The Start of a New Year

You may recall that last year I spent several months in the winter clearing the scrub from beneath the alley of trees in the back garden. By the time I'd finished it was spring and our energy and enthusiasm had run out. We promised ourselves that in the following winter we would cut down the saplings, leaving the big mature trees. The idea was to let more light into the bed which will eventually run along parallel to the trees. However we now have a more pressing problem; that enormous pile of rock and earth which the builder has dug out of the caves. He is anxious to lose it in our garden somewhere. We have reluctantly agreed that it should be deposited in the banks of the alley. So, spurred on with the spirit of the New Year, John set off with his chainsaw. At the end of the day we surveyed our handy work (and the enormous pile of "brush" we have to get rid of) and decided we needed to do the same to the other side of the alley. Work schedule for 2nd January sorted.!! Gluttens for punishment, we agreed that we should do the same thing again next year as there are still too many small trees left.

For several weeks we have woken up to white frosts and temperatures well below freezing but by about 11 o'clock it is warm and really pleasant to work outside. After the lumberjacks had finished their work for the day I went for a walk round the garden and discovered daffodils in bud (not the ones I planted last week) .

Such sights give us a sense of well being and we ended the 1st January with our spirits as high and optimistic as we started. Sorry about the waxing lyrical!