the base. Fingers crossed x
Deletehappy and magical winter solstice!!!
ReplyDeleteyour kids must be very happy - with the cute tree and the bombastic event to get the thing! :-D
what you call "spiderplants" is known as "sachsengrün" here - because the white/light green colorway is the one of the flag of saxonia - the federal state i live in....... (from the trunk of un-nessecary knowlegde)
stunning sunsets!
stay warm and cosy and lots of mullet wine and strong tea! <3 xxxxx
ps: please send a box of your eau de toilette 'Shizzle' to me - need some pressies ;-DDDD
pps: fabulous sewing!! please treasure the bernina - you will never get a better machine this days!! xx
DeleteThanks Beate, you have a good one too :) Lovely fact about the sachsengrün. We do treasure the old Bernina sewing machine. It was a lot of money for my mum when she brought it back in the 1970s but it is still going strong. Shipping out a storage container of seasonal 'Shizzle' to you ;) Mwah x
DeleteMy Dahlias and tender Fuschias are all wrapped in fleece in the coldframe but with -2 degrees some nights I'm worried they may suffer. I loved the video, quite scary in places.
ReplyDeleteMy tortoise went into hibernation in the garage late October and needed his small heater and an anglepoise lamp over his box to keep him from freezing. We've had much colder winters that he's survived so I'm sure he'll be OK. He goes to sleep in October and wakes up mid March. Now that's the way to spend winter!!
Enjoy the festive season Lulu, I'm looking forward to seed catalogues arriving early January.
Good to hear your old tortoise is nicely tucked up David. Yes, he does have the right idea! :) Oh dear, I left my fuschias out in pots. Hopefully the Dahlias will be ok in the ground. They survived last winter ok. Have a wonderful Christmas x
DeleteGood to hear from you Lulu and Happy Winter Solstice!
ReplyDeleteLove the hand made fabric plant pots and a brilliant idea to just hook them over existing shelves! My spider plants are also producing lots of babies so I think I might follow suit and give some away as presents, although with my sewing skills, the lucky recipients might have to make do with a ribbon bow!
Magical photo of your garden in rainbow colours and awesome sunset photos. I do love a winter sunset.
Have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to seeing if that French Perfumer operating from your garden diversifies this year. xxx
Hiya Claire, thank you. Hope you had a good Solstice & & Merry Chrimbo to you too. I've popped open the ol' Babycham ;) Hopefully I'll be doing a big blog read catch up very soon, but we are awaiting the big man & excitement is starting to kick in here :) x
DeleteOh you old married woman you. Did you have a warming tipple while you were sitting sewing. Have a fabby Christmas and I'll send you some seeds next year. xx
ReplyDeleteWell of course I had a warming tipple Cherie, whilst sat in m' triple thermals! Have a wonderful Christmas & I greatly look forward to our 2023 seed swap :) x
DeleteHello, lovely lady! Happy Solstice to you! I wish I knew the secret to your success with aloes, the buggers keep dying on me. Genius idea with the fabric pots, a fab gift idea if I could ever bear to part with my beloved spiderlings.
ReplyDeleteOn the way out of Glasto this year I hauled a five foot tall yucca out of the bins which I've named Bruce in honour of Mr Springsteen. I managed to drag him inside before we went to Spain narrowly avoiding the poor lad freezing his roots off. Bless him.
Have a fab Xmas and maybe by this time next year you'll be recruiting a sleb to front the Shizzle advertising campaign! xxx
Eh up Vix, great to hear from you. I am terribly behind on blog reading, but I look forward to popping over to catch up on your Malaga trip. Wow - Bruce, what a find and what a great name. I can't say too much yet, but I've just had a fab visit from someone very special. All will be revealed! A captain Xmas to you :) x
Deletep.s. I treat the aloes mean - not too much water. Mine also do NOT like my south facing window sills - far too hot & bright for them. I have to set them away, half way across the room, so they get nice filtered light :)
DeleteHappy Winter Solstice, Lulu! Your kids did a lovely job decorating that tree, so that you could continue to semi-hibernate and wear off that mulled wine :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the fabric pots, and they'll indeed make fabulous presents.
Your sunrise photos are truly magnificent! xxx
Thank you Ann, the kids are alright ;) I'm not trying to complete with the big man, but I hope to be doing the rounds & will hopefully see you over at your bloggy. If I don't make it on time, have a wonderful Christmas :) x
DeleteYour tree looks lovely! Your wee fabric pots are wonderful too, what a great idea. I was frost ready as we are used to them here, our first one was in October this year ;). I remember the first year I lived here though, I was really caught out and lost loads of plants and pots :(
ReplyDeleteOh wow, October, and you are super organised SM. I am kicking myself as there are a couple of the more tender succulents that I bring into the house that may have succumbed to the frost in the un-heated greenhouse. I will attempt to revive them! Have a wonderful festive season :) x
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