A Day in the Life

My diary entry for May 6th follows...

My WI Our Town group can't meet under Lockdown, so instead I set a task for everyone - who wants to - to keep a diary on the day we would have met. So far over 20 members have responded with quite different accounts of their ordinary day in the most extraordinary of circumstances. Here's the account of my day to join with them...

Clematis 'Dorothy Walton' and 'Diamantina' with May on the public land providing a lovely backdrop

My day starts with a walk round the garden after breakfast. I'm currently working out a mindful walk for a blog post to come - the idea is to provide a calming pause before the day's thoughts and emotions come crowding in. This scene's a little earlier to usual by a couple of weeks, probably due to April's sunniest on record. I'm used to coming back from Chelsea Flower Show later in May to find these clematis in full cry and they're currently my favourite part of VP Gardens.

A bit of computer work followed by coffee on the patio with NAH. Thank goodness the weather's been mainly warm and sunny under Lockdown.

Teddy for key workers display

Time for a walk... I've decided to do my regular 'Big Puff up the Hill' with some new additions I've wanted to explore for a while. It's a much longer walk than usual because I'm also aiming to add over 20 new names as part of my 'walk every street of Chippenham' challenge. Update: Street #200 walked today (Clifton Close, take a bow), only 300 to go!

I'm pleased to see Ted is back to thank our key workers. He disappeared for a while, but now has a daily puzzle to entertain passers by as well as the cute display. Today's question: Two brothers were reported to have married each other in 2019. How could this happen?

A view down Hardenhuish Lane

A quick glance down an empty Hardenhuish Lane, which usually hums with traffic, before...

St Nicholas Church and Hardenhuish Woods

... stopping to admire Hardenhuish Church, then diving into Hardenhuish Woods a little further up the hill for a spot of welcome shade and no other people, despite a fair number of other walkers using the lane for their daily exercise. Quite a few of the trees are numbered like the one shown, which makes me wonder if there's an ID guide to them around somewhere. Hardenhuish School did investigate the ruins of the old summerhouse in the woods a while ago, and I guess this may be evidence of another of their projects, or possibly the council who manage the woods.

Petrol price display board

I'm keeping an eye on petrol prices as they're the lowest they've been in years - it's currently a penny cheaper at Sainsbury's just over 2 miles away, though 5p a litre more at a rival petrol station on the other side of Morrison's roundabout. US Crude oil prices have crashed - even turning negative for the first time ever at one point - and it's ironic I can't take advantage of this when I'm only driving 5 miles per week.

Update 12th May: the sign said 99.7p a litre for petrol when I walked past last night. It was reported by the BBC yesterday and also shows a graph of prices which suggests this is the lowest price in around a decade.

Birds Marsh Wood and bluebells

My neighbour tipped me off (at a distance!) at the weekend that the bluebells at Birds Marsh Wood were looking good and I'm so pleased she did. A new housing estate is being built on neighbouring land and I wonder how long this tranquil, people free space (at the time of my visit) will fare in the future.

Roadworks, signage and evidence of more to come

Something that seems busier than ever under Lockdown are the local roadworks. At least there's less disturbance to road users and local businesses during this time, but not to the increased number of footpath users. Along with the usual signs and footpath closures, there's a huge crop of cryptic markings on many paths and roads, plus a new warning sign about social distancing and critical workers.

#Chippenhamdino

Towards the end of my walk I bump into #Chippenhamdino, much to my delight. This Cepen Park North resident's been cheering us up over the past week or so and I catch dino in the middle of bringing birthday greetings to several children and some fun and dancing to the residents of a local care home.


Inside Plan B by Emily Barr

Lunch is homemade guacomole and toast and seeing it's a good drying day, today's chore is a load of washing. Then I settle down with the book I'm currently enjoying, Emily Barr's Plan B. Our estate's got a great freeconomy going, with boxes of books, toys and other goods appearing on the streets for passers by to help themselves. This one's courtesy of my neighbour who offered some spare books via Cepen Park North's Facebook group.

Tea is pan-baked ginger salmon with lots of salad, then fresh berries and yoghurt for afters. I'm being quite strict with our diet since NAH's heart attack in March and make sure we have heart friendly meals and well over the recommended 5 a day of fruit and vegetables. I'm not doing too badly on it either - I've lost 10 pounds in weight since mid March.

A quick catch-up with friends on Facebook, then it's time to settle down with NAH for our favourite programme, Repair Shop. Our cats Skipper and Spot decide to join us for a cuddle on the sofa. I stay on for The Great Sewing Bee, then a final watch of the late news together. Afterwards NAH plays "laser beam chase" with the cats before settling them in the kitchen for the night before we go to bed.

And so ends another Groundhog-like Day under Lockdown.

Comments

  1. Miron@ROD Gierczak Koszalin12 May 2020 at 12:37

    Dear Mrs Michelle, very nice and interesting website this is. Will stay for a bit and read Your articles. Am beginner when it comes to gardening. Started for 2 years back in 2010 and now came back a bit after 8 years. Godbless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anna15 May 2020 at 08:10

    What an excellent project Michelle! An intriguing looking church - when was it built? In this neck of the woods a special police constable dressed as a panda has been bringing birthday smiles to little faces and some big ones. Well done on the weight loss. I thought of you last weekend when Malvern should have been on. The weather these last few days has been very reminiscent of our blogger's meet up 😂

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP15 May 2020 at 16:45

      It's a lovely little church Anna, built in 1779 to the plans drawn up by John Wood the younger, more famous for some of the famous architectural features of Bath. It's the only Georgian period church in Wiltshire. I'm so lucky to have this gem just round the corner from me :)

      Delete
  3. The bike shed22 June 2020 at 08:01

    In many senses your days are a bit spookily like mine. I liked 'clematis in full cry' by the way... We have walked very lane round our house - not much of a challenge to walk all the streets here! Some nice reminders of Chippenham - years now since I've been to Birds Marsh Woods - was always rather under utilised I thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 June 2020 at 14:00

      It's a bit of a palaver to get in there with the building work going on, but worth it. We've made several trips there under lockdown and it's very peaceful. How long that will last now the new estate is going up, who knows.

      Delete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more