I’ve Got To Tell You This!

Continuing from where I left off in my previous blog post, I do recall that I need to tell you about being attacked in this jungle that I now call home. But then, my overtalkative brain kicked into high gear…

It’s not very easy for someone with a wonky back and a gimpy leg to write about antics in the wild jungle of the Scottish outdoors. But, interestingly, I do have things to recount from the past week! It all…

It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post. It seems to have been about two years. Man, it’s been a long two years with lots of happenings! I had hip pain in March 2022. Physio started in…

Winter is coming to an end, and I haven’t bawled about the horrific weather too much this season!  I must be getting more tolerant – about time after 6 years eh!   Of course as I write, it’s the second week…

I know you guys haven’t heard a peep from me over the last couple of months.  Life really got on top of me and it felt like I was doing some serious doggy-paddling just to try to keep my head…

I feel like I’m running out of time for my garden projects, and I have the weather to thank for that.  My boxes of 700 spring bulbs have arrived and there’s a terrible amount to do out there in the…

I love this time of the year – late summer.  The light quality is starting to change, and the days are becoming shorter, but there is still warmth in the breeze and noisy activity in the skies above.  I love…

There is nothing like getting a shoe dropped onto your face to awaken one to the delights of the day. Truly.  But, that is what spaniels sometimes do when they’ve decided you’ve had enough sleep and should be awake playing. …

My bulbs haven’t arrived yet.  That’s okay, they were only expected to be ready for initial processing by mid-August.  I’m actually a bit nervous about them coming because I haven’t been able to do any of the garden prep work…

I have confessions, folks! I’ve been struggling to find that part of me that is able to chat with you so freely.  Usually, it’s during my daily walks or while suffering through an awful movie, or dreadfully long (and boring)…

  Recently, there have been a few days when I’ve had snippets of things rattling around in my head ready to burst forth into a babble of quirky thoughts and anecdotes to be shared with you.  But, as life would…

  Life is messy and never beautifully timed, nor scripted like you see in the movies.  I find the same with my thoughts that I like the most.  Invariably, they come to me in the middle of a shower, just…

  An interesting thing happened as I made my last blog post.  I got a notification from my friend Anne, that she had published a new blog post herself, 10 mins after I had.  This meant that we had both…

  It’s June.  In my part of Scotland this means that I go to sleep in the daylight and I wake up in the daylight too.  I love this time of the year.  It does take some adjusting to, this…

      Remember the other day when I talked about grabbing the good days (weather-wise) when they came because they’re really fickle around these parts?  Well, since my balmy Monday morning it’s been a lot of blustery, cold, windswept…

  I’ve been AWOL I know!  Sorry!!!!  Things have been totally wacky here weather-wise that it’s been pure confusion since Easter.  I’ll have to give the story in parts, because there’s a lot of story to give.  So here goes…

  Early April had dawned coated in white; sounds softened by nature’s fluffy blanket.  It was Easter weekend and life had been forced to slow down.  This slowing of the daily rhythm I had grown accustomed to was not designed…

  With the morning bringing some bright sparks of sunshine, I’m reminded of a funny moment a few days ago when my mom was telling me that I’m such a bright spit for her, especially now with my corny jokes,…

  I was chatting with my mom online the other day and she reminded me that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  Reference of course to the fact that I’m in sheep country and…

  We have been enduring numerous gales over the last couple of weeks. Sure, there’s been a break of a day or so in between, but the seemingly endless battering of the wind can really exhaust the soul.  I am…

  Just a couple of days ago I had walked around the garden peering closely at the flower beds to see what was happening.  Some of the daffodils had started to sprout, their leaves about 5 inches above ground level. …

  As I sit to write this, my fingers are tingling as they regain their feeling, my nose is numb and my cheeks are burning with the cold.  Needless to say, I’m sitting with a mug of hot tea steaming…

  You may have realized by now, that I’ve referred to the mudscapades a couple of times in recent posts.  It’s one of those things that you don’t want to dwell on mentally because the trauma of the situation is…

  Last spring, I decided to take advantage of the lockdown time by turning a patch of overgrown and lumpy land into a cluster of flowerbeds. You may remember that I had to dig out the beds, harvest the rocks…

  It’s that time of the year when daylight comes after 9am and the moon and the sun are both visible in the sky, looking large and luminous, in this morning period.  I’m not quite sure how I feel about…

  The onslaught of bad weather has meant that I’ve been indoors more than usual over the last few weeks.  There are always those projects around the house that need to be done – you know, the ones that you…

