EQUINOX

                               

Getting back to a normal state of health after my illness is proving to be a long winded affair. No sooner do I begin to feel better than I suffer a set back which leaves me exhausted once more.

Still, on the whole I believe that I shall soon be as normal as it is possible for me to be!

Today a large load of bark chip (ordered last week) arrived and has been stowed away in the newly tidied garage, and I am impatient to apply it to the borders before the dreaded cleavers and ground elder appear.

I must say that the gardens look vastly better than they did this time last year; the battle with the over grown shrubberies is beginning to have a good effect upon the long hidden plants which have been shaded for so long.

The weather has been a little warmer and this has encouraged the birds to begin nesting. Everywhere I look I see them flitting about with beaks full of dry grass, moss, straw or feathers, and it looks as if the nesting boxes will be well patronised this year.

Bumble bees have appeared and are bust prospecting for nest sites so with luck one of the queens will find our bumble bee house, newly sited in a sheltered corner of the garden.

Sharp frosts are still a feature at night and the wood stoves area great comfort both to myself and the cats, being allowed to doze by the fireside id, I find one of the nicer things about growing old.

Each evening I ensconce myself in one of the big leather chairs in the library with a glass of Scotch and watch the brightly burning fire for a while before the somnolent ticking of the old clock lulls me off to sleep for an hour or so…….it's bliss.

Today I am camping out in the conservatory as the cleaners are busy putting the house to rights. I still find it strange to be employing domestic staff and gardeners to do the work I used to do for myself, yet it is also a relief now that the arthritis in my hands has become so much worse.

Cheered by the arrival of the Vernal Equinox I have been planning the garden borders and putting together the seasons plant order. In the past I grew all my own flowers, bot perennial and annual myself, but no longer. Now I order plug plants online and I do miss the thrill of watching the tiny seeds sprout and grow into lovely plants.

Some years ago a friend asked me why I had so many seats and benches in my garden as I never sat on any of them, well now I have all the time in the world to relax and enjoy my gardens summer beauty so in spite of advancing old age and decrepitude, life is still sweet.