Haps and Mishaps

Not a mishap - Christmas present of potential mushrooms doing really well! 

 Catastrophe struck. I was trying to load some horticultural gravel into the boot when the bag split. Half the bag poured over my feet, while some tipped into the lock and other bits inexplicably fell to all parts of the floor of the boot The only redemption was the bag being easier to handle with half its contents gone! It was a disaster. The worst part was when I tried to get the last tiny bits out from round the lock so the boot would close properly. I imagined what any onlookers were thinking, watching me scrabble around picking up small stone by the handful.

As disasters go it wasn’t more than an irk but at the time it seemed enormous. More pervasive and worse for my nerves this week was the gap between my computing skills and what I aimed to do. In preparation for the KAVS award ceremony, I have been putting together a photo album for the Community Orchard. I collected all the necessary pictures into a folder on Google Drive – easy! I chose CEWE software to make the album – again, easy. The problem arose when I wanted to move the photos from one part of my computer to another – not so easy.

I spent two hours trying to do this before calling a friend for help. Amazing – two heads really were better than one. One pasta bake and a coffee or so later, we were on the way to making this memento for the orchard. For me, the learning curve was very steep. I now realise I had downloaded the folder to an accessible part of my computer at least three times. Where I went wrong was not having the patience to wait for the download to happen.

Spring in my garden

Over the last week when the temperature for February has been 14c over here, my bulbs have burst out from the soil and my japonica is already in blossom. This really is remarkable. I have been in my current house for just over two and a half years, and I still haven’t quite got my garden how I want it. I’d like a jungle feel with leafy plants growing up the walls, a table and chairs in the centre of the courtyard and sufficient shade to make it an outside room… This year it will happen!