Coming out of Hibernation

January really made us feel that we were hibernating. The days were mostly grey and wet and the nights were very very long. However we did not waste our time. John was engrossed in his many writing projects which he also enjoys illustrating. With a push from me he has self published another book and has also translated it into French. He enjoys the extra challenge. He needs a push because he thinks it is rather vain but I think future generations (if there are any) may find it interesting and if it remained on the computer it would get lost.

….....and me, I've been reading gardening books, of which there are many. I picked up about a dozen from a charity fair in the Autumn and they needed studying. I was reading one by my hero, the late Christopher Lloyd, an acerbic fellow who says it as it is (remind you of anyone?) and I must share this paragraph with you. He was writing about the owners of a magnificent garden in New Zealand, called Ayrlies. The magnificent adjective does not apply to ours but the rest certainly rang a bell.

"..... Malcolm is no gardener but he is a great backer-up. Beverley loves to work on a large canvas and she keeps on thinking of more projects. Many husbands would groan. What do you want more for, greater expense, more labour, we're not getting any younger, you'll kill yourself and so on. Instead of which, when the next brainwave is outlined he says "Why not".

Well I can't pretend that John is quite as encouraging as that but he never says "No". Consequently this year he has a lot of constructing to do. I have ideas for some garden "sculptures/features" but little expertise to make them. The beds certainly need a lot of redesigning according the gurus I have been studying and of course the bank balance will take a hammering. I don't very often acknowledge how lucky I am but both Beverley and I must have chosen the right man.