Changing Times

Picture on card from Rosie made a Thing. According to my sister this a good likeness. Hope my nose doesn't look like this!

I finished work for the summer term on the 10th July and this year I won't be returning to school
in September.  This is quite a life changing event and I've been feeling a bit unsettled in the past couple of weeks. Even though I know it's the right decision, I sometimes find it hard to cope with change. It was sad too not to be able to have a proper leaving do to mark the occasion. I've been thinking back over my years in teaching and wrote quite a long goodbye email to colleagues with all my memories of the past 15 years at the school where I finished my career.  It was a bit self indulgent really and I am quite sure many of the younger staff didn't bother to open the attachment, but others did and responded positively.  

I was able to have a bit of a celebration here with my closest work friends in the English department coming round on that Friday for a few socially distanced drinks and lovely food cooked by Paul who was universally admired for his culinary skills and witty repartee.  Having frequently complained to these same colleagues about him and his irritating habits (foolish purchases, grumpiness,  etc), I was told to stop moaning and appreciate what I've got. They have a point.

Both Paul and I have July birthdays and we celebrated then fairly quietly this year.  On Saturday which was my birthday, it rained all day but we went ahead with our planned trip to Dunham Massey, a National Trust property near Manchester with an impressive garden even in the rain.  Back in February we took out membership of National Trust thinking that with my imminent retirement we'd be able to get our money's worth this time.  Then lockdown happened.  Now that the gardens are open again, we've been visiting the local ones. The best so far was the Japanese garden at Tatton Park which I visited on my own as dogs aren't allowed in there.  The rest of the family walked the dog in the deer park and spend a considerable amount of time chasing her as she chased a deer which unfortunately had strayed from the main herd. Paul hadn't spotted it so she was off the lead. Kate said it was like something out of David Attenborough.  It was apparently a very stressful experience which I am glad I did not witness.  I was in this peaceful garden. 

Gardening successes and failures

As I've been spending a great deal of time in the garden recently I thought I'd record it at its midsummer peak.  I'm learning to be a bit more relaxed about gardening, realising that there is never a time when everything is looking good at the same time and that some plants thrive unexpectedly while others inexplicably don't even when I do everything by the book.  

So here are my recent successes and failures.  First roses which I grow in pots on the patio.  I have a yellow one called Laura Ford (on the right above) which was brilliant last year but has been disappointing this year, having been attacked by greenfly.  I kept rubbing them off but to no avail and it now looks very sad. Contrast this with my beautiful pink Ballerina, bought for a couple of quid in Home and Bargain.

I've tried growing soft fruit and, for the first time, I have raspberries - not that many but progress on last year.  But my blackcurrant looks rather pathetic I think it needs better soil. I'm disappointed as I had a brilliant one in my last garden.  I have had more success with potatoes.  In fact I have what looks distinctly like a potato plant in a spot where I was expecting to see an echinacea emerge.  I tended it carefully in the spring only to realise it was an imposter which had planted itself in a spot where I'd probably thrown the spent compost from last year's potatoes. This amused me. I reckon, as the daughter of a farmer from Co Derry, potato growing is an innate skill.  We ate the first of my new potatoes from the plants I am growing in a dustbin on Saturday evening.  My book says you can harvest when they flower - only had a few as they are quite small so I'll leave them a bit longer.  They tasted good. 

I have a good crop of peas and beetroot.  I grow peas mainly so I can eat them raw straight from the pod as I did as a child.  Our summer holiday dinner was often new potatoes, peas and butter so we were sent off to gather the peas and then had to shell them. Many never reached the table.  

I am hoping my agapanthus, two of them in lovely terracotta pots which I got as a birthday present last year,  will flower, but though they look healthy there is no sign yet.  The B&Q hydrangea which looked like it was going to expire during the dry weather is now doing better though the flowers are a pale pink and not white as advertised.  Much nicer so I don't mind. 

A final picture of my usual garden companion who has totally destroyed the lawn. and my herb garden in pots.

A Life in Teaching

At the end of this term I am retiring from teaching.  I began my career in 1983, working full-time until I had Kate in 1999 and part-time since then, stopping for a couple of years when she was small.  So that's over 35 years, most of my lifetime.  In fact, because the school where I teach isn't planning to open before the summer holidays, I have already taught my last lesson in a real classroom. 

