…if winter comes, can Spring be far behind? 2014 beckons us...

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Okay, so the height of summer is yet to scorch the nethers of those in this wide brown land of Orstrylia, but welcome to the MNettie gardeners of the world. Prop up your sagging fences, evict the rats from your decking, and find a use for that poinsettia.

Lexi MrBearleigh is a SAHP, and it works for us, though he has found it is hard being a man in a woman's world, as there are so few other men doing the same thing round here.

Went to Wakehurst Place today (along with half of the SE I think), but oh! The scents of the mahonias and the daphnes... Lots of gorgeous cyclamen and lots of children having a happy time in the mud.

Wakehurst Place sounds delightful. I haven't been there since dd was a toddler.

There were several stay at home dads on the toddler circuit at the same time as us. I don't know how they felt about being men in a woman's world, but it probably helped that the centre where many of the groups took place was run by a man.

I shall be trying tonight to persuade DH that we should go to Great Dixter on 15th. Wish me luck.

Hi Lexi, I'm up for Nymans on a weekday. Weekends are tricky (sorry Bearleigh). I could do a Monday morning some time?

Just got back from a weekend in the Yorkshire Dales. It was cold but beautiful up there. Not much growing. The apple trees I'd ordered for my brother and SIL's birthday present had arrived, and they'd earthed them in. In their plastic bag. Oh dear. I dispensed gardening advice there, helped them with the apple trees then went over to my Dad's to prune his shrubs. It turned out he'd already done them - cut everything down to two feet high, regardless of species. Oh dear. So I dug up some of the ancestral rhubarb crowns to bring home before he kills everything.

I stopped off at Hardwick Hall on the way back down the M1 and had a pootle round the gardens. They have a whole avenue of black mulberry trees! Their pruning was underway in the orchard and reminded me that I've barely started it here.

Oh dear, Rhubarb. That sounds a little trying, but a good opportunity to pass on your knowledge.

I tried to put up a nice photo of snowdrops and winter aconites at Hardwick but it won't work.

Actually what was really trying was my Dad asking me to book him three rooms at my friend's pub/restaurant (where I'd stayed this weekend) so he can go there with his mates for his 70th birthday in March. I said "oh that's a nice idea, I'll come up for that" and he said "oh no no no, just me and my mates"

Oh, Rhubarb. That's sad. Does your dad often go out on the town with the lads?

Rhubarb, you should go anyway without telling him then sit in the corner of the pub tutting and rolling your eyes when they get loud and leary. And mutter things like, 'Goodness gracious, the old people of today...'

They are embarrassing Bertha. There will be leering. I suspect this is why he doesn't want me (and my brother) there. So him and his buddies can be offensive and spout Daily Fail-isms without being challenged.

Oh well I suppose it's his birthday.

Perhaps you could put the local constabulary on standby, Rhubarb, in case things get unruly?

He's now claiming that it's not that he doesn't want us there, he just 'doesn't like large tables' and would rather have dinner with them one evening and dinner with us another.

Haha. Last of the summer wine. You could give him some dominoes for them to play with in the pub.
Rules here:
www.domino-games.com/domino-rules/
I'm all for independence in the older generations. Book him the rooms, put the constabulary on alert and run, I say.

Saw parents on the way home. Mum had a lovely day in the sun 'supervising' the gardeners planting her new apple and pear tree and the magnolia. So happy.

Oh how lovely that sounds, funnyperson.

That does sound lovely funny as do the grasses you've chosen.

Gardening news - our greenhouse just got delivered! Dh has dug out some of the base but is undecided how to proceed either, complete concrete base or just soil. We are worried what concrete will do to an already boggy garden. And me saying 'cant we pay someone to put it up?' Has fallen on deaf ears. Dh sees it as a manly project, I just want to crack on with planting.

On the subject of work I've always worked part time, nights at the weekend - it works for us as we never have to worry about childcare. On Friday I got a letter saying all staff have to rotate days, nights and do on call. It's a bit bonkers - night staff don't want to work days and vice versa. Lots of people dont want to work weekends. Anyway the consultation meeting was yesterday at 1600, too short notice for me to even go. I am worried :(

lexi my best friends Dh has been a sahd, in fact I met her through him. We used to chat at toddler groups. The only downside was him returning to work as he'd been out of the job force for so long, I think he lost his confidence.

I might be able to meet at Nymans - half term week? I need to do distance research I've turned into a bit of an Island driver!

I had my first gardening shop of the year yesterday, when I joined the gardening club on the You Garden website and had a little splurge, encouraged by the 10% discount. Membership is currently reduced from £20 to £10 if you have a code and you get allegedly £20 worth of free seeds, so I'm hoping it'll pay for itself. Feel free to pm me if you want the code.

Way hey! A greenhouse. Good luck with putting it up Bumbez.

The tulips are coming up in the front garden. That puts paid to my plan of mulching. We can't get any mulch into the place yet because the ground is too wet for any truck to deliver it to an appropriate place. It doesn't look like it is going to dry out any time soon either.

I can't upload photos either Rhubarb.

The sun is out! Way hey again!

I am hoping that the ground here will finally start to dry. I have tulip foliage coming through in various pots and, bizarrely, a dianthus and verbena bonariensis with buds that look as if they are about to open.

I will join you in hoping Maud.

managed another 40 min weeding the path between the crab apples. Millions of tiny forget me nots seeded into the gravel, it was a very annoying task!

Look what I found on the chard I picked for tea. Definitely a mild winter!

Yes, indeed. I just found a slug trail on the back doormat. Yuk.

Weeds are a pestilence but I find it hard to mind too much about forget me nots. Then again, I don't have acares of gravel to manage.

And a photo of my weedy little snow drop patch. Can you see them

I like the forget me nots in my gravel but then we only get the odd one or two rather than a mass takeover. as the rest of the gravel is full of grass and moss

All the forget me nots in this garden come from two plants I bought four years ago

There are still loads and loads, don't worry!

My drive has an invasion of forget me nots too. I'm quite efficient at weeding everything else out (how much do weeds love gravel?!) but I've left the forget me nots. I may regret that.

My Clematis 'Freckles' arrived from Hayloft yesterday. One of the three plants was a bit slimy and mouldy; not very happy about that. But I planted them anyway, behind the Savoy Hotel roses and lavender along the drive. It will be nice to get something growing on those walls.

Today I created a small rhubarb bed in the orchard. One of those tasks that seem easy and straightforward in planning - lift a metre or so of turf, pop in rhubarb, mulch (no point trying to dig over the soggy heavy clay first). Of course in reality it turned out that the soil was full of ivy roots, and I ended up sorting out the path edging too as the grass was colonising the gravel. It's done though.

Exciting news about the greenhouse Bumbez!