Gwenfar's Garden and other musings
Notes on growing ornamentals and edibles, and musings on other matters that interest me.
Some Sheffield place-names are merely Easy to pronounce, like Heeley. Others, if not heard but seen, will Lead to mistakes like “green hill”. If you’ve only seen Beauchief on a road sign You won’t know it’s “bee”, not the French …
We spent a couple of hours at the Welney Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Birdies, clear blue skies on a cold winters day. Beautiful. Hooper swan with a collection of Pochard ducks. A flock of… No idea, but pretty. We couldn’t …
We have all been there. We’ve booked in a tradesperson to come around and fix something in our home (whether rented or owned). You plan for it, often taking a day off work. They don’t turn up at the agreed …
By chance we visited Eyam last Saturday, just as the community was proceeding through town as part of their annual well-dressing celebrations. Since we were there we thought we would mingle for a while. Flowers, plant foliage and berries are …
On our recent holiday we spend a week in Dumfries and Galloway. This is the lowland border area of the South-west of Scotland. I chose this as a holiday destination in part because I’ve always wanted to visit the sub-tropical …
After visiting Logan Botanic Garden in Dumfries and Galloway, it was quite a change to a week later visit the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The weather was quite different for a start. At some times it was hard to tell …
September 1988. Under grey skies in Edinburgh, 20 year old me stood in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, next to the plaque on the floor telling visitors that this was where David Rizzio, Mary Queen of Scots’ Italian Secretary, was murdered …
I’ve long wished to visit Logan Botanic Garden, situated on the most southerly point of Scotland. Thanks to the gulf stream it has a warmer climate than one might expect this far north in the UK, and therefore plants from …
Red Squirrel! Can you tell I’m excited?! Yes, we saw red squirrels today. Well, one red squirrel, lots of times. This was at the Kirroughtree Visitors Centre in the Galloway Forest Park, just up the road from our holiday cottage. …
Even on an overcast day, the Peak District never disappoints. We decided to venture further south into the White Peak part of the District to explore part of the Dovedale area. It’s an area that’s decidedly peaky with it’s pointy …