I know it is how april is supposed to be, but I find april showers rather irritating. You just get going on a job then along comes yet another 'April Shower' to interupt proceedings.
Not only this but can someone tell me where spring has gone? Last week was good, nice and warm i even gardened without a jacket on for the first time this year. NOW this week its back to winter. Two jackets let alone none!
And as for the wind. I have found it makes even the simplest gardening task tiring and dificult to concentrate on.
Once again I have got behind with things and have had to rush. With the predictable result of messing the jobs up! Grrrrr! :(
Ps sorry to rant but i wanted to tell folks who actualy understood these feelings.
Are you a fair weather gardener Richard? I am out in the wind, rain, hail and snow! Sometimes I am so engrossed in a job I don't even notice the weather until Ava pokes his head out and tells me not to get too cold or wet. I don't mean digging, but there is so much that I can still get on with, and do. The only thing I am a little behind on is pricking out a couple of trays of seeds. Other than that, I think I am on course. ;D Mind, I do still have a patch to dig on my new allotment patch, but as that is my pumpkin patch, I still have until the start of May before I would want to use it, so no probs. ;D As for spring, well, out of the wind, it is still nice and warm in Essex, went out for a walk this morning with the kids, all of us in short sleeves. Was wonderful!
I TRY to be an all weather gardener EJ, just some weathers make it PHYSICALLY difficult to work in. I find in wind especialy i need twice the effort to do things, ( I had asthma asa child perhaps this has something to do with it), I tend also to make mistakes and not enjoy things quite so much.
Plus there are many gardening jobs you cant do in bad weather :(
Take a little construction from your avatar Richard. When does the blackbird give up? Not because of wind or rain. Asthma is not an excuse as outdoors renders it much more bearable! Especially in the conditions you describe and believe me, I have lived with asthmatic who almost died! So I am not talking thru my hat!
I think part of your attitude comes from wanting everything so perfect, judging from your piccies. My easter wish for you would be that you relax about your gardie and really begin to enjoy it for the hard and gentle place that it is!
What do you think about when you are gardening, probs or do you tend to relax? Most of us solve all our probs when we garden because it is such a reflective and enjoyable experience.
Gardening is not a perfect occupation, that is part of the joy. We are always surprised! Relax more and don't expect it to be exact, gardening is not mathematics!
xx
Good words MB. You are so right, gardening is a hobby, a joy, not a chore and a bore!
I agree MB.........
......and EJ.........a poem..........nice...........
I enjoy gardening, even things like pricking out and weeding, it seems that once i start (getting started is the hardest part) my mind goes into neutral (natural state of course) and the jobs are done before i realise it, the other lads on the site shout at me for being on my knees with the rain pouring down my back, into me wellies and out again but i don't feel a thing, totally oblivious to all around me :-\ .
If gardening became a bore or uninteresting then i would just shoot myself, i cant think of a better way to relax the mind and sometimes the body. But that is just my thoughts and as usual no body gives a hoot.
Dont be hard on Richard please that is the way Richard feels when he is gardening i also hate the wind when i am trying to workin the garden, we all enjoy gardening in our own way each person prefers
to work in certain conditions. :) If this weather dosen`t make an effort to warm up i shall be giving certain jobs a miss this holiday i have angina and certainly won`t be able to work in such cold , but i am on an even keel so far just waiting to plant a few things but hubby will be putting up a new fence around the whole garden so i have a good excuse t o put my feet up weather good or bad mmmm.
Happy gardening Richard cheers Rosebud. ;D
And the weather's on the change :) :) :)
Enjoy!
Gavin
Is that a promise Gavin??????
Absolutely, cast-iron, GUARANTEED!
I had 6 or 7 hours on the plot today, and am planning another day tomorrow. Got lots of tatties to put in, seeds to sow, bits and bobs to clear.
Yup, even colder, and even more rain! :\' ??? :\'
:) - but the forecasts are for it to get better over the next week. :}
All best, Gavin
I've noticed rather an interesting pattern with the weather recently. I have Wednesday's off work and spend the day outside (riding and gardening). Each week has alternated between warm, sunny spring weather and cold, wet winter weather. Next week is due to be the former.
