It has been a terribly long wait since The Priory had snow enough to show and tell: a five-year wait. The Beast from the East didn't bring huge amounts of snow to my corner of Sussex; but if we were spared the havoc meted out to parts of the Kingdom, we had sufficient for me … Continue reading Waiting For Snow
Winter
January Ice
We've had no snowfall yet at The Priory but we have had plenty of the next best thing: hard frosts under bright, blue skies. On one of those sharp, sunny mornings last week, I grabbed my camera and strolled about the garden. Here are a handful of images which might show why The Priory is … Continue reading January Ice
A Frosty Pause
After my last doleful post, winter got her act together. For a couple of days last week the rain stopped, the skies cleared, temperatures plummeted, mud froze, and, at long last, it was shiveringly cold. Not on a Siberian or Alaskan scale but at -5°C, Sussex was cold. My first chore on arriving at work … Continue reading A Frosty Pause
A Winter’s Day
After a short Christmas break, I returned to a frozen Priory. Icy, sparkling, frosted, prickly. The valley softened by cloudy breath (if you'll allow me a little purple prose) and the ponds frozen hard. As I crunched about the grounds, I pictured a favourite childhood book - the marvelous Ladybird 'What to look for in … Continue reading A Winter’s Day
Still Here, Still Gardening
Or at least, I've been gardening as much as I possibly can. It is still very, very wet here in Sussex - I can't do as much as I'd like to do. Or need to do. When it has been dry enough, I've cut back various beds and mulched with my rather lovely, two-year old … Continue reading Still Here, Still Gardening
A Look Back At Winter
What a long and cold, tedious winter that was. Spring is arriving in The Priory gardens, but I thought I'd buck the seasonal blogging trend of crocuses and primulas and daffodils; and subject you, instead, for a little longer at least, to more snow and wintry scenes. Sorry. And then I promise, I will bid … Continue reading A Look Back At Winter
Wainwright’s Coast to Coast … In Winter
Only it wasn't winter. It was March, almost Easter, and a time, I'd supposed, of primrose lined paths, sparkling sunshine and hosts of nodding daffodils. But in Northern England this year, March was decidedly still very much winter. Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk is an almost 200-mile path from St Bees on the Cumbrian coast … Continue reading Wainwright’s Coast to Coast … In Winter
The Anxious Gardener 