The Thrill of Winter (not)

And so the winter grinds on. We are so lucky, here in Kent.  No ‘weather events’,  at least so far. Just grey skies with the odd blue day to let us know that there is a sun.  It is debilitating, though. I had forgotten how unremitting those grey skies could be.  Today, we have had our first snow. When we woke, we were greeted by  a thin  white coating on the tops of the fence, the roofs around us and on the leaves of the evergreens.  By lunch-time it had gone, and the fall that started an hour later is not lying – at least, not yet. The garden is really a great non-event at this time. It is hard to raise enthusiasm for it when it is quite possible that a good fall of snow will likely kill anything I plant. The garden centres are bare, too, reflecting the general lack of activity, I guess. It is all so different.

My winter blossom tree (whatever it is called and I would love to know) is still in full bloom though, looking great.  It is a minor miracle, really. In the space of 3-4 days, it dropped its leaves and immediately burst into small pink flowers.  That was in the third week of  November and it still looks as fresh as it did that first day. In the flower beds, the daffodils are poking up already, although I am warned not to get too excited.  There is a fair way to go yet and the worst is yet to come.

My compost is under way in a temporary bin and I am just marking time while making the final decisions on which worm farm to buy. At the moment, I am reading reviews of available models and all the info on various forums, of which there are many.  A few people are complaining that starting in winter was a mistake, as it is just too cold for the worms to settle down and to start working. Others say that things are a bit slow, but that otherwise, all is well. I must say, I was a bit dubious about installing my farm at this time of the year, so will do a bit more reading before making a final decision. Unfortunately, the farm I am currently favouring, comes complete with livestock.  I had hoped to get the farm first so that  my keenly impatient young grand-nephew could help me assemble it and then to wait for warmer weather before installing  its new tenants. Unfortunately, the tenants come with the bin and that is that. (Others allow the customer to choose an alternate delivery date for the worms.) Could be awkward. Nevertheless, if this is the weightiest decision I have to make this year, I guess I will be doing OK. I can always put the whole thing in the shed, wrapped with bubble wrap and hope for the best.

Other than that, I have swept up the leaves from the twisted willow (or is it a tortured willow here?) dumped them on the garden and that is that.  Winter gardening at Number 58 is definitely not the activity of choice at the moment.

Yes – all is well.