Weather and the Garden: Beginning of January

It's not surprising that here in the UK we wonder what the weather will bring from day-to-day, even hour-by-hour.  Early this morning our local daughter texted to say that it was slippery underfoot when she went out this morning to work.  Looking out of the window at the dark and gloomy scene I could see that there was a sleety rain coming down.

                                     Happy Anniversary rose                                

However, by the time we had had breakfast the sun was out again, the sleet had turned to rain and every now-and-again the sun comes out and the rain drops sparkle in the light.

Brother Cadfael rose during a sunny moment

Hellebore buds (appropriately the variety is called Christmas Carol)

can be seen in a sheltered spot in the garden.

There are lots of seedlings on the window shelves in the warm kitchen and living rooms....

.....and one of the Christmas Cacti is beginning to produce flowers again.

This and that and the first walk of the new year

Christmas gifts: We were given a beautiful mantel clock by our daughter D, a big basket of goodies from the rest of the family, a book featuring the gardening year written by the gardener Monty Don from our son.

I've been taking down the Christmas decorations apart from the holly, ivy and other greenery. I usually wait until 6th January, the day which marks Epiphany and Twelfth Night when it's traditional to remove decorations. The Nativity Set is still in place, but this year I felt the need to get back into a normal routine and I shall start doing some cleaning.

In the days before our daughter D came to stay Mr P was busy in his garage workshop dismantling one of the garden benches that had got rickety. He removed the wooden slats and made a smaller bench which'll seat two people. At the moment it's still in the covered yard. 

We're enjoying the greenery of the indoor plants, the flowers in the yard and even a few roses in the garden. A walk in the garden has also revealed many bulbs pushing through the earth.  

Today the weather was cold, but with blue skies a walk seemed a good idea. Mr P drove us down the Loxley Valley road to the local reservoir. It was a quick walk as Mr P stayed in the car, but it was a change from being at home where I like to keep moving doing domestic chores. 

That's all the news for now. Thank you for your visit. Have a good day!