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wellywoman

~ A Life in Wellies

wellywoman

Category Archives: Writing

Rain, rain go away and publication day

03 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by wellywoman in Christmas, In the Garden, Writing

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

natural Christmas decorations, The Crafted Garden, topiary

raindrops on web

A wet August has made for a decidedly sodden garden and allotment, and at times a soggy gardener. I wouldn’t have minded so much if it was just drizzle but it has been the sort of rain, those big fat drops, which soaks you in minutes.

I’ll admit I’m a bit of a fair weather gardener. It’s the cold that mainly makes me retreat indoors. Rain doesn’t bother me so much, particularly if I’m prepared and wearing full waterproofs, even if I do make a passing attempt at the ‘trawlerman off to sea’ look. The problem with gardening when it’s wet is the mess that results. It’s impossible to not end up looking like a creature from the deep or like I’ve spent the last few hours bog snorkelling rather than gardening. Or is this just me?

Weeding is initially quite pleasurable as dandelions and thistles with long tap roots slip from the rain-softened earth so much more easily than from sun-baked soil. It’s not long though before I’m covered in mud. Using the trowel or hoe elicits a squelching noise from my rain-soaked gloves as another weed is removed. Deadheading isn’t too bad but then the petals and leaves stick to me.

I trimmed my yew topiary cones by the front door last week. The forecast promised wall to wall sunshine and little chance of rain. The yew needed taming. It had taken on an unkempt shagginess which meant it was no longer possible to distinguish any real shape. I wish I hadn’t planted them in the first place. Clipping them, although a task only needed to be done once a year, has become a chore. One of those jobs I’ll put off until I have to accept I need to do it or we won’t be able to get to the front door. Of course the wall to wall sunshine included a series of heavy downpours – it’s been that kind of summer. I sheltered in the hall during these cloud bursts but each time I returned outside the soggy yew clippings would cling to everything – me, the shears, the path and the brush. Much muttering about stupid yews and their annoying need to grow and chastisements of the inexperienced gardener who planted them 8 years ago ensued.

Autumnal flowers

There’s an autumnal feel to my arrangements now

I absent-mindedly left the shed door open last week. The next morning it looked like a torrent had streamed through it. A neighbour asked if I’d heard the storm that night. I sleep with ear plugs in so had been oblivious to the deluge the heavens had deposited on the village.

At least showers have replaced incessant rain. In the intervening dry spells I have been trying to get as many garden jobs done as possible. Hardy annuals have been sown, biennials are in their final homes on the cut flower patch, the plot has been weeded and the box balls no longer look like shaggy hedgehogs. All this means I can go off for a bit of a break knowing everything is as it should be, well, for a couple of weeks at least.

The Crafted Garden

So it’s finally here. The Crafted Garden is published today. It’s an exciting and nerve-racking time. I’ve had some lovely feedback already which is always a bit of a relief. I really hope if you get a chance to read it you’ll feel inspired to try some crafting using nature. Whether it’s simply collecting a few bits and pieces on a walk and creating your own nature table at home, making natural wreaths or finding ideas for home crafted Christmas decorations. Even if crafting isn’t your thing I’ve included some fabulous garden-worthy plants that will make great additions to any green space and there are tips along the way on how to grow a variety of plants. And of course, there are plenty of flowers.

The Crafted Garden is available from bookshops and online, or you could take advantage of this special discount price.

To order The Crafted Garden by Louise Curley at the discounted price of £13.99 including p&p* (RRP: £16.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG355. 

*UK ONLY – Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.

At Last – It’s Publication Day

06 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by wellywoman in Cut Flowers, Seeds, Writing

≈ 77 Comments

Tags

Cinead McTernan, Jason Ingram, Kitchen Garden Experts, seed sowing, The Cut Flower Patch

The Cut Flower Patch

So today is the day when my book is published. It feels like an age since I put the idea together and emailed it to a handful of publishers. I guess that’s because it is. It takes a relatively long time to put together a book with all its different stages. From idea to publication The Cut Flower Patch has taken 3 months short of 2 years, so to say I’m pleased the day has finally arrived is an understatement.

Tulips make stunning cut flowers

Tulips make stunning cut flowers

I have read some very lovely reviews and I’m over the moon that people seem to love the book. It really does make the hard work, sleepless nights and tearing my hair out at the weather worthwhile.

