Tuesday 7 July 2020

Claiming Back the Garden


I worked hard yesterday morning claiming back the garden.


When I left the Van back in March at the start of lockdown and the day the Park closed for the duration, the tulips were just starting to push through the soil in the corner flower beds and in the little tin bath.  The Tete a Tete daffodils that filled the planters with their bright yellow faces were a joy to see, and the little Primulas were a mass of prolific colour in the pot on the decking.

When I got back here on Saturday there was no sign of any of them ... I didn't expect there to be.  

The planters and garden have all lived through almost two months with no watering through a mini heatwave, followed by torrential rains and a complete change of season.  The Hydrangea by the decking gate had withered away although it has somehow survived and is now coming back to life after a few days of rain.  The planters at the front of the Van have struggled, but although there is no sign of the pansies or primulas that surrounded them, the main little fir tree and the Cordylines are still okay and after a tidy up all three are looking good.


The grass looks as though it has been strimmed at least once in our absence.   Russ, the park jack-of-all-trades and handyman extraordinaire is a good friend to us both, and it looks as though he has nipped through to tame what should have been (looking at some other little gardens on the park) a rampant little hay field.

But the grass was long, and although I could ignore the buzz of lawnmowers and strimmers all weekend, when Monday morning came and was bright, dry and sunny after a night of heavy rain, I decided that I just had to get stuck it.


Three hours of hard work later, the grass was cut, the flower beds were weeded and the big Lemon Balm that dominated the front section was moved from the front to underneath the Buddleia in the back section of the two tiered corner.

Bird bowls and garden ornaments were washed and re-positioned,  the paths, the paving stones under the bench and the steps down from the decking into the garden were all washed with bleachy, soapy water and left to dry in the sun.  And I took a step back to admire what my aching back had achieved.


It looks better, much better and even now after just one night of light rain the grass is starting to regain a touch of green.


This morning was wash morning and I really do need to get back in the swing of hand washing and remember to wash out the sink before I fill it with soapy water.  It's taken quite a few rinses to get the Weetabix out of my knickers  🤣🤣


Sue xx



38 comments:

  1. You must be SO happy to get back there, Sue x

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  2. What a shame that you lost some of the plants. Lawns always survive, I remember one year every patch of grass was brown, a few downpours soon got it growing again.

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    1. Well hopefully all the bulbs will still be there and will come through next year, if I remember them and don't dig them up as I have been known to do by accident!! I'm pleased the Hydrangea is showing some buds on the dried out stems that are left, it WAS a beauty last year so just for it to survive would be enough for me this year.

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  3. Weetabix in knickers is not something you hear of very often! slightly better than ants I guess

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    1. Haha ... oh yes much better than 'ants in my pants'.

      I must have just swished the bowl of Weetabix dregs into the sink and not spotted them caught in the plug-catchy thing!!

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  4. What a transformation. You must be really pleased with your efforts.

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    1. It's the best few hours I've spent for a while, and I'm pleasantly surprised that I have not seized up today :-)

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  5. You're little garden looks quite lovely - enjoy yourself now that you are back in your happy place.

    Oh - and the Weetabix situation .... that's the reason why I keep separate plastic bins for washing up the dishes and the hand laundry! :-)

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    1. Love it ... this will forever now be known as 'The Weetabix Situation' :-)

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  6. Could have been worse. Glad you are back to your smaller life. The grass will soon go green.

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    1. Oh it could have been so much worse. I was pleasantly surprised that some things are recovering after being so long without water. I guess it helped that the rain came back the week before last, so what might have been shrivelled up plants have now started to recover.

      The grass has actually thickened up nicely because it was left to grow long, all last year it was very sparse and gappy, now it's a much more filled in 'lawn'. So that's a bit of a bonus :-)

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  7. Yes, I love the outdoor space, it's not big but it's all mine (and Suky's). There's enough room for some herbs and a few veggies, and once I can get out I will get some 'living lettuce' from the supermarket and plant them in the tin bath, along with some radish and Spring Onions.

    I don't mind when there are just a few things to hand wash. I hand-washed everything (well jumped up and down in the bath for big things like bedding and a couple of dozen nappies) for years when my boys were growing up, I didn't have a washing machine until the youngest was almost two, so that means at least eight years of bowls, sinks and baths.

    I usually have a good routine here at the Van ... I just need to get back in the habit of checking the plug strainer for dregs of food before I start ;-)

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  8. It's amazing how nature recovers after some rain and a bit of TLC. Your garden will soon be as lovely as before.
    Lol for weetabix in knickers! I didn't feel like smiling today until I read that. You have cheered me up!
    Enjoy your peace at the van x

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    1. Glad I made you smile, even I did eventually after I saw the crumbs. I wondered what the bloody hell it was at first :-)

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  9. I have got a scrubba wash bag which I bought to use for hotel stays when my son was in Bristol hospital and I still use it sometimes now, it's quite good, I will take it to our caravan when we can move in, I am so excited. We are allowed to go to the caravan this week to take a few things over and do a inventory, we are very lucky that most things were left including television, dvd player , very nice crockery and all the kitchen essentials, I do intend taking some weetabix too but I will keep mine in a box although my knickers would probably hold more, x

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    1. I had to Google to see what a Scrubba Wash Bag was, ingenious. That could be useful AND keep the Weetabix out of my knickers ;-)

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  10. Ahh, back at the van. Breathe!! Nice job on the initial clean up of the yard space. Enjoy!

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    1. Yes, just that ... lots of relaxing deep breaths :-)

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  11. You must be soooooooooooo pleased to be back at the van and you have worked hard on the garden. But weetabix in your knickers is a first. Helen S.

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    1. Yep ... sooooooooo pleased :-)

      And hopefully a last ;-)

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  12. Glad you could get back to your van! The adventure returns.

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    1. It feels so liberating to be back :-)

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  13. Well done and you have your happy space back again now - that is so lovely.
    xx

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    1. Thank you, it's been nice cleaning and tidying and making it feel like home after four months of being away :-)

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  14. At least it was soggy weetabix and not crispy🤣🤣 Its great that you've returned to your happy place and restoring order once again. It's looking good. X

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    1. Haha, most definintely. Thank you. xx

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  15. I'm so happy for you that you are back! Enjoy the peace! I look forward to hearing about everything in your favorite place.

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    1. I'm sure I'll be mentioning it once or twice 😄

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  16. You're home Sue, and you've reclaimed the garden too. Hydrangeas are pretty sturdy things so I'm hoping it will string back too. The only time I nearly killed mine was when I pruned it far too hard, but even then it forgave me .... after a couple of years! Enjoy today. That's enough.

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    1. Enjoying every single minute, even the rain 😃

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  17. Your last sentence made me laugh out loud!!

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    1. Good, we all need a laugh at the moment 🤣🤣

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  18. Wonderful to read you are back home Sue:) Your garden is the perfect size and well done on all the hard work, effort and love you have put into to making it look so lovely♥♥ xx

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    1. It's nice that a couple of hours sees it looking half decent again. Soon there will be herbs ....

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  19. Your garden looks lovely and very tidy Sue. Glad you are feeling at home, good luck with your new plans.

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    1. Thank you, my grass will be green again in no time after all the rain we've been having here :-)

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  20. Weetabix out of the knickers....I laughed at the thought. :)

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