I'm determined to make more of an effort with this blog, as I've neglected it dreadfully for months, though I have been updating its spin-off and rival here -
http://benebook.blogspot.co.uk/ - and that one will stay busy as I have a proper paperback to launch as well as a further ebook Social Security saga serial.
Well,
someone needs to challenge the Channel 5 view of benefit claimants!
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| Welfare Rights Lit! |
So why are we back to the gardening blog today? Firstly, because it's the Big Garden Birdwatch and after last year's featherless fiasco, the pressure was on to spot something. The little chart was printed off, the feeders were topped up and the rule was simple - nobody leaves the kitchen until we've done an hour of serious monitoring. Six wood pigeons, four blackbirds, two blue-tits, two crows, a robin, a goldfinch, a greenfinch and a wren later, I'd spent a lot of time looking at the garden and making plans for next year.
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| Front garden in the summer |
Secondly, I've had a cunning plan to give the front garden more focus - a nice, big pond! It's been a patch of perennials for a long time and can look stunning in the late spring and early summer, but underwhelms in other seasons. By reshuffling some of the shrubs and installing quite a big pool, it should stop being so featureless at this time of year - and if it's well-designed, provide safe haven for a lot of wildlife. I fancy trying some of the Sarracenias as marginals; there is a bucketful on the balcony at the CAB being tested for general hardiness and while conditions have remained relatively mild, they have coped well enough to be optimistic that they could take a few degrees less without suffering. Pictures will follow once the project starts in earnest, which is dependent on the ground thawing out enough to get a spade into it!
Thirdly, I'm aware that there is the usual nervousness around funding at the CAB and that I shouldn't neglect my fall-back self-employment. I still have a few people looking to me for gardening help, plants and hanging baskets and I need to maintain and increase that customer base in case there isn't a place for me in benefits training after the summer.
And finally, this is always a good time of year for gardening. It's a fresh start, time to sort out the seed box, draw up the crop plan for the allotment and look forward to spring with a clear slate and a new growing season to enjoy.
And hopefully, plenty of good things to blog about!