Also the winter weather has become less wintry and the spring weather has got more summery. So it's all heading in the right direction!
I always think that if we didn't have the cold, wet, windy weather, we wouldn't appreciate the warm, sunny days so much. Just think how much pleasure you feel when you wake up and it's a clear day...
All you lucky people who can garden without a care in the world whatever the weather. As for myself I can only go to the allotment when my two kids are at school. Now that the holidays are here I'm itching to get gardening but can't. I have taken my kids with me in the past but they just bicker and wind each other up and I could not garden in peace. Roll on easter holidays.
Well, Richard, I agree with you entirely on the matter of the weather and gardening. I have pottered all day in my garden and enjoyed it even although the temp. was just 8C and why did I enjoy it? there was no wind. It was wonderful. It can pour with rain, sleet, snow you name it but wind is just like hell to me.
Apparently I have always been like this. My Aunt was reminicing last week and said even as a baby in my pram whenever I was taken out in the wind, I screamed and never settled, so I hated it even then. ::) ::)
Interesting you mentioning having asthma too. My Mother is an asthmatic and she finds it hard to breath properly whenever it is very windy. Frost also affects her breathing.
Hopefully you have managed to get into the garden as well today.
Hey Xanadu, I know how you feel. During term time I get up to the lottie as often as possible, ours are 3 and 5, how old are yours? The garden isn't toooo bad, but if they aren't in the mood to play then I spend more time trying to peel them off eachother whilst they fight than do anything constructive in the garden. What about the summer hols, all those weeks, so much to do....I sense I shall be bribing the little darlings a lot, mind you, they do love picking so it might not be soooooo bad..... :-\
I would happily work in the rain, snow, hail etc. if only my soil was not so heavy as to be completely undiggable when wet...
Looking forward to having a shed/greenhouse then I can "potter"!
Ten x
Hi EJ, my boys are 14 & 6, they are good boys generally. The older one suffers from eczema so do not like anything to do with garden. Younger one likes to think he is helping but does get in the way usually bless him. When the holiday ends I have alot of catching up to do. The trouble is the crops just can't wait for you.
Hello all
Just been reading your comments . Thanks to those who supported my earlier comments.
Unfortunately at the time i made my first post, I WAS finding the garden a chore rather than the pleasure it should be. I thought there was so much i just HAD to do and getting all frustrated when the weather got in the way of doing them.
Since then the weather has got better and my outlook has improved also - got back to more basic tasks like weeding and planting and started to enjoy it again :). So often i have advised people to not take things too seriously and there was me taking things far TOO seriously. A need to take ones own medicine i think. ;D. I am even relearning to tollerate out variable weather agan! (ie gardening in the rain)
There are though only certain weathers i can comfortably work in. Light rain is OK, but a torrential down pour is not. Wind I find tiring, takes my breath and makes my eyes sore. Cold is fine I can wrap up warm, but if too cold the brain and hands dont work properly.
I think of many things when gardening, if planting I might think about how it will look in the future or what to plant next. Other times i might think about a problem or think about a TV programme I have seen recently (often replaying parts in my mind). When I can switch off and not have to concentrate on the job in hand i can think about almost anything whilst working. ;)
To quote Tim from another post, noone is holding a stop watch to you, so does it matter if things don't happen immediately? You are so right in not taking things so seriously, just go with the flow and enjoy the garden. I love mine come rain and shine and I never worry about jobs that I should be doing, because I will get them done, eventually, when the kids let up, or the sun comes out and the lawn stops being a quagmire! And it is mid April now....May is only around the corner....heres hoping for sunshine and balmy days.
Oddly enough, for no logical reason, everything in the garden always works out, no matter how worried we get about it.
I too, hate strong wind and really hard rain but nothing else is a problem and find that even just weeding with my cup of tea or coffee before I went to work was a soothing time. Like EJ, I also enjoyed digging, no matter how hard. Just find everything in life gets sorted in the garden.
Just enjoy it