Veg Plotting

I've had a lot of fun experimenting with various flowers and combining them into a seasonal wreath for our front door as I've noticed lately that a year round door wreath display is becoming a bit of a trend around here. Have you found that? I'm not usually a great follower of fashion but I do like the idea of adding a visual welcome to our front door which extends beyond Christmas and New Year, I've chosen snowdrops, daffodils and forget-me-nots for mine as these add a lot of cheer in the guerrilla garden on the public land next to our house which adds a little rebellious twist to the convention. I planted the snowdrops and daffodils and nature decided to lend a hand by bringing in the forget-me-nots* to extend the season of interest. Have a blooming good Easter and see you soon! * Forget-me-nots are also a poignant nod to the Alzheimer's Society as it's their official symbol and daffodils remind us of the work of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Here's something to cheer up those January blues with a look back at the hot days of last July and a discovery I made on my Cheerful Chippenham  judging round. It made me chuckle a lot at the time and I've only just realised how ironic it is now as most of Chippenham's box hedges have been decimated by the dreaded box caterpillar. Cheerful Chippenham is a great project to be involved with. Around 30 volunteers are each given a specific part of Chippenham as their patch and have around a month to have a look at everyone's front gardens alongside some judging criteria to ensure we're all consistent. Those who have done something positive with their plot are deemed worthy of a Good Front Garden award. It's surprising how many aren't, including me! Long Covid meant I lost the plot big time last year. Roll on summer 2026!

I've walked many miles over the holiday season and seldom does the view match my mood as perfectly as this graffiti did in the footpath tunnel under the local railway this year. It's not the most salubrious of places or views, but it's a sentiment I wish for us all in 2026. Happy New Year everyone, and here's to a peaceful 2026 for you and yours. I also hope we get to do more of what I saw on the opposite wall! 😊

Lacock village is always a good bet for a good door display and Christmas is no exception. Here's a small selection of various wreaths I found on a wet and windy day recently which really helped to dispel the gloom and provide plenty of festive cheer. I hope you like them too. Have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year. See you all again in 2026!

My latest find just yards from our house is this intriguing candlesnuff fungus (aka Xylaria hypoxylon ) growing on a pile of logs by Hardenhuish Brook. It looks like little reindeer antlers adding a festive decoration on my walk into town, though the Woodland Trust tells me * it can be found year-round. I'm delighted to see it for the first time. Apparently the greyish white part contains the spores, so I hope the recent high winds have spread them out a bit as we have tons of fallen deciduous wood in need of a little decoration. Although it's the first time I've seen it, this fungus can crop up pretty much anywhere, from woodland through to urban parks. Have you spotted it in your neighbourhood? * = scroll down to item 7 on their list

  It's been great to find lots more public art around Chippenham this year; enough to make this collage for your delectation. From left to right and top to bottom we have: Mustard Bustards  by @lucas_antics  next to Cousin Norman's and Artel31 on Union Road; Morris Dancer by the ever reliable Chippenham Knatty Knitters  on Chippenham High Street for this year's folk festival; In Unity Beauty Unfolds by Sophie Mess at Rivo Lounge Kingfisher by Nathan Pritchard in the Kingfisher pub car park on Hungerdown Lane; Chippenham collage by 2024's Fringe February contributors; Canal scene by Ed Poster at the bus station Winnie's Barbershop by @hardlytryinganyway  on Sheldon Road; Mystery horse next to St Andrew's church; Rainbow High Street project led by Public Art Chippenham for Chippenham Pride 2025 Sadly the Morris dancer was the last topper for the post box as it's now gone solar as have at least 2 others in Chippenham. Fingers crossed the other locations get th...

We've had just a few sunny days this month, so it was great to go for a decent walk recently with W in pretty warm sunshine for November. Our usual meet up spot is on the Town Bridge; it's always an interesting view whilst waiting, further enhanced since late September by the latest mural courtesy of Public Art Chippenham.* This one's by Sophie Mess ( @sophiemess_ on Insta) who's noted for her vibrant botanical art and she doesn't disappoint in this instance. I'm glad to admit I made a small crowdfunder contribution to this one, especially now the mural's been revealed as the subject matter resonates with me and quite a lot of this blog's content. I'm pleased she's included the word Unity in her piece, which is a link to Chippenham's town motto, Unity and Loyalty. It's good to be reminded of it during these strange and relatively turbulent times.  Next up is a competition for the next project: ideas for the decoration of the Open Reach ...

