Ermmm...Merry Christmas, Happy New Year & probably a few Happy Birthdays!!

Well doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself!....and I have been enjoying my time at Uni soooo much....and then when there was a holiday it was Christmas, New Year, essays to write, an exam to revise for.....then reading, and reading and reading! And to be honest if I am on the computer I just want to research, research & research!!! So apologies everyone for the belated Christmas, New Year & Birthday wishes.......and truth be told I may well miss Easter...so Happy Easter to you all too!

I don't know why I suddenly had the urge to do a blog post....I think it was a mixture of having an email from a special blogpal mixed in with the desire to take a few photos. I went for a walk by the river...first time this year!...and found myself composing a blog post in my head as I took a few photos...so here goes.....

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR: rather scarce photowise....must have been enjoying myself too much.......Mandy, Chris, Nicole & Chris's mum Edith came for Christmas dinner......I really enjoyed cooking it and their company. The only photo I can find is this one of Manda bringing in the Christmas Pudding (alight).....I love the look on her face!

NEW YEAR'S EVE: we all went to Leanne's......had such fun and a great buffet! Melissa has a Wii and I really enjoyed trying to play the bells.....Leanne is hooked on it and I managed to get a sneaky video of her & her friend Kim playing (please excuse the odd profanity)... a bit of trepidation here as this is the first time I've tried loading a video direct via blogger!




UNIVERSITY: all going well...I've surprised myself by getting grades ranging from 2.1+'s to a couple of 1='s. I was convinced that I'd failed my exam and was so suprised that I'd passed! When I reread my essay I thought...'I didn't even know I knew all this!'..lol

We had a couple of lectures called off because Uni was closed due to the snow...so have been playing catch up. It's already reading week/half term although we don't seem to have been back long! I would be finishing an essay about Poe's The Tell-tale Heart if I wasn't writing this post. The financial situation is terrible as a 'single' student without any children at home. My grant doesn't even cover my rent and council tax (yes I do still have to pay council tax)...but SOMEHOW I intend to get through the next few years & get my degree...not sure how yet.

We've had snow both before Christmas.....


and after......though not as much as many parts of the UK.

(that video still hasn't loaded....wonder if it's supposed to take this long!....think I'll go and have a cuppa)

Time for that walk by the river now........................one small step for mankind, one muddy trainer for Ruth.......
The ducks are out to play.....and these 'ugly ducklings' are starting to turn into......
.....swans...............

and some people are 'messing about on the river'....

or enjoying the tranquility.......

Time to 'paws' and enjoy the view....


you can see that the meadows had flooded......
My pet hate....LITTER.......part of a shopping trolley in the river...

and look how close the rubbish bin is to this litter by the bench!!!...it would have only taken seconds to use the bin!
A remnant of Summer frisbee playing....................

a remnant of Winter snow....

I remember when Mick & I used to collect molehill soil to fill our tubs....sweet memories....Back home in the garden now.......the snowdrops are beginning to bloom...
and the Iris.....
the daffodils started blooming three weeks later than last year!...
Well I must leave you and get back to my essay....I mustn't let my studies SLIDE!...
Till next time....whenever that may be....Be Happy, Stay Healthy & Keep Smiling.

SKY WATCH FRIDAY

RED SKY AT NIGHT................. MEANS A GARDENER'S DELIGHT.....EVEN IF IT BRINGS OUT THE MIDGES.......
BECAUSE IT BRINGS OUT THE IRISES TOO!!!!!

SKY WATCH BLOGROLL

It's half-term here next week.......so last day at college for a while. The Sociology assignment I handed in at the beginning of January has finally been marked and I'm pleased to say I got a Pass. My History assignment is handed in now......over the half-term we have two assignments to do so I won't be completely leaving behind college work over the break. I'm still hoping to go to London and visit the Victoria and Albert on Wednesday and on Thursday Leanne & co are coming to stay for a few days ...doesn't leave many days to get those assignments done!!

Have a good weekend everyone.....