I have mixed feelings about this.  I'm pleased to be escaping the spreadsheets and target setting and data capture which take up so much of my time;  I will no longer have to face inspections or prepare for lesson observations.  I'll no longer have to wade through every single word of  'A Christmas Carol' with a reluctant GCSE group just in case an obscure passage is set in the exam.  But I'll miss the company of young people and how they make me look at the world in a different way and I'll miss the day to day contact with my friends in the English department and the staffroom. 

In the last week a couple of things have happened which have made me reflect on my career in teaching - I can't go into details here for reasons of confidentiality. One of these incidents upset me; the other delighted me.  That just about sums up how it has been over the years.  There have been difficult lessons, disrespectful pupils and challenging moments.  But I still get that feeling of elation when a lesson goes really well, or I succeed with a tricky pupil or read a piece of of really good work a student has produced.  Maybe elation is too strong a word for it but you know what I mean.  So overall no regrets about my career choice.  

Other than some Zoom teaching this week life has continued in the new routine we've established in the last few months: dog walks, online quiz evenings, gardening for me cycling for him, eating and drinking slightly more than is advisable.  I also made some Elderflower Cordial with some flowerheads collected on a walk.  It does not look very appealing - family members have unkindly said that one of the bottles looks like giant urine sample.  It tastes ok though a bit too sweet for my taste - will use less sugar next time.  Thought about trying Elderflower Champagne which my dad used to make but the recipe says I needed champagne yeast which I didn't have.  I'm sure he didn't bother with that.  The last time I made it one of the bottles exploded so that also made me a bit wary.

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Outings

Planted some manky looking old amaryllis bulbs and unexpectedly they both flowered.  Lasted about 3 days in the heat.

Not having been in the car or driven anywhere at all myself for ten weeks, I felt it was a kind of treat this week to go on a couple of outings. \None of these outings were 'essential travel' really.  But I made sure I 'stayed alert', as the illuminated roadside sign instruct me. En route to Sheffield via Snake Pass, we drove past huge numbers of parked cars and people presumably 'staying alert' while picnicking in the Pennines.  It is so beautiful there but we didn't stop to join them. We were going to Sheffield to pick up the remainder of Kate's belongings from her rented house.  This was not much fun; she has acquired huge amounts of stuff. And the terms of the contract require the room to be left perfectly clean and empty otherwise they might not get their deposit back. She was told to take a video of the room to prove this. The previous resident of the room before Kate hadn't paid much attention to this as, when we pulled the bed out to clean, we discovered discarded clothing and toenail clippings. Revolting. They've got a cheek these rental companies - when we arrived they'd been fitting a new bathroom and had turned the water off so we couldn't even go to the loo or have a cup of tea.  And yet she's been paying full rent and a fixed amount per month for bills.

Shady dog walk on Duke's Drive

Another more pleasant outing in the car this week was a short journey to the other side of town to walk the dog somewhere shady - like us she's not to keen on heat. Temperatures have soared here in the last few days after a weekend of high winds which nearly flattened my precious foxgloves and poppies. On Bank Holiday Monday we went to the Duke's Drive - a long straight shady path through mature woodlands which eventually, if you walk far enough, leads to Eccleston where the entrance to Eaton Hall, home of the Duke of Westminster can be found.  Anyway, having many entrances, the Duke allows us commoners to use this path and it is glorious.  Right now it is full of buttercups and cow parsley, honeysuckle and butterflies.

And I actually drove my own car one day this week on an trip to B&Q as I 'needed' some more compost, some tomato feed and various other garden essentials. Luckily, Mildred ( the name Kate has given the car) started first time and I hadn't forgotten how to drive. At B&Q, I was greeted by a young man in high-vis vest who informed me that I'd have to queue for at least 45 minutes to get in.   I turned around and left but noticed that the nearby 'Home and Bargain' was open for 'essential' purchases and there was no queue.  I spent an enjoyable half hour there purchasing bargain plants, seeds and bulbs as well as the compost I need to repot my tomato plant. It was fairly quiet and, except for a couple of strips of black tape by the check outs, no different from usual.  I was the only one in there wearing a mask and no one else seemed too bothered about social distancing.  I felt a bit of a prat really - probably wouldn't have bothered with the mask if Paul hadn't wanted me to.  He is still  very anxious about catching the virus.