  There is an upside to so much rain and moisture in the climate at the moment though – rainbows!  When I walk the pups I see rainbows on an almost daily basis now – and double rainbows are not…

  Not only did the start of Autumn bring shorter daylight hours and colder temperatures, but it also brought hail and fog!  Fog I love, hail – not so much.  Hail hurts,  you know!  Getting caught in a hailstorm out…

  Well!  Let me tell you, this past month has been a month of unkind humour from the weather imps.  But I suppose that’s all that can be expected from imps eh!  They’re a mischievous sort you know, with a…

  I’ve come to do another blog post and I feel a bit unimaginative and dreary because the first thing I wanted to say was that it’s windy and rainy and so I’m drinking a cup of tea while writing…

  There was mud, there was sweat and there was a whole bunch of cussing (under my breath of course) and muttering; but now we have glamour and I feel on top of the world!!!! I have big news!  Remember…

  I’ve been working on a surprise for you.  It has to do with one of my garden projects. But, it’s been kept back as I need material to be delivered from the hardware centre. Honestly, I thought I would…

  You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as much recently.  Well, it’s been the beginning of summer in my part of Scotland and it has been raining almost nonstop. Really I should have predicted this, because as…

  So, I don’t talk much about my fruit garden.  I do have one.  I planted my first blackcurrant bushes almost four years ago. Then…. I forgot I had them and I planted another one this year.  Sigh. Maybe it’s…

  You would never believe what’s been happening here over the last few days!  Want to guess? You’ll never guess!  Okay, you might.  It’s been raining.  (I’m chuckling to myself as I type this because you’re probably rolling your eyes…

  June was a month of rain and storms here.  This year brought it home to me that the hot, sunny weather of summer tends to happen in late spring (or early autumn) here in northern Scotland.  It never got…

  This past week has been a bit of a strange one for me.  I felt tired.  Not physically tired, but internally exhausted and listless.  Maybe it was the weather?  It’s been storming a lot here and that has brought…

  Recently, I made a list of the things that I absolutely, urgently needed to get done in the garden.  Seedlings needed to be transplanted to flower beds, other seedlings needed to be pricked out of their seed trays and…

  After my last post, I suppose you know what I’ve been up to these last few days, huh?  Well, yes, some manual labour got done, some weeding got done, and some planting got done.  Just, none of it happened…

  Somehow, when gardening I find that there are these moments of peaceful calm – where everything has been done for the moment and the time is right to just lean back and take in the lush environment – which…

  It’s been wonderfully sunny over the past week.  Besides doing garden maintenance, transplanting seedlings to their flower beds, weeding and watering (oh the watering!!!), I also spent a couple of days of just sitting in the sun reading. Here…

  I’ve been transplanting my young plants (can’t call them seedlings any more) into the garden over the last couple of days.  Everything remained intact during the storm over the weekend and yesterday I was able to put together a…

  Right! I have to make a total confession.  Rainy days are not relaxing for me.  Not by a long shot.  In fact, I seem to go into mental overdrive.  I even make lists of things to do that are…

  Yesterday was a bit of a biggie.  Well, in terms of seeing some fruit of the labour of propagation – not actually because of super-duper manual labour.  A storm (with high winds) was predicted for today and tomorrow so…

  We have had a good few days of sunny weather here recently.  Hence, my absence!  When the skies are calling you to be outside, you have just got to obey.  So, I did a few tasks around the place…

  After 3 days, the rain and the high winds have finally stopped.  The wind is still more than just ‘breezy’ but it’s not prohibitive any longer.  The sun is shining, and I’m gearing up to spend a day outside…

We are on day 3 of a 2 day storm (yes, I meant to type that!) so there’s been a lot of mental plotting and planning for the garden. I haven’t ventured outside much – only to check to see…

  If you read my last post, you’ll know that I have a really ugly pile of rubble at the end of my lawn, where the ground slopes towards the last part of my front garden. The rubble is visible…

  Most of the work done on the garden transformation has been done manually.  And before you ask, no – we haven’t hired anyone to do any of the manual work!  It’s just me and the Hubs. The only thing…

  I went for a little walk the other day. I had been neglecting this type of exercise that’s really good for clearing the mental cobwebs when the good, sunny weather enticed me into the garden.  I mean really, does…

  As you may recall from a recent post, we had a lot of rain and chilly weather recently.  And, I mentioned that I was hoping some plants which had got a bit damaged would be able to revitalize themselves. …

  Our driveway is a bit off-centre to the house, but in a directly accessible area to our front door.  We have a lawn area in front of the house on the larger side of the driveway (which I sowed…

