Long Mizzle Garden

 Hello m' puny pumpkins,   Well I think we're long due a catchup aren't we!?! Family health (of the ultra rare variety) and a sticky trap work situation have made for the toughest summer of my life. The garden simply hasn't been able to console me on this occasion. At least going through the motions have provided fresh air and exercise.   This past week has been lovely though. My littlest's child played in her first brass band concert, which was followed with the finest tea & home made cake. As per usual, it rained on Bonfire night, but we got a good view of the fireworks from the back window. Yesterday I had a giggly road trip with my girls  - details to be shared in my next post. I also finally started my new job. For the first time in months I am feeling relaxed. The autumn mists have restored a calm, 'can do' attitude. As I've been away from Blogland for a bit, I'll try to keep this post short. I'd very much like to catch up on s...

 Hello M' Allhalloweenen, One year and for one year only, the lower part of Long Mizzle Garden became a big pumpkin patch. It followed the autumn removal of the mutant Leylandii hedging by hire-a-dad-with-a-chainsaw (Leylandii must be the social vampire of the gardening world). The in-situ compost heaps that had sat all winter fed the soil. Monster shade casters and moisture suckers removed, life slowly started to seep back in. The spring sown Jack O' Lanterns loved it. By the following autumn, we had more giant pumpkins than we knew what to do with.  I wish I had a picture of the garden that year. This is how the patch looks today - a mix of Cordylines, Grisolinia Littoralis, Bay and Camelia. The pumpkin patch was truly magical, but without replacement hedging our garden would be overlooked by a number of houses. Not good for Nude Tuesdays. This week I have continued with hedge trimming in between the many showers of rain. This particular line has to be hard cut back once a ...

Hello and Happy Halloween or Samhain to you, As this week's weather has been viler than a witch's wet fart, time has been spent indoors delving into the traditions of Samhain (Summer's End), the precursor to Halloween.  The Druids and Ancient Celts started it. October 31 st sounded the welcoming of the harvest and the dark portion of the year. For three days and three nights, the wall between this world and the next was believed to be at its most permeable.  Shape shifting spirits, be they malevolent or benign, could walk amongst men.   These were the days where fairies were vicious, hunting in groups, stealing souls and kidnapping folk. Celts would dress as beasts, with furs, paints, antlers and tails as a means of protection. Mandatory rituals led by Druid priests included animal and human sacrifice (according to ancient Roman writers) and the lighting of a community fire.  [No gardening going on here today] By Medieval times, the idea of a ‘Dumb Supper’ had deve...