Dear Garden
I last wrote to you in April when the lockdown was still relatively new, now I write again whilst all around us the lockdown is easing. There is no easing here in Leicester though, here we have gone into an extended lockdown as the virus levels have spiked. Whilst I am hopeful that we will soon be able to enjoy the easing of lockdown the rest of the country has, I equally want it to be safe to do so.
I feel like I have spent a lot of time staring out at the garden through rain-soaked windows. It is hard though, dear garden, it is hard. The feeling of not going forwards is the difficult bit to cope with. It is never good for me to spend too much time on my own with my own thoughts so as ever I have been looking to you to distract me and fill my head with positive things.
This lockdown period has prompted a lot of thinking on my part. I think I have said before this is the most time I have ever spent in the house so it is probably not surprising that a lot of my thoughts have been about the house as well as the garden in that I have finally started to sort out the conservatory. The conservatory was here when I bought the house and it was clearly cheaply constructed, yet functional. Over the years the floor has become increasingly damp with the wood laminate floor starting to curl somewhat alarmingly. So I have been tracking down the source of the problem and trying to repair it. As I write I think (hope) I have been successful and some new lino flooring has been purchased. 'But what has this got to do with me?' I hear you ask? Well, the plan is that like many people I will most likely not be working in the office every day for the foreseeable future, if ever. I need an office space at home rather than working from the kitchen table as I currently do. If I work in the conservatory I can see the garden whilst I work, how wonderful would that be? So it is really, as ever garden, all about you. I now want to have the garden in the house more than ever.
What else can I update you on? I have been thinking about the sheds a lot too. I think, dear garden, you can count their days as numbered. They are collapsing as it is so I think I need to help them along into oblivion. What I will do with the space I do not know yet, but I have thoughts....
So dear garden, I shall sign off now with one of the highlights of this lockdown gardening time: the mini pond. I bought the mini pond as a whim, it was cheap and I admit to not expecting much from it. It has been absolutely amazing.
The plants in it are growing well and I have added a couple more to it, including this very pretty white water crowfoot, Ranunculus aquatilis. This plant can apparently get a bit out of hand, but I think in a restricted (very restricted) area like this bowl it should be manageable. Worst comes to the worst I shall just remove it. So far it is flowering gently and prettily.
As ever, your loving gardener.