If you’d like a peek at some of the gorgeous images from the book to whet your appetite here’s a link to photographer Jason Ingram’s website. Whilst you’re there take a look at his own book Kitchen Garden Experts, created with his wife Cinead McTernan, which will be out on May 1st. Whilst Jason was working on my book he was also travelling the length and breadth of the country visiting the kitchen gardens of some of Britain’s best chefs and their head gardeners. Their book is a brilliant combination of growing tips and delicious recipes direct from the experts.

So if you love flowers, fancy filling you home with flowery gorgeousness and want to embrace the seasons rather than relying on imported blooms then hopefully my book will provide some inspiration.

Right, enough self-publicity, I’m off to sow some seeds. x

To order The Cut Flower Patch at the discounted price of £16.00 including p&p* (RRP: £20.00), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG101. 
 
*UK ONLY – Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
If you’re in North America you can find The Cut Flower Patch at Amazon.com

The Grumps

31 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by wellywoman in Bulbs, Flowers, Pests, Winter, Writing

≈ 62 Comments

Tags

Crocus 'Cream Beauty', forcing bulbs, slug damage, The Cut Flower Patch

It's raining again

It’s raining again

I’m grumpy. I am sat here at my desk writing, with the rain and wind lashing against the window, wondering if this weather will ever stop. I can’t remember the last time I saw sunshine. It has been the wettest January for a hundred years in parts of the south. No mention of how Wales has fared yet but if someone tries to tell me there has been a wetter January …. well it just can’t be possible. A simple 5 minute walk to the post office or to pick some vegetables from the plot requires head to toe waterproofing and I am sick of looking like a trawlerman every time I need to leave the house. I’m even fed up of having to wear my beloved wellies. I’m not just grumpy with the weather I’m grumpy with myself for constantly banging on about the weather. As I commented to Flighty the other day, I’ve started to bore myself.

My muppet-like crocus

My muppet-like crocus

Back in the autumn I planted up a variety of bulbs for indoors. The narcissi, hippeastrum and hyacinths have all been and gone now but I planted up some crocus too. I love crocuses and their cheery flowers but hate the fact that they seem so easily damaged by the weather. I have found the best compromise is to fill some small clay pots with bulbs, put these in the greenhouse and when there are signs of greenery bring them indoors. They flower a little earlier with the extra protection, last so much longer,and I get to enjoy their flowers from the warmth of my kitchen. Well, that is if you get to them before the slugs do. Slugs in January, now that just made me even grumpier. The distinctive silvery trail ran across the top of the pots and the crocus stumps they had left behind. I’ve also discovered this odd phenomenon where some of the petals seem to have not developed properly but the distinctive orange stamens have poked out. It makes them look like mini versions of Beaker from the Muppets. Has anyone noticed this before? It doesn’t look as if I can attribute the blame for this to the slugs. Fortunately, some of the pots were untouched and I now have the flowers of Crocus ‘Cream Beauty’ appearing unscathed, so all is not lost and it looks like ‘Snow Bunting’ and some of the ‘Barr’s Purple’ have survived too. A couple of crocus in the garden have reared their heads but they really shouldn’t have bothered as they look forlorn and mud splattered at the moment.

Crocus 'Cream Beauty'

Crocus ‘Cream Beauty’

The real delight of bringing plants like crocuses indoors is that you get to look at them close up. It’s hard to get close to something that might only be 10cm tall when it’s growing in the garden. In a pot on my window sill I can see the delicate markings on the petals but best of all I have discovered that crocus have a scent. You need to get right into the flower to catch a whiff of the perfume but it’s worth it. It isn’t a scent which permeates a room, which is a pity, but every time I pass by, I stop to have a sniff, and it’s enough to lift the spirits.

Some plants in the garden haven’t escaped winter slug damage. The flowers of snowdrops have been nibbled too, as have some primroses. It all makes me wonder about climate change and gardening. In 2012, we had no summer to speak of. Instead we had grey skies, cold days and lots of rain. Last year we had no real spring with cold days lingering on well into June. I remember vividly that first week in July felt as if we went from winter to summer. My memory of this is so good because I needed an extension on the deadline for my photographs for the book I was writing. It’s hard to conjure up summer when you haven’t had one yet. And, so far, we are yet to have a winter. No real frost, no snow and interminable amounts of rain. I’m wondering what 2014 and beyond are going to bring. Will we ever get to garden this year or should we start to farm cranberries?