THIRSTY WORKER WASP

POTS AND TANS

The weather today has been superb; more like Summer than Spring and I had the most wonderful peaceful, pottering day. It was beautifully warm and I know I've caught the sun...quite a nice tan building up! The top end of the garden is starting to look like a garden centre...and of course some plants have yet to germinate!!!So much is waiting to be planted out once I feel the risk of frost is past...I really have more plants than space so I'm hoping that Talj and Lynn will take some of the extras off my hands. I must admit that a few I have already put into the soil...I just needed to find more space and the soil was where the space was. The baskets and troughs I'll keep an eye on and whisk them in depending on the forecast....no problems tonight though! The one thing we do need is rain...many pots are really dry and I've had to water them a few times. Sometimes it can be hard to water a really dry pot as the water just pours through...you'll find a tip about that on my Ruth's Shoots blog.

I'm really happy with the Aquilegia so far...the seed themselves about and you never know quite what will pop up.

The caterpillar from yesterday has now made his way onto the Iris
and I spotted quite a few of the dreaded Lily Beetle; this one posed quite nicely before he was DIS-posed

On the subject of pests; I've also found a couple of Vine Weevils in the house so be alert!!!

At one point a lovely Damselfly came to sit next to me; typically I'd just take my camera indoors and it was gone again before I could take a photograph. This butterfly did wait around for a while. I've never seen one like this before in our garden.......does anyone know what it is?????

The flowers of the Pixie Clematis are so "ickle" and very pretty. I understand it's not reliably hardy so I must remember to take care of it during the winter.
When I was pinching out the Fuchsias I decided to pop a few of the pinchings into a pot.....if they strike I'll have a few to give away.

They say we may have some rain in the next couple of days; the garden will love that!....and it did cloud over a little at the very end of the afternoon but not enough to prevent me seeing this beautiful sunset.

A STROLL ROUND THE GARDEN

Well it seems ages since I asked you to pop by and have a drink with me. So as a bit of a belated birthday celebration why don't you stop and raise a glass and take a look around the garden.

Wasn't it a chilly night here in Suffolk last night. I'm glad I'd tucked all the tender plants away in the shed and greenhouse.It was a real herringbone sky this morning..click and take a closer look at that cloud just above the treeIsn't this Iris a beauty...just perfect......

and the first of the Senetti flowers is out. I love the colour of this one.

Oops...just realised I've had the Morning Glory seeds soaking for two days; you can see their little roots starting to emerge...pour yourself a drink while I get them potted up.......

These black tulips are living up to their name...Queen of the Night

and the little Leopard's Bane we bought at Roys is flowering..........

I'm so glad the slight frosts haven't affected the Camellia flowers too much..........

and the two tone colour of the variegated perennial Wallflower is really unusual.

Don't you just adore the new red shoots of the Pieris

I'm so thrilled that my experiment of overwintering some Canna in the ground has worked; there are quite a few of these shoots coming through.

Ukbob has just recently bought a Lady Boothby climbing Fuchsia. We've had ours a few years now and it's just starting to shoot.
This is a relative of the Gunnera; but this is an "ickle" one; the leaves only grow to 4 inches at the most in our pond.

I'm so glad this fern is coming through; it's Ursula's Red ................

The begonia baskets are doing well.................
the first sign of a flower bud already!!!

I must plant these Anemone De Caan corms.....I just poke my finger in the soil down a couple of cms and pop them in.
Gosh we've even got some buds on the Acer dissectum...never had those before!

These are the Strawberry Spinach seedlings I've got to plant out. Scarecrow has given me a link to some great information (which includes a warning!)....click HERE to read it. Oh and you must visit her hubby's The Frugal World of Doc blog when you have a moment.....I'd highly recommend it...there are recipes, toys to make and lots more
Ruby is looking so much better than last Autumn...her move to the front garden has suited her.

I know it was in a photo recently but I just love this Cerinthe.........just look at the colour of it's "flowers"........
Hack's Red is still flowering well....it's in a pot...no room in the soil and is getting a bit leggy...I'll give it a prune when the flowers are over.....

Oh I didn't realise how late it's getting...the sun's going down

think we'll call that it for today. See you next time and HAPPY GARDENING!