Monday 22nd May 2023: I am hoping I can type more this week, the microphone way has its limits 😜 The day started off dull but the sun soon came out and there is a considerable amount of heat in it when it does. I had to water some of the pots this morning as they are flagging already and considering the amount of rain we had previously that has caught me by surprise. The farrier came mid morning but as I couldn’t get the horses in Sam had to come here before she went shopping, go and get her shopping while he was doing his hoof work and then come back after she finished shopping to put them back out into the field. Biscuit is doing ok, she is still in the smallest paddock and no longer confined to a tiny part of it which I feel is better as she can at least get some exercise, she never runs but she has the option now😂
Charlie and Oscar came over for an hour or so, once they had gone home I decided I needed a nap. I can tolerate the constant stinging sensation when I am busy during the day but the nighttime is horrible and I didn’t get much sleep last night so was pretty tired. Late afternoon I did go outside and do a bit of work, the weeds are romping away and most of them I leave for the wildlife. Things like dead nettle and chickweed are easy to pull and don’t really swamp plants but other weeds such as bindweed, goose grass, dock and dandelion either strangle or sprawl out taking valuable light from the plants so they need to come out. Because I am limited in what I can do at the minute I have ordered some more weed membrane, not the best option being plastic but much better than weedkiller which is the other option. I did trial natural things like jute and cardboard, they work for a while but soon break down and I need a longer term solution this year. I also got some watering done especially things in pots and the tunnels, they dry out very quickly when the sun is full on. I have seen that mulching is the best way to keep plants going, two of the beds in the front were mulched and the third I didn’t get round to doing, I can see the difference so must make it a priority come autumn. I did loose quite a few plants to the very low temperatures in Winter, I think we went down to around -12 at one point, I lost both pittosporum bushes, an olive tree, rosemary, plumbago and a few others that I have no idea what they are now they are just brown twigs. Quite disheartening but everything is a lesson to learn and I know that many other people lost a lot as well.
I spent the whole morning gardening which was nice, some weeding, some planting up and watering some things, the cloudy weather made that possible if the sun came out then I would not have got much done at all.
Tuesday: I spent the whole morning gardening, sowing some annual seeds and the seedlings that are big enough to now go out. My sister came over at lunchtime with her granddaughter and had a cup of tea while Ivy played in the pirate ship and looked at all the animals. By then the sun was out and so I went inside to get stuff done. At 3pm we lost power 🙄 calls to the electric board suggested that it would not be back on until 10pm. John arrived home wanting a cuppa, no chance lol so we went shopping and called into my sister on the way home for a cup of tea. She did offer us dinner but I said it’s ok we will light the fire pit and cook on there, John was not keen so we had a cheese sandwich 😂 The electric actually came on at around 8pm so it wasn’t too bad and the first thing we did was put the kettle on 😜
Wednesday: I didn’t sleep very well last night even with painkillers 🙄 so was a bit tired today. But I had work to do first thing and so I spent a lovely hour or so cutting flowers for orders, I have had a flurry of orders this week which is fab. I had some deliveries to wait for today, stools for the workshop plus a wood delivery which did not arrive 🙄 John came home early as he had an appointment with an osteopath for his neck which has been ongoing for months now. Apparently it’s the worst he has ever seen and it took three attempts to do whatever it was he was trying to do. John has exercises to do 🙄 hopefully he will do them instead of complaining about how much it hurts all the time, you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink can you 😜 In the evening I made up the flower orders for tomorrow and Friday as I have an early start in the morning and a long but lovely day at Chelsea flower show 🥰
Thursday: Chelsea Flower Show day 😁 an early start but it made no difference as the traffic was horrendous and it still took us three hours to get there (could have driven to Devon in that time 😂) Luckily for me it was fairly overcast all day so I didn’t have to worry about hats and sun cream although I had packed it all plus wore my factor 50 top. The show itself was great, lots of natural planting and everywhere I looked the flowers were the ones I grow so my style is on point people 🙌 We saw a few gardeners world presenters including Monty so that’s a ✔️ but the people oh my goodness it was jam packed seriously rammed. We waited until around 4pm to go round again and be able to get to see the gardens, I think they should have special viewing for short people 😜 The atmosphere was lovely mind you and the food we ate was delicious plus great coffee (always a bonus) but trying to find even a square of grass to sit down was a mission. In conclusion I am delighted I went but would not go again and I am grateful that I live out in the countryside where we have great gardens and planting (natural and man made) everywhere you look 🥰 A dive into London life is not something I would like to do very often, manic and full on 😬
Friday: After a full day away I feel like a whirlwind this morning not because I am full of energy but because I have lots to fit in. I have an appointment at the eye hospital again this morning for a check up and also another sample for research 🙄 I could have said I don’t want to do it again but as I said if people don’t volunteer then they will never learn anything will they. I won’t be offering my services for a third time though 😂 So this morning I was up with the alarm, breakfasted and then making up jam jars and market bunches for Friday flowers at the farm gate. It has been a busy flower week so far and it’s not finished yet as I have a flower workshop to teach on Sunday 🥰 A wood delivery arrived and that is then enough to finish the cladding on the front of the stable block which is looking great. I constantly think how ‘4th bridge’ this place is though, never ending work to do in order to fix things and all the while you are fixing one thing, something else is breaking down 😬 still it keeps us on our toes and active which is a good thing as you get older.