Perhaps not quite as unusual as some of the others in this strand owing to the date, but I'm delighted by this recent transformation on my way into town. On Thursday I had to make my way around a lorry parked on the pavement with a delivery of scaffolding. Then look what the owners did to take advantage of the situation ready for Hallowe'en the next day! I spotted the owner as I took this photograph and congratulated her as best I could whilst shouting across the busy traffic between us. She was delighted with my reaction and told me they're having work done on their house's drainpipes. What quick thinking to make something amusing out of much needed building work 👌👏😍

A day trip to Salisbury and a glorious find on our walk into town from the station in the shape of this fab Paddington bench. I'd forgotten that many of this design were placed around the country last year as publicity for the latest film Paddington in Peru . It was lovely to see the bench being used by this gentleman who generously gave his consent to be photographed. I hope Paddington also agreed! 🤣

There's been quite a buzz around the bus station recently with a new mural painted on the side of the chip shop nearby. It's courtesy of a new charity, Public Art Chippenham aka PAC who are championing the brightening of our neighbourhood, and what a cracking start they've made. The canalside scene is a nod to the site's previous incarnation as the town's wharf on the Wilts and Berks canal. You can guess the reason for the fish! Here we have Ed - aka @edposter1 on Insta -  putting the final touches to his masterpiece. He was happy to chat to us and the dozens of others who've stopped by to see his work in progress. PAC have asked us for our ideas on what we'd like to see and suggestions for places that could merit a makeover. I've suggested a few places, especially the old Westinghouse industrial site* which is currently undergoing a transformation into a new residential area in the heart of town. It would be good to have a physical link to the site...

It's the final day of this year's National Tree Week today and I want to celebrate the tree which stopped me in my tracks recently. At other times this has been a very big week for me, having organised and helped to plant thousands of trees in south Wales as part of an Earthwatch project in the 1990s. Those days feel like they're part of another life, but it's good to be reminded how important trees still are to me, simply by just being there.  The pictured tree is towards the end of my walk into town and I must have walked past it hundreds of times, but for once I saw it properly for the first time. It was just as the different combinations of colour from green through yellow and orange to red were at their finest which helped to catch my undivided attention. It's not the tallest specimen in the world, but wow, it really helps to soften the brutalist concrete of the shops behind it. Then I looked at the leaves more closely, and realised it's a liquidambar aka...

A number of these signs have popped up around Chippenham lately, which are heartening to see. Since the Town Council took over management of the town's parks and open spaces, it's clear they want to manage them in quite a different way to when they were in the hands of the County Council. In this case, it turns out a number of open spaces across town are designated in the same way as this one I found in the Donkey Field when I walked home recently. There's a map which shows where they are, together with information on the new management policy for these areas and the other open spaces they manage. I love the Donkey Field at this time of the year as it billows with oodles of wild meadow cranesbill aka Geranium pratense   flowers* I was concerned they were dying out as nettles have out competed them strongly in recent years, so it's good to see they've made a comeback this year. A few years ago Wiltshire Wildlife Trust did a survey and proposed a management plan sp...

I spent an amazing couple of days at RHS Chelsea helping Naomi with the planting tasks for her Flood Resilient garden . This is what I learned along the way... Have hi viz, will travel! Luckily I didn't need to borrow NAH's heavy duty railworking hi viz jacket and trousers (on standby in case it really poured with rain), nor did I need a hard hat as I was working after the main construction phase. I had to take an online site safety course and test before being allowed on site It's good to travel comfortably and wait until the last moment to don your heavy steel capped boots. Even better when you find a bench at Chelsea Barracks to do so whilst admiring their fab Chihuly glass installation at their Spring Festival Have a spare pair of steel capped boots available when the rubber tread on your day one boots drops off on the way home. Luckily I was by the Barracks when this happened and could swiftly change into my trainers. Even luckier is my shoe size is almost the same as ...

