Marigold's musings

This weekend I was lucky enough to visit an enchanted garden high above the sea. I hope you enjoy working out the 3 faces in the image above.

Oak, Ash, Birch, Willow & an assortment of Conifers were very welcoming,

& I was fortunate indeed to make the acquaintance of Scottish Elms, which are the subject of the image below. They are so elegantly twisted & spooky that I'm pretty sure Brian Froud or Arthur Rackham would make beautiful paintings of them, which would include the mysterious Fey beings they seem to attract. They have me to make their portraits this week though, & I hope I can do them justice. Er....the trees, I mean, not the gentlemen.

Winter Solstice next Monday night looms large in my world. After this time, the days get longer, the Spring is closer, & I will begin to put in place the ideas that have come to me over the dark of Winter.

Naturally, I will celebrate this celestial event with great optimism. It's good to have a cut-off point, where I can farewell the old year with the passing of the dark half, & welcome the new as the sun gains strength. This week seems like a no-man's land, leading up to the tipping of the balance of dark into light, but not quite being either at present. Things are shuffling themselves into place. I suppose I will know what needs attention once they are sorted

I see signs of Spring in buds, swelling in tips of bare branches, but fungi associated with Autumn are still to be seen everywhere...........cheerful early camellias & jonquils trick me every year into believing Winter is nearly over, but I know, after the Solstice, in these parts, things get seriously cold, & hopefully we will have lots of rain as well.

This tiny gossamer nest was revealed one morning last week after Magnolia dropped her foliage. It is much smaller than a tea cup & very fragile, yet has supported a whole family of busy little birds. I want to bring it inside to preserve it, but wonder if it is best left to be reabsorbed into the garden..........

My vegetable garden is bare, the seeds of broad beans & bulbs of garlic are slow to show their tender green shoots. Only wild Rocket & Jerusalem Artichokes are plentiful. Next year, I will need to plan more carefully if I'm to feed myself from my plot. It seems a responsibility to eat the yield of one's garden if one is lucky enough to have one to cultivate.


This week a hungry wallaby popped in to see what he could forage, & reminded me how fortunate I am that these gentle creatures are so close. You may see him more clearly on the left side of the image if you zoom in. It's best to take their pictures from afar so as not to frighten them. I want to put food out for these shy creatures, but wonder if that is really a kindness, as they may become too tame, too dependent, & so more vulnerable to attack from domestic animals or injury from cars. It is very hard to watch them slowly diminishing.

Well, the sun is shining weakly today, & it calls me to come outside to investigate. My assistant is groaning again - he wants to go for a little stroll in the garden.

Blessings of the Winter Solstice,
or Summer Solstice if you're upside-down!

And I hope your Yule is cool..........