Happy New Year!
A new dawn
1 January 2021
We awoke to frost, and a dusting of snow, after the coldest night in quite a while. On New Year’s Eve I had watched the forecast temperature go down and down and down. Until, at 7.00 p.m., my resolve broke. The garden paths were already treacherous with ice and the leaves of the plants on the crunchy side as we wrestled to get the tenderest specimens under the protection of fleece. I suppose it was inevitable, 2020 being the year of sweeping evictions from the greenhouse under the cover of global warming..
This morning we have ordered more fleece jackets. For the plants that is, not for us. If that doesn’t do it nothing will.
The first bloom to open this new year and what a worthy one it is.
Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunset’.
Safe in the greenhouse. For now.
Who knows what 2021 will bring. I’m almost afraid to think about it.
I saw this on Twitter last night and it did make me laugh. (Unfortunately with no accreditation or I’d have passed it on.)
There is so much expectation for better things, in every corner of the world. For many of us there is the distinct possibility that we will need to be patient, at least for a while, before some of those things can come to fruition. I can only hope that this year, more than any other, there is commitment and a greater sense of determination to make those things happen. On a personal level it’s certainly the case for me. After all, I’m not getting any younger.
With best wishes to everyone for a Happy and (above all) Healthy New Year.
Jessica x
Heartfelt and thoroughly appropriate message for a new year.
Thanks Ian. A year like no other.
May this year be a good one.xxx
It needs to be doesn’t it. I have a horrible feeling it will get worse before it gets better. Take care Jill x
Happy New Year to you both. It certainly was a crisp morning today! Only just beginning to thaw. I did get sidetracked looking at the plants – and who would have thought chicken wire with thick frost would look so pretty! I do love the old flower heads – a new beauty while the colours and petals are long gone. Very much as in your leading photo. What a beautiful colour the leucadendron is – it certainly looks happy in the greenhouse. Magical frost – even if it was minus 2!
Yes, I can imagine the pattern of the chicken wire looks wonderful in frost. Especially if the wire itself is hidden! With everything frosted the garden looked quite magical. Now it’s thawed though it just looks a soggy mess. I wish I could get out there and do some clearing.
Whenever the weather stabilises it’s always animals first. But I agree – I so want to get the veg patch in order but the weather has other ideas! Although I’m loving walking on the mud without sinking in!
It’s looking like a dry(ish) week ahead. Gardening may happen..
Thermals and layers! Whoohoo! Dry-ish will do!
👍
I welcome 2021 and hope that things improve for all of us, but I suspect that it may take far longer than those in charge would have us believe. Love your new dawn 2021 photo – Christmas Day and New Years Day have both been beautiful.
They have been lovely days, but with a lot of rain in between.
The news just seems to be getting worse and worse, wherever you look. Boris’ ‘OK by Easter’ is already looking like a pipe dream. Why do they keep on making promises they must surely know they can’t deliver?
Happy New Year to you both Jessica. That’s a lovely photo of your garden with the sun on the frost. XX
I should own up to it being Mike’s photo. He did it the lazy way.. out of his study window! It gives a nice perspective to the garden though, from above.
Happy New Year to you both. Yes, we will have to be patient but at least there is a vaccine now. Bring it on!xxx
I hope the vaccine comes quickly but who knows. I suspect I am quite a long way down the list.
That ice and snow was creeping a little too close for my liking, but luckily stopped at Bodmin. I think we were down to -1 but all seems well in the garden. I love your snow dusted photo – very wintery. We are both being patient too, but I must admit to getting a bit fed-up.
I saw a Met Office report that suggested we could be in for another cold winter, like another Beast from the East! Hope that doesn’t happen. The plants seem to be OK after their first spell under fleece but it’s a real faff to have to keep doing it. Next time perhaps I won’t leave it until after dark!
A most happy and healthy new year to you both Jessica. I hope that your garden flourishes and sings this year . We woke up to a blanket of snow on Monday morning but it has almost all evaporated. I enjoyed a walk round this afternoon to say hello to some snowdrops.
Our snow has gone too now, rain today.
Saying hello to snowdrops is a lovely thing to do! All my specials seem to have survived and the wild ones are coming up all over the place. The new season has officially begun.
As always lovely photos. From our home to yours we wish you both a very happy and healthy new year.
Thank you Linda. I hope you’re keeping warm and safe in this cold weather.