  The garden can surprise you.  Recently, I found violas growing.  Most years I’ve had Violas in the garden, in various places but I don’t remember planting any seeds last year.  In fact, I’m struggling to bring up more than…

  Right, I’m a bit grouchy! The weather here is so utterly bonkers.  I have a tan, not because it was super-hot, but because we had full sunshine (albeit with a cold breeze) for over a week. And, I was…

  I got a supermarket delivery slot! I can’t even begin to explain the euphoria that came with this. I’d been dreading the trip to the supermarket and the delivery slots for an entire month in advance always said “No…

  It’s been a while since I posted, I know.  I’m sorry! The thing is, it’s been non-stop sunny with relatively little wind here.  That’s like scoring the jackpot for these parts.  And, while the weather is this good it’s…

  As I’ve been out in the garden and doing things on the croft these many past days (it’s been non-stop sunny here!) I feel like I’ve been neglecting some domestic duties that make a home feel homey!  There have…

  Recently, I was taking a break from flower bed digging and ditch digging and decided that I really needed to make a secondary sowing of flower seeds.  I keep my seed packets organized by year of expiry, which helps…

  For the last few years, ever since I started the task of creating a front garden (from brush and old burning heaps – sigh), whenever the locals stopped to talk to my husband they’d always ask if we were…

  Day 3 of tackling this project is not directly after day 2.  I took a break for a couple of days and turned my attention to some other outdoor projects.  I’ll tell you about them soon.  I needed that…

  Have you ever felt like something is off?  I don’t mean illness or anything medical like that, just that something is off balance. I’ve been feeling like that this year so far, and maybe it was the winter.  It…

The Journey of an amaryllis flower Four years ago, in December, I bought two Amaryllis bulb Christmas vase settings. It was a lovely setting in a beautiful curved hurricane vase with the bulb set in moss with cute Christmas decorations…

  So, I’m preparing myself to plant some veg.  Now, plants growing – I can handle that.  I’ve always been around plants whether they’ve been in pots on a windowsill or in a garden.  I had a mom who knew…

  I’m stiff.  My back hurts.  My hands feel stiff and protest when I extend my fingers out.  Just OW!  But, I have to go back to the garden, I need to see my second (of 3) semi circular flower…

  Yesterday I decided to cut the grass on a patch I’ve had my eye on for creating some sort of flower bed or two.  So I went into the garden shed to gather all the things I needed.  The…

  One of the TV shows I love to watch is called Come Dine With Me.  On this show, four or five contestants throw a 3-course dinner party for the others on consecutive nights in a week.  Usually these contestants…

  I have the greatest thoughts when I’m out walking the pups, and I always seem to forget them once I get home.  Like splat, they’re gone!  With not even a hint to remind me of what I was thinking….

  I made a meat pie yesterday.  So of course, when it was done, I had to show someone other than the people eating it.  My brother was in the middle of a whatsapp conversation with me, so he got…

  The Hubs gives me good gifts.  He thinks for a while and he tries to put himself in my shoes.  But he does it all from his perspective – if you get my drift.   This lovely, outdoorsy man, who…

  So I have to tell you guys something.  I don’t want to use the words admit or confess, because I have no apologies to give for this.  But, I have some weird snack combinations that I just LOVE! So…

  This was too good not to share – just a lighter moment during this very, very weird time. Thank you to Jospeh Tychonievich for doing this wonderful drawing.  It’s being circulated freely on Facebook so I hope you don’t…

  You learn things when you move to a new place.  When I lived in urban or sub-urban areas I bought plants from the nursery or the supermarket, or wherever I could find them.  I liked plants and they liked…

  My partner in crime is a Carpenter & Joiner.  He’s also a Builder.  This confused me until I learned that in Scotland it’s usually the Joiners who are the project leads on site, coordinating the other trades as well…

  Talking about labeling things in yesterday’s post has reminded me of something I did when I was 13.  I had just transferred high schools and I didn’t know anybody.  It was the start of term and I had my…

  I ended yesterday’s post talking about Happiness and it being the simple things. And it’s true.  It’s the simple unassuming things that make me happy – cuddling one of my doggies, rearranging the living room, being finished with cleaning…

  My first year up in this neck of the woods, I bought some Amaryllis bulbs from the local supermarket to give as a Christmas present to my landlady.  I knew she loved plants and gardening (she didn’t know how…

  So I feel like I need to approach this as a confession.  I mean I think this is totally normal, but the reactions to those I’ve told so far seem to imply the opposite. My stress eating food is Mayo. …