2020 Our Garden in November and Bakewell, Derbyshire

Looking back on 2020 I'm sure we all agree that it has been a challenging year and we look forward with hope in our hearts to better times in the new year. 

Here is a roundup of photos that will give you some idea of life in our household during 2020. There's so much to be thankful for - Mr P's recovery from his replacement hip operation last January, just in time before we entered into the first national lockdown. I had a good result from my annual health checkup at the local hospital in June.  My operations in 2016 seem in the distant past now, although I continue with checkups and treatment, for which I'm grateful. 

As you can imagine, the garden and the covered yard have been appreciated not just for growing and enjoying produce and flowers, but also areas that family have been able to sit in when small groups were allowed to visit. I've also spent a lot of time looking out of the back bedroom window. I particularly enjoyed the sun rising on another day of life and the changing scenery each season.

The new greenhouse will be a useful addition next year.

I'm looking forward to seeing all those Spring bulbs that were planted in pots and in flower beds a month or two ago.  Some of them are coming through the earth already.

Local walks were appreciated as well as Mr P driving us further afield in the Summer when we managed to spend a few hours with our son and family as well as enjoying a socially distanced meeting with extended family from Berkshire who were staying in a self-contained holiday home near Chatsworth Estate.  However, it was sad not to see the grandchildren who live at a distance.  We appreciated the effort one grandson made to come and visit for a few hours when travelling was allowed.  Since the Summer months the government has tightened up all the rules because of the rise in numbers of infections.  We are in Tier Zones and we are in the High Alert Tier 3. Most regions are in Tier 4, but that might change again and things could get even stricter as pressure mounts in the medical, social caring and teaching sectors.  Those in retail, hospitality, arts and culture, charitable organisations are also experiencing hard times.

Bakewell, Derbyshire in the Summer.

Our local area is about as far as we will go for a drive at the moment when the weather is suitable.

Most of the time, especially in the cold weather we're experiencing now we're staying indoors watching some recorded television programmes and nurturing the indoor plants. I'm doing some reading, crafting, and we're enjoying the food treats that have been gifted to us and sharing the cooking activities for lunches and evening meals.

(photo taken in May 2019 by our nephew who visited from Italy)

Well, that's all for today and indeed this year.  I nearly gave up blogging when New Blogger gave me some technical challenges I did not need.  I'm thankful to all of you, my readers, for keeping in touch and for your encouraging advice when I felt like giving up on blogging. I wish you all the very best as we journey into the new year.  Happy New Year!  Buon anno nuovo!

Our Christmas

It's not surprising that we talk so much here about the weather and plan our days out around those that are relatively dry and, if possible, sunny.  We watch the weather forecast and hope for the best and this was especially true for Christmas Day when our local daughter and the two grandchildren were going to

visit briefly and stay outside in the yard with the doors open each end whilst we talked from the kitchen door. The government at the last minute decreed a lockdown over Christmas Day. People were not allowed to gather indoors which was   a disappointment. We were given a pretty Christmas bag of good and useful items including basics such as pasta, rice and flour which have been harder to come by because of the demand.  Later we spoke by phone to the rest of the family who live at a distance in the south of England, the Midlands and in Italy.

The following day we had fog and frost.

(Thankfully we had brought in the last of the roses before then

to enjoy and pruned the bushes).

We still have a few fresh tomatoes that have ripened indoors!

The neighbours have been feeding the garden birds and there are blackbirds

and bluetits about.  

We seem to have missed Storm Bella although we haven't been out to see what's going on locally.

However, this morning we woke up to a light fall of snow which is turning into wet and slushy conditions as rain is now falling.  We have to visit the doctor's for a routine blood test after lunch so we're hoping that the roads will be clear by then.  

These are artificial roses, but add some contrasting colour

in the front window.

We continue to be cheered up by seeing our neighbours' Christmas lights and the promise of new life as I've noticed green shoots from the bulbs we planted in the garden in the Autumn.  We also have more plants growing in the shelter of the covered yard.

I managed to collect a book that I had reserved  from the library before it closed for the Christmas period. Covid rules mean returned books are left outside and put in quarantine before allowing back into circulation. Reserved books are exchanged, but the librarian is in the library entrance and face masks must be worn.   Visitors cannot go into the library building. The book borrowed is a follow-on historical novel from the author who wrote Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies and traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII's powerful Secretary, Lord Privy Seal and Viceregent in Spirituals, that is, the king's deputy in the English church. It's nearly 900 pages long so it will keep me

going for the time I can keep it on loan!

Well, that's all the news for now.  Thank you for reading and for your kind messages for Christmas and the new year.  Hopefully life will get easier as the new year progresses although I continue to think of the medical staff, care workers and many others that are keeping us going in these difficult times.