I love that cartoon! I share your cautious optimism about the new year. After all, change (at least change for the better) is seldom instantaneous. I was very pleased to see your Leucadendron “bloom” and I wish you many more.
You are quite right to correct me Kris, it’s not a true bloom. But hey, any port in a storm in an English winter! I need to find out how to prune it to get it to fill out, it’s quite leggy at the moment.
What a beautiful, beautiful scene in that first photo.
Your country has the ramifications of the Brexit deal to face–hope it works out okay for you all.
Our new year really starts on January 20th, and we hope for better times starting then. Best wishes!
I should give Mike the credit for that photo, not least because I wasn’t up early enough!
It is going to be a difficult few months for us all. 2021 will have its moments I’m quite sure. At least we can bury our heads in the roses.
Happy New Year to you xx
Thank you. I hope we can both get back to travelling again before too many months have passed.
Best wishes, Jessica. Yes, I’ve had some of the same thoughts. What a beautiful first bloom on the Leucadendron! All the best to you and yours for the year ahead.
I was going to plant the Leucadendron out in the garden when it had grown a bit, now I’m not so sure. I truly wish we had a predictable climate!
Happy New Year to you two too, Jessica. I almost dare not put hopes into words – last year was so dire, in so many ways, and I fear setting too high hopes on this one. Meanwhile we do need to keep ourselves as positive as we can. Your Winter Wonderland looked wonderful. Does the cold weather bring wildlife into your garden searching for a food parcel?
The birds are definitely coming back. And those wretched squirrels. I haven’t seen the deer for a few weeks though.
It is definitely dire here at the moment, Covid cases are escalating dramatically. Hospitals are full. If only we had suppressed it back in March, as New Zealand did. We are all vulnerable going forward though, I know that, having seen the harm that just one case could do in Australia. But I do hope you manage to keep clear as a country, especially now that we have a vaccine.
I absolutely love your photo of the new dawn….although I can only imagine how cold it is, nature has a beauty for every season and you’ve caught winter beautifully. A garden near us has a Leucadendron, eye catching red leaves, good luck with yours in the green house.
Best wishes for a productive and healthy 2021….I had a laugh at the cartoon you posted, sums up 2021 nicely.
It did get quite cold, a lot of ice too with the ground being so wet. We will have to get out and attend to some of the paths which got quite treacherous. The last thing I want at the moment is a trip to accident & emergency!
I can’t help thinking we’re going to be confined to the house for a while longer yet. Having the garden, and the greenhouse, has made such a difference. I bought the Leucadendron only a month or so ago, hoping that it would bloom over winter and cheer me up. It’s definitely done that.
Two good shots, especially the dawn one. Happy New Year to you both
Mike’s photo, I can’t claim the credit this time!
You too Derrick.
We too had snow – Happy New Year
It’s a novelty down here. But any novelty can wear off!
Happy New Year to you and Mike! What hope such a beautiful bloom brings for the new year.
For us…we’re still scrubbing carpets but have received a temporary reprieve since our poor sick little girl has been admitted to the veterinary clinic for the weekend. Somehow, I’m beginning to fear this is more than just an overindulgence in some sneaked M&Ms Christmas eve.
I’m really sorry to hear Shira is still unwell and do hope it isn’t as bad as you fear. I guess while she’s in they’ll do some tests and get to the bottom of it. They are such a worry.
Happy New Year to you and yours, Jessica. I wish you a happy and healthy 2021, and hope that the situation begins to improve in the UK with the vaccine being rolled out.
We are experiencing a rather damp summer here, and perversely I’m wishing for more sun, but the garden is loving the rain and is looking the best it ever has. It’s lovely to see your Leucadendron displaying its red bracts. Very cheery.
It’s going to be a tough few weeks in the UK, the virus is getting out of control.
Lovely to hear you’re getting rain after the years of drought. That must reduce the chance of bushfires as well. I hope that both man and plants have some way of holding on to any excess for likely drier times ahead. Isn’t it a La Nina year?
It is a La Niña year, so we are having a gloomy summer and Western Australia is having hot weather and serious fires! I think we can safely say the drought is over here, for now.
I shudder at the thought of more fires, anywhere. It is exactly a year since Kangaroo Island went up in smoke, I remember it only too well.
What a remarkably beautiful morning view. Just enough snow to make it pretty yet not nearly enough to shovel or clean up. Lets hope we turn the corner in 2021… or at least stabilize. Things are still all over right now and the virus sure doesn’t help.
We do so need a corner to turn around, both sides of the pond. At least we have our gardens Frank. And the sap is rising..