Another highlight of the last week was a family photo quiz to celebrate my sister's birthday.  That was fun - I dug out old pictures and asked others to guess the date, place etc.  As we are now allowed to see up to six people, I'm looking forward to getting together for real.  We had planned a get-together in Liverpool in July for my sister's 60th but that's unlikely to go ahead now. At least there's hope on the horizon of some kind of meeting ‘

May.....ing

My blog revival has stalled a little.  I had visions of me writing daily posts in lockdown - a kind of online diary.  But that hasn't happened - I'm always too tired at the end of the day - blogging for me is a morning habit - something I do while others are still in bed and the house is quiet. So I'm using a format inspired by Christina to review my May.

More gardening.  There's been a lot of watering to do as, after the very wet winter, there's been hardly any rain in the north west in the last couple of months. My hard work is paying off as the foxgloves and alliums are now in bloom.  I've attempted new things like taking cuttings from dahlias.  And I'm having more success with growing plants from seed. Usually I can't be bothered with all the thinning, pricking out and potting on that's involved but with extra time on my hands I'm getting better at this.







Celebrating two anniversaries last week.  First of all we celebrated VE day with afternoon tea in the garden.  I made a Victoria Sponge with the last of our flour.  It's the only thing that still seems to be in short supply. I had to add a bit of pasta making flour and ground almonds - it turned out ok despite this. Another was the anniversary of the day I first met Paul -  5th May 1984. To be honest I often forget this one and it's him who remembers it; he forgets our official wedding anniversary. Family members have sometimes wondered how we have put up with each other for 36 years.  He is turning into a grumpy old man - everything makes him angry.  He's a lot like Victor Meldrew in the old sitcom 'One Foot in the Grave'.  Or to update the reference, the Ricky Gervaise character in 'After Life'. He really is quite happy to make his irritation with total strangers obvious.  His particular target recently are those who fail to observe the 2 metre distance advice.  On a dog walk last week he shouted at a cyclist riding on the pavement overtaking pedestrians within centimetres.  I cringed with embarrassment but I suspect the mother with the buggy on the pavement was grateful.  He makes me laugh, never lets me down and cooks dinner every night so I put up with the grumpiness. We celebrated by opening a bottle of wine to have with the meal he cooked. Not that the opening of the bottle of wine is an unusual event in this household.

 

Reading  'Wolf Hall' nearly finished. This month's bookclub choice is 'Merivel' by Rose Tremain so I need to get going on that.  I should probably read 'Restoration' first as it follows on from it.  It's not like me to read so much historical fiction but I'm quite enjoying it.  It's filling in some gaps in my knowledge too though I suppose I should check that the fictionalised version of events is actually accurate.

Sleeping surprising well. I'm almost scared to write this in case I jinx it.  Last night I went to sleep at 11, didn't wake until after 8 and can't remember being awake in the night.  I think it's the fact that I'm exercising more than usual, with a long dog walk every day as well as gardening.

Spending time with my daughter who is doing her university course online here rather than in Sheffield.  She's working hard as her exams have been replaced with additional coursework essays.  But there is still time to do other stuff.  We're doing a jigsaw I bought her years ago, making a collage rainbow and watching lots of rubbishy television.  And lots of quizzes. Her boyfriend is still here and he joins in with the quizzes.  He has several useful specialisms in addition to encyclopedic sports knowledge such as Flags of the World and Star Wars.

Watching television. In addition to the reality TV I've been watching with  Kate I am also enjoying 'Normal People'.  And we watched the film 'Hidden Figures' this week -  excellent film about the role of three really smart black women in NASA at the time of the moon landings.

That's it for May so far.  I've quite enjoyed writing this though it seems to have taken most of the day.  Apart from dog walk, watering and one load of washing this is all I've achieved. Oh well - I'm getting used to a slow pace of life.

Garden Helpers

Today (or yesterday now as I am finishing this on Sunday morning) was a gardening day.  Last year we made a few changes to the garden, removing one fence and adding another.  This was mainly because we needed to create a more secure boundary for the dog and a larger space for her to run around in/destroy.   We also removed overgrown leylandii and cut back the thicket of holly bushes.  I say we but in fact the work was done by a excellent local handyman and gardener we were lucky to find. The result is that we have a much larger space as the 'front' (really to the side) and back gardens are now joined up.