My arm and hand are very much improved though I still can’t hold a pen well enough to write neatly and I am still getting the stinging sensations which are intense at times but much less often. The blisters have mostly all dried up and on my arm the have all gone just the hand and fingers left now. It seems like it has taken forever and it has been around 20 days from when the shingles outbreak peaked so already it has been 27 days from onset to now and it’s still not gone entirely.
Outing of the day today was back to the eye hospital to have a needle stuck in my right eye 😜 This time is was a timed appointment and we were not there very long, the reason I was seen so quickly was because the whole thing was set up for the research doctors to be there especially for me 👍 I can’t believe how truly grateful all were and kept saying thank you, I did say I am happy to do it as long as you don’t want me to come back a third time 😂 I don’t think I could do it again, it doesn’t hurt but it the thinking about it beforehand and then the whole routine of drops for days afterwards is u settling.
While I was at the hospital I had a text from the farm next door to say that they had shit their hens away as the fox was about, there was nothing I could do except hope it didn’t go down our way. When I got home Sam was there with the kiddies and had let the dogs out so that was some comfort although John tells me we lost one hen at the back. The problem this time of year is that they are feeding young and so will risk a daytime visit 😏 I didn’t do anything else until the evening when I spent time moving some flower stuff over to the hut and getting the place sorted ready for working in. John continued to clad the outside and we are very nearly there now.
Watering plants late evening finished off the day.
Saturday: Was hoping for a good nights sleep last night but no, the pain (tingling now) intensifies at night 🙄 Anyhow I was still up when the alarm went off as I had lots to do this morning, after the usual jobs I spent an hour and a half cutting flowers and foliage for tomorrow. Typically the flowers I was hoping would be out have not yet arrived, cornflowers and campanula being two I can think of. Luckily I ah E plenty of other things growing and so I have cut delphinium, lupin, geums, astrantia, nepeta, tellima, hesperis, aquilegia, some shepherds purse and buttercups too. Tomorrow I will cut some grasses and some cow parsley for movement and air as most of the showstopper flowers in May are pointy and so some contrast is needed.
I sat down for a while after doing that as my hand was pinging like crazy 😜 It is down to the last bit now on the wrist and hand as the arm has cleared up and no sensations at all from there thank goodness. Constant pain, however small, is very wearing both mentally and physically I am just glad there will hopefully be and end to this soon although some people co to use to suffer for many months ☹️
All the while I am organising the flower workshop, flower orders for next week, what gardening needs doing plus the usual household jobs, I am also organising a bbq for next Saturday for John. It will be his 60th birthday the following week 😂 When I was 17 and we first met I could never have envisaged John being 60 and us having 3 beautiful girls and 6 gorgeous grandchildren plus the three brilliant husbands in their lives. We have been very fortunate and I count my blessings every day as does John and of course he hit the jackpot when he married me 😜 We will also be celebrating 40 years of marriage at the end of June, whaaaat where did those years go 🤷♀️
Sunday: First flower workshop day 🥰 Up early as I still had plenty to organise including more cutting of grasses and anything else I decided was useful. John was busy finishing off a few bits on the outside of the building and tidying the area so there were no trips hazards. I then had to divide up everything I have cut in equal measure into the six buckets, 1 for me to demonstrate and 5 for the ‘students’ I also did a quick arrangement in a vase to pretty up outside the door and after a few other bits had a sit down before they arrived at 2pm.
We then spent two hours learning about British grown flowers, how to cut, condition and look after the flowers in a vase. I demonstrated a hand tied while Tea and coffee was served along with some delicious blondies from Indulge by Amy. After that it was over to the ladies to get a bucket of flowers and make their own all by themselves. It all went very quiet, the concentration was intense but they all produce a hand tie that stood up as a hand tie should and were very pleased with themselves as was I because it meant I had taught well. We had a quick photo session before heading out to the garden for a look at where I grow the flowers, although not many out because I had cut them all the day before for the workshop 😂
I had a bit of a sit down for an hour or so after that before returning to tidy up. Now I have such a great space to work in I will be able to do so much more and one of the first things I did was a living vase bouquet which I was pleased with. The cellophane used is biodegradable and all other materials are either recyclable or compostable.
And that was the end of a rather busy week lol, but I look forward to more busy weeks like that in the future. Thank you for reading have a great week x
frieslandfarm (flowers) 