The Cut Flower Patch

The Cut Flower Patch

As well as the appearance of the crocuses something else which managed to lighten my mood was the arrival of an advance copy of my book. A small number of books arrived just after Christmas, ready to go out as review copies to newspapers and magazines. The rest will arrive in the coming weeks, closer to the date of publication. I knew the book was on the way, so when I saw a parcel in the postman’s hand and the label of my publisher on the envelope I got a little excited. I know it might seem a little odd that I sound surprised I got excited about it, but I am. I have seen the images and text so much over the course of the last year that I feel like I know them inside out, so I did wonder whether it would be a bit of a let down when the book finally arrived. I’m pleased to say that wasn’t the case, and to see it all together, as a finished product, did make me grin in a slightly inane manner for quite a while. Wellyman, bless him is actually reading the book, even though he must feel like he knows it all inside out too.

It’s been quite cathartic to write about my grumpiness but I can’t put off the inevitable any longer. I have kale to pick and it appears to still be raining so where are those waterproofs…..

Finding Inspiration

21 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by wellywoman in Book Reviews, Writing

≈ 51 Comments

Tags

Alan Titchmarsh, Carol Klein, Cleve West, Dr Hessayon, Garden Media Guild, gardening books

What are your favourites?

What are your favourites?

It seems that the speech Dr Hessayon gave at the recent Garden Media Guild awards has created a bit of a stir. He wasn’t very optimistic about the future of gardening books, and in particular reference books, suggesting that the internet is killing them off. It was a statement that a substantial part of the audience, the assembled writers and publishers, probably didn’t want to hear. Then came a feature on the Guardian’s website entitled ‘Why are gardening books so boring?’ by Lucy Masters.

I LOVE books and always have, well, apart from a period of about a year after my degree when I couldn’t get beyond the second page of any book I picked up. My year at university had been a case of book overload and had taken the pleasure out of reading; I needed a break. It was gardening books that got me reading again. Wellyman bought me a set of Alan Titchmarsh books. We had just moved home from living abroad. I was stuck in a hotel on my own before we could move into our flat and all of our possessions were still in storage. I devoured those books in a day, mentally planning out a garden.

I advise anyone I know who takes on an allotment to spend the winter months reading as many gardening books as possible, taking notes and formulating ideas, then they can start the growing season with confidence and a plan. That’s the brilliant thing about gardening, you don’t need to go to college to be able to learn enough to have a beautiful garden and productive allotment. But are there the books out there to teach and inspire gardeners? If anyone has been to the RHS bookshop at Wisley it would be hard to say there isn’t enough choice. Some subjects have been covered more than others in recent years. The popularity of urban gardens and allotments mean there are container books and grow your own fruit and vegetable books galore. But this isn’t unusual, it happens with anything that has become popular, authors and publishers are simply capturing the zeitgeist of recent times.

I don’t think there is much doubt that the internet will have an impact, if it has not done so already, on gardening reference books. I’m much more likely whilst I’m writing to search online if I need information quickly. But, when I’m in the garden and I’m not sure how to prune a particular plant or I’m wondering which pest is chomping on the leaves in front of me it’s a book I’ll turn to. When my hands are covered in soil, I need some tips quickly and I’m gingerly tiptoeing through the kitchen trying not to shower everywhere with compost a book is much more forgiving than a computer keyboard. Perhaps the reference book’s days aren’t numbered just yet.

Complaints about gardening books seem to focus on the idea that many books are ‘celebrity’ driven, that books are aimed at too broad an audience and books are too often pitched at the non-experienced gardener. All these factors are driven by economics; is a book commercially viable? Perhaps it’s unpalatable but the reality is that publishers need to produce books which will sell well if they are to at very least recoup their costs. It shouldn’t then be any surprise that authors with a TV presence prove to be popular with publishers. They already have a large audience of fans and potential buyers. There are books by well-known faces which make me wonder what else are they offering but a ‘celebrity’ author doesn’t have to mean a lack of substance or knowledge. Alys Fowler and James Wong are both hugely knowledgeable and have inspired young and old alike to look at food and plants in a different way. Some of my own favourite gardening books are by Carol Klein, a gardener and writer who exudes enthusiasm for her subject, and Monty Don writes thoughtfully about connecting with the soil and nature. To dismiss these writers simply because they are on TV would mean missing out on some great reading.

