Yesterday, I was working in the greenhouse and gradually became aware that I was being watched. I glanced out of the windows to see whether any of Margaret's sheep or cows were out there doing that chewy, starey thing. But no. No visiting workmen either; eyeballing me through the door, noses pressed up against … Continue reading The Watcher
Nature
Priory Picture Post # 16
Still got plenty of ... ... to collect. So have to spend a lot of time over at the ... ... trying to make more space. But whenever I do a local busy body ... ... turns up. Uninvited. Getting in the way, making a nuisance of himself. Turning the compost had exposed a wriggly … Continue reading Priory Picture Post # 16
Retired to the Greenhouse
Why do holidays speed past ... so ... darn ... fast? Is it a plot? Evil magic? A little time spent strolling about Bath, Stroud, Gloucester and Nailsworth and most of the week was gone. Three days gallivanting through the Forest of Dean and along the Wye Valley and it had been gobbled up altogether. … Continue reading Retired to the Greenhouse
Wendy Wasp
On the west lawn at the Priory is a laburnum tree (L. anagyroides). I've never been a big fan of laburnum: a small tree usually growing in suburban front gardens which bursts into yellow bloom in Spring - and then fades away again for the rest of the year. But our laburnum grows out of … Continue reading Wendy Wasp
Grass Snake
I was strimming the banks of the east pond the other day and disturbed a young grass snake (Natrix natrix). Angrily, he reared up at me like a king cobra; would have been pretty damn scary too - if he'd been any bigger than six inches long. Fearless little chap. A little later I came … Continue reading Grass Snake
New Beds 1, 2 and 3
Recently, I've planted up three new beds at the Priory. None of them are particularly big and one is really only an extension of a larger border. The only truly new one, and the last one to be planted up, is called the um, er, the er (thinks furiously) Kitchen Bed (it lies directly outside the … Continue reading New Beds 1, 2 and 3
Priory Picture Post # 11
When not working at the Priory, my commute to work is a drive through the South Downs National Park. It has to be one of the loveliest of drives, through woods and fields; past flint built farmhouses and cottages and a Saxon church in a nothing-happening village; under a great arc of sky with tantalising … Continue reading Priory Picture Post # 11
The Anxious Gardener 