SPRING 2008

When the spring came in 2008, there was so much hope that we would have a better year than 2007. I decided to attack some of the less horizontal areas of the garden and see what could be done. My friend Shirley came up to stay and we headed off to the glory that is the snowdrop walk at Cambo in Fife for some timely inspiration.
It was absolutely lovely, although we were slightly early for the major carpets of white, we wandered down through the woods to the sea. After a warming lunch and restorative shopping, Shirley surprised me with some beautiful hellebores to go with the plants I bought. Only thing is, where to put them. The hellebores should be somewhere where the heads can be looked up into - vertical gardening at its most obvious! I had also been keeping my eyes peeled for bargains (as you do) and during various shopping trips and tesco there were some pots of mini daffs, so those found their way into my trolley and then the loveliest thing happened. My neighbour who is above us on the burn was out digging up his snowdrops and offered me some. I, needless to say, accepted in a flash, expecting a clump or so. He came back with a bin bag with loads of snowdrops in. Apparently his auntie gave the original ones to him and made him promise to divide them so I was the beneficiary! A million thanks Robert. A dose of backache for the planting, but very, very much worth it. Robert's bank by his garden is glorious with the snowdrops and he has planted them all along the road - they really cheer you up of a winter's day. We had some snow, but not enough for the children as they didn't miss any school, but we had a fair bit of rain and the burn was pretty high! The icicles were sweet on the side of the waterfall and it took ages to melt a hole in the fishpond with a pot of hot water; all in all I prefer the cold to the wet. And just for a change, instead of the sunsets, here's a sunrise! The view to the glens with the snow on the hills and a beautiful pink sunrise.... brrrrrr!