Our gardener created some new flower beds in the process and last autumn I read lots of advice in books and planted shrubs, perennials and bulbs.  I tried to co-ordinate a colour scheme and went for shades of pink, whites and purples.  This is how it looked a couple of weeks ago.  The tulips I planted, which were supposed to be in pastel shades and some were a lovely shade of lilacy pink.  But others are distinctly yellow.  Never mind they looked nice anyway,

Today I persuaded Paul, the most reluctant of gardeners, to use some of the left over fencing panels and create a support on the wall and we then planted a climbing hydrangea which promises lovely white lacy flowers.  It's supposed to grow in shady conditions so I hope it does as it's on a wall which faces north east and only gets a couple of hours sun late in the day.

I also tended to my seedlings in the raised bed which has now been placed a in a sunnier spot.  I am trying to grow beetroot and the little seedlings have just appeared.  I earthed up the potatoes I'm growing in a dustbin and watered the lettuces which are doing quite well now after a slow start.

Along with the yellow tulips another unwanted invader to my newly planted border is an armada of Spanish bluebells.  (I'm kind of pleased with that metaphor though I'm sure I'm not the first to use it.)  I love bluebells - the English variety- which I will not be seeing this year unless Boris lets us out very soon.  But these brutes grow like weeds in my garden and I've dug a lot of them out in the past few weeks.  I'm leaving this patch to flower and then will remove them too,  They are pretty for a while but smother everything else.  I'm sure they'll be back next year anyway as it's impossible to get them all.

An

This is the border now.  The tulips are dropping and the foxgloves and alliums are ready to flower.  The giant poppies and sedums are also doing well even though my other garden 'helper' insists on walking all over them.

I can't help thinking how privileged we are in having a reasonable sized outside space during this time.  It can't be much fun for those who are stuck inside all the time with only an hour of 'exercise' a day. 

Blossom Time

Barely knowing what day it is, I'm measuring time passing by observing the changes on our walks.  As we have taken one of two routes every day since lockdown began,  I've watched the trees and bushes blossom in turn. First were the tiny white petals on the blackthorn way back before Easter and the egg yolk yellow of the gorse (or whin bush as we called it in Ireland). Then the glorious cherry blossom on trees in gardens we pass hung in pink or white clouds for a week or so before falling like confetti on the pavements.

 Last week it was the lilac, a huge bank of overgrown trees I never noticed before on an otherwise dull street. It's fading already. The scent last week was powerful; now it's all but gone and the pale purple flowers are going dry and brown.

Today is May Day and peak blossom time. The 'may' or hawthorn blossom is out - thick and heavy on the trees and also delicately scented. And, in the park, laburnum trees with luminous yellow drooping blossoms. And the sticky horse chestnut candles, creamy with hints of pink.  Beautiful even on this chilly showery day.

I slept late this morning, later than I ever have done in years, only getting up just before nine.  This was mainly due to being awake for bit at 4 am which isn't that unusual for me though usually I still get up around 7.  I read for a while 'Wolf Hall' my novel of choice for lockdown.  Thought I should tackle something substantial. I'd like to say I'm loving it but it's more admiration than enjoyment. Though parts are very good, there are too many characters to keep track of and my brain wasn't processing it this morning. I got to sleep again just as the birds were starting to sing.

Apart from a load of washing which has been rained on twice but should now be drying in the sun which has appeared, I have done very little today, my day 'off'  after some online teaching this week.  Just enjoyed the blossom on our dog walk and pottered about the house. Kate also helped me cover my grey roots with some 'Nice and Easy' Light Brown.  It looks ok but is really darker than the packet suggests and all my highlights have disappeared.  At least it'll look better for the Zoom quiz we are doing later on this evening. I find it a bit disturbing looking at myself on screen.

I'm updating this as I attempted to write a poem in sonnet form to celebrate the blossom.  It's not great and I'm almost too embarrassed to put it on here but feel that at least I've done something creative. Anyway here it is:

Blossom Time

Days drift by and time is marked in blossom.

Blackthorn flowers pure white and falls like snow.

Daisies litter grass, and dandelion suns

change to dotted spheres. The child says one o’

clock, two o’clock to tell the time right now

and blows in clouds its strange geometry.

Cherries, dressed in bridesmaid shades of pink, line

the city streets, dropping their confetti.

Now spring speeds all in a rush with richness:

Lilac’s scented stars in spears appear and fade

too soon; chestnut buds unfurl in sticky

cream tinged pink; white, heavy boughs of May.

Nature has no clocks, we need not hear their chime

But live life in the present:  blossom time.