I've spotted primroses popping up in many places on my walks this week and it's a welcome sight to see them. I found the pictured ones in Old Hardenhuish Lane on my way to Lidl* yesterday. They're in a patch on the edge of damp woodland next to Hardenhuish Brook and I've also seen them close to the River Avon right in the middle of Chippenham. They're a timely sighting as I'm thrilled to be working with FloodRe's The Flood Resilience Garden team in a small way during the run up to Chelsea Flower Show. I'll provide the written content for their Plant of the Week spot on the garden's Instagram account over the next few months. It just so happens the primrose is my first entry this week - you'll find snowdrop, birch and dogwood there already, as provided by Naomi , the garden's designer. My primrose finds show they're an excellent fit with the show garden's ethos which is to demonstrate simple choices in design and planting can help a...

As you can see, Chippenham's Knatty Knitters have once again cheered up the town with their postbox toppers. This one greeted me outside our main sorting office when I went to post our Christmas cards and there are more to be found elsewhere; some familiar from previous years, others are new like this one. We're in the process of changing our Christmas plans as my BIL and wife have tested positive for Covid, thankfully with just mild symptoms but we thought it best for them to concentrate on getting back to full health for now. We plan to meet up in New Year for jolly times, so we'll have a quiet Christmas here instead. Thank goodness we'd already bought our own turkey! Have a healthy, peaceful, and wonderful Christmas and New Year wherever you may be.

  Rubber ducks lined up outside my local Lidl*, why? I don't mind because they gave me a giggle on the way home from the physiotherapist the other day. My guess is they're something to do with the virtual duck race Springboard School are running, but I could be wrong. There's news on our local Facebook group this morning that chocolate's appeared on the same route home and also in John Coles Park . Perhaps someone's on a mission to cheer up Chippenham? The mystery continues... * = NAH and I call it our corner shop seeing it's such a short walk away 😂

The snowdrops are finally coming to the fore this week, does anyone else think they're later this year? Of course I could be comparing them to years when they've been early 😉 Early, late or on time, they're still most welcome. The photo above shows some of the snowdrops I planted over twenty years ago - the first time I'd tried my hand at guerrilla gardening. They form a welcome to the shared space on our part of the estate and it gives me a warm feeling when I hear local walkers saying how pretty they are. Last year I was gifted two huge carrier bags full of snowdrops in the green, so I've taken the opportunity for some experimental planting in gravel having seen some of mine have self seeded themselves there elsewhere in the garden. We have two narrow strips of gravel which border our front drive and the path which leads through to the back. I planted lots of small clumps there and I'm thrilled they've come back this year to welcome us home. The rest I ad...

Sunday's scarecrow trail over at Pewsham provided the latest unusual front garden in the shape of a vintage lawnmower used as a plantstand. It's quite ironic seeing there's no lawn! ATCO  is a century-old* lawnmower manufacturer and judging by its appearance this is a relatively old one. Unusually it's been quite hard to find out much information about it online. According to this guide , my best bet is to go back and see if there are any useful looking numbers on the metalwork. * = just over as the company was founded in 1921

It's Bank Holiday time for us to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and amongst the usual Union Jacks and bunting, Chippenham has put its own special touches to the celebrations. Like many communities we have some special postbox toppers and I found the one above earlier this week gracing one in Monkton Park. I know our Knatty Knitters have other plans afoot, so I'm off to explore the centre of town later today. The Museum has had a couple of Jubilee projects I've been involved with. The Young Photographers group worked hard on their '70 Years, 70 Faces' and found at least one face per year of the Queen's reign. NAH and I went along to see ours at the Yelde Hall and add a new meaning to 'we were beside ourselves'! You may recognise a couple of the faces as Mark Allum (below me) and Lisa Lloyd (top right) from Antiques Roadshow live in Chippenham. I think NAH has fared particularly well in the photos, but then I'm biased! I - along with my WI...

Winter reminded me she's not quite dead when I stepped out this morning to photograph these daffodils. However, it's clear today that spring is beginning to win the battle of the seasons, with winter's snowdrops just beginning to look a little on the tired side and the daffodils definitely looking perky in the stiff breeze, even on a dull day like today. I can't remember A.A. Milne 's poem from childhood, but it must have been there somewhere as I often think of them as 'daffodowndillies' or 'dillies' instead of their real name. Perhaps mum read the poem to me when I crept onto her lap for a story, or maybe she gave me the name from her own childhood memories. Here's to spring and daffodowndillies, wherever you are x