How pretty is that frosty photograph ? Each season has something beautiful doesn’t it ?
Just because a new year has begun doesn’t mean everything will go back to normal but, with vaccines and Spring around the corner, things are looking up ! Happy 2021 to you and yours Jessica. XXXX
Thanks Jackie. Winter has its own beauty for sure. This week is looking astonishingly dry (I’m quite sure it won’t last) and it will be great to get outside. I need the exercise if nothing else!
Happy New Year Jessica – I love the snow and frosty weather – just wish the plants did! xx
Every time we have a hard winter I say I’ll only buy hardy plants. It never lasts. Something or other offers up a temptation too far and before I know it I’m back to scrabbling around with fleece.
Haha! I love that cartoon – it’s just how I feel. I admire your dedication to your garden. Long ago I decided that life is too short to put anything needy into the garden, which is fine until I look at the photos of the glorious colour in your garden, when my resolve starts to waver. But only temporarily!
When we get frosty nights, like now, my dedication wavers as well! But of course when I buy them, usually in the summer, cold nights are far from my mind.
That cartoon is perfect and a bit how I feel. Opening the door to this new year slowly….and wishing you and all of us a better one…we deserve it!
The only benefit of winter as I see it is an excuse to hunker down. The need for that is doubled this year. No doubt when the days lengthen and buds start to pop open I shall once again be lured into action.
Yes, the cartoon is so poignant, Jessica. Very best wishes to you for lots of determination and commitment in 2021!
There is so much on the to do list I have to find the determination somewhere. Snowdrops will undoubtedly help!
Almost two weeks into the new year and so far, so bad, at least on this side of the pond. What a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking time we are living through. I fear the pendulum will continue to swing to the dark side before it heads back to the light. But it will eventually swing. Take care and keep growing beautiful things.
Yes, I have been thinking of you. I watched on CNN the horror of 6 Jan unfold with increasing disbelief. I don’t envy Biden’s task one bit and just pray the transition is now a peaceful one and that America can, eventually, successfully heal itself. But as you say, it won’t be easy. And all against the background of a raging pandemic. Keep safe Brenda. It’s all we can do right now.
We spent New Years Eve walking around North Exmoor, I found some old mine workings so I was happy and it was a beautiful day. Your garden looks lovely, I would say that mine was tidy….I am thinking of things to do. I did leap out with great energy when the lockdown was announced and visited three local garden centres so this year I am well provided for. A few random things may need to come from the internet but most have been obtained face to face. I think I will start by repotting a few dormant shrubs. I just need a day which is not icy or raining cats and dogs. The few we have had so far have usually been taken up by sanity saving walks. Happy 2021. I think your blog is one that I have followed for the longest time. I was happily working in London when I discovered your blog, now I am settled in deepest Somerset.
I remember you following me many years ago when you were travelling for work. You are single-handedly responsible for the addition of many of the more obscure ‘flags’ to the map WordPress provides of my blog hits. But I am glad you are settled now. It’s good to see the world but constant airport transits and living out of a suitcase get tedious very quickly. Unless you are Mike. For him the journey is the major part of any trip. I endure it as a necessary evil.
This has been the longest winter in many a year and we’re still only half way through January. The soil is waterlogged so the best I can do is keep going out to the greenhouse and scanning for new shoots. And buying seeds. Far, far too many seeds.
The top photo could be your Christmas card for next year. Or, you could sell them. I would buy it! So beautiful with the sun shining through the frosted trees. I am going through some of your old posts, so that is the reason for such a delayed response on this one. I am longing for cooler days as it is hot and humid here in NE Georgia, USA. Once again, my yard has gotten out of control. We got busy with preparing for and hosting Vacation Bible School at our church, and that’s all it took for things to go completely wild! I exaggerate a bit, but I think I’ll have to wait for a major holiday weekend before I can try to get it hacked back. We can only really work early in the morning and late in the evening. Midday is too hot. Thank you for such beautiful photography and also revealing that things don’t always go the way you’d like or planned. It helps the rest of us realize we are not alone in our gardening struggles. Blessings to you!
It’s scary how quickly it all gets out of control. We had a very wet May, after an especially cold start to spring, so all of a sudden everything caught up and burst into growth. Literally you could see the difference each morning. This wouldn’t be so bad if it was only the ornamental plant growth but of course the weeds don’t hold back either!
Gardening can indeed be a struggle at times, but oh so worth it!