THE BEST OF INTENTIONS!

SUNDAY...9A.M.

Right then...let's see... my History assignment is the first one due in. 'To what extent did the domestic ideology impact on the lives of Victorian men and women?' Ok I'll get all my books, handouts etc out and spend a few hours making a start on it. Then I must look through last week's Sociology handouts before our next tutorial tomorrow.

Think I'll make myself a coffee first......

The house seems quite warm today despite those grey skies outside...I'll have a walk down the garden while the kettle's boiling.......
Gosh that's mild for this time of year! It's really pleasant out here.......the pansies are looking cheery....
Oh and look......there are some patches of snowdrops dotted around the garden....

I love looking inside their nodding heads....look this one has wildlife in it...two bugs and a caterpillar.....can you see them?

I'm sure I heard a frog croaking...can't see one but can definitely hear it!

Ohhhhh it is nice out here.....maybe I'll sit on the bench and drink my coffee...THEN I'll get that assignment started......
Hmmmm..........I may just spend 5 minutes doing a bit of weeding........oh look this Grape Hyacinth (Muscari) is in flower....buds on the Daphne odorata too! I know it's a weed but the Celandine is so pretty.....and the perennial Candytuft is flowering too!

Well I never!......there are leaf buds starting to show on the hardy Fuchsia's..... and that cutting of Lady Boothby against the wall is in leaf!
Now is this a late Autumn Cyclamen or an early Spring one......
Would you believe it....a left over bedding Begonia in leaf and flower..........Like last year...Osteospernums and Narcissi in flower at the same time.... Still flowers on the Winter Jasmine..............Gosh there is quite a bit of weeding to do..... I may as well get my secateurs out and prune back some of the die-back on the roses.......I'll snip the old leaves off the Hellabores too as I see they are coming into bud.....I may cut back some of the ivy too.....it's kept growing all Winter..

Well I've completed filled the Brown Bin (garden waste)...good job they collect it this week! These garden bags are almost full too.....

3p.m.

I think I'd better call it a day now.......I'm feeling quite tired after all this fresh air.....feel a bit achy too.....think I'll have a nice long soak in the bath.... and I've not had lunch so may have an early dinner..........Plus I'm sure there was something I was meant to be doing today????

(take off outdoor shoes, wash hands, go into living room).........................

AGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......I've not even started my assignment....everything's just as I left it!!!

and I've yet to read my Sociology handouts.........................oh dear......... well I must have that bath and cook some dinner....I'll get down to my studies after that.........

5.30p.m.

Ahhh...that feels better.......I've had a nice Radox bath, a nice dinner and even a glass of wine..........

I think I'd better read the Sociology handouts and make some notes on them before I start the History....................

6.30p.m.

Just glanced at the TV magazine....Antiques Roadshow starts at 7p.m., then the second episode of Lark Rise to Candleford and that's followed by the crime drama Messiah.....................I could really enjoy chilling out and watching some T.V........and it is a bit late in the day to start doing that assignment......my brain's never as alert in the evening......................I'll just do a quick blogpost about today and see how I feel then.................

7p.m.

CUTTING REMARKS

SHAZ made a wonderful slideshow up of her visit to the Gateshead Flower Show. One of the photos was of a standard Fuchsia. We haven't had one of these for a few years and seeing that photo gave me the urge to start taking some cuttings and starting a new one. Not having a heated greenhouse I have to overwinter cuttings on the windowsills so daren't do too many but every year I never lsten to myself and always take so many that I' hunting for space come the Winter. I'm clamping down this year though and except for the Fuchsias I'm only takings cuttings of Osteospernum Sheila and Pelargonium Black Lady...they've both done so well despite the fickle weather this year. I will of course be overwintering the mother plants too but I often find that small rooted cuttings seem to overwinter easier than larger plants. Everybody has their own method of taking cuttings and so I won't go into too much detail as to how I do it but if you're taking a cutting primarily to make a Standard Fuchsia a three leafed cutting makes a better head. I'd love to show you a photo so you can see what I mean but not one of my Fuchsias has a three leaf stem at the moment!!!

One thing I like to make sure of is that the pots and knives (I use my thumbnail) are clean and I try to cut at the junction of a non-flowering stem

This isn't always possible....if you can't or it makes the cutting too long just cut beneath a node and remove any flower buds. I like to use a really open compost and always mix a good load of vermiculite in with my potting compost (perlite, grit or sand can be used...not building sand though!)The Fuchsia and OsteospErnum cuttings I tidied up and put straight into a pot of compost (I always put them around the edge)...watered in and covered with half an empty cola bottle...then put them in a shady spot against the wall in the garden. I never bother to use hormone rooting powder or gel at this time of the year.These are a few of the Pelargonium cuttings I took..............I took off some of the lower leaves and made sure the ends of the stem were cleanly cut.....then left them to dry for a few hours.........I'd only do this with Pelargoniums...it seems to stop them rotting if the ends are allowed to form a callous........When I potted them up I watered them but didn't cover them at all...in a warm, shady spot they seem to root quite easily this way.

If your mother plant is thriving you can of course take cuttings in the Spring but I like to have something to nurture during the winter months. Of course if you've a really mild late spring you can always just snip a bit of plant off pop it into the soil against a wall and take pot luck. This is exactly what I did with a piece of the climbing Fuchsia Lady Boothby.......and look at it now!

Right that's my cutting taking done for this year................though..............well............ermmm...the Lantana, Coleus, Iresine and Verbena borensis are all quite tender and may not make it through the winter....perhaps I'll just take a few..........

SOMEBODY STOP ME PLEASE!!!!!!

FADED BEAUTY

WAITING FOR SUNSHINE