Go to a publisher with what they consider a niche idea for a book and if they can’t make the figures add up then you’ll be unlikely to get it commissioned. There’s the option for an author to self-publish but it isn’t an easy option. New avenues are opening up such as Unbound but to get the money you would still need a profile of some description to gain funding from the public.

Working out where to pitch a book can be tricky too. Don’t write about the basics and you could exclude those new to the subject and not provide a comprehensive coverage of a topic, include the basics and you risk annoying the more experienced gardener who thinks ‘Blah, blah, blah, I know all this already’. Certainly what I have learnt from gardening is that no matter how experienced you are someone else may have a tip or sliver of information, however simple, that you haven’t thought of or come across before.

The other problem is the value put on writing itself. In a world where free content is increasing are people willing to pay for creativity any more? Few people would probably say they like advertising but it makes paid for content possible in magazines and newspapers. I remember an interview with Ian Hislop where he explained why Private Eye hadn’t gone down the route of free online content. He said he had explained to his children that if they ever wanted a job in the creative industries how would they ever earn a living if their work was given away for free. The perceptions of worth seem to be changing too? I overheard a couple complaining about the price of a book in a shop recently. It was the same price as the the bottles of wine they had in their trolley but they obviously didn’t see the value in a book they could go back to again and again. Creating a book is time-consuming, in some cases it can feel as if it has taken over your life. Unfortunately advances don’t cover the true time spent creating the book and so the author waits, hoping they’ve made something people want to buy. The phrase ‘deferred gratification’ couldn’t be more apt than for writing a book. More knowledgeable gardeners may crave specialist books. But the more niche a book the less of an audience and the less likely the author is ever to be rewarded for their efforts. And so, in the immortal words of ABBA ‘Money, Money, Money’ is the driving force. Whether it’s authors needing to make some sort of living and having to make compromises, whether it’s publishers needing to turn a profit and whether it’s consumers making choices with how and where they spend their own cash.

It’s quite a gloomy prospect, particularly for a new author but I didn’t want to end on such a negative thought because I do think there are some fabulously interesting and inspiring books out there. So here are my suggestions for useful and inspiring garden reading:

  • I love all of Carol Klein’s books but my favourite is ‘Grow Your Own Garden’. A subject which could be dry and dull but this is neither. Informative and enjoyable with useful tables at the back for quick reference.
  • Monty Don’s ‘The Jewel Garden’. He writes with a passion and eloquence about the making of his garden, the depression he suffers from and how the connection with the soil helps to heal him.
  • Cleve West’s ‘Our Plot‘. A celebration of allotments this isn’t a ‘how to grow’ book but with a plethora of those to choose from anyway this is no bad thing. Should be required reading for planners who should understand how important spaces for growing are in our communities.
  • Alan Titchmarsh ‘How to be a Gardener’ and the ‘Complete Gardener’. I would recommend these to any first time gardener. Packed full of information to start you on a lifetime of gardening.
  • Anything by Alys Fowler and Mark Diacono for their fresh approaches to writing and growing.
  • Charles Dowding’s ‘Salad Leaves for all Seasons’. This man knows his stuff. Ditch the supermarket salad bags of soggy leaves and grow your own.
  • Other favourites include Val Bourne’s Ten Minute Gardener books, any of Anna Pavord’s books and Elspeth Thompson’s writing.

I’d love to hear what you think about gardening books. Which are your favourites, the authors you love and what books you would like to see published in the future?

A Sneaky Peek

15 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by wellywoman in Cut Flowers, Environment, On the plot, Writing

≈ 62 Comments

Tags

Frances Lincoln, Growing Cut Flowers, Jason Ingram, photo shoots, The Cut Flower Patch

The Cut Flower Patch

The Cut Flower Patch

When I first started writing my blog one of the topics closest to my heart was growing cut flowers on my allotment. I have been a little quiet on the subject this year and that’s because I have been writing a book about it. Up until now I haven’t been able to say too much but at last I no longer have to keep it a secret. So I thought I’d tell you a little bit about it and give you a sneaky peek inside.

The book is called The Cut Flower Patch and it will be published on 6th March. Eeeeekkk!!! It’s all a little odd to be honest. This time last year I had just started the writing and had my first photo shoot. It’s hard to believe that I now have a finished book, I do find myself having to pinch myself. The book is a ‘how to’ guide to creating your own cut flower patch based on my own experiences over the last few years. When I first started growing flowers for cutting I thought I would need lots of space, which I didn’t have, for it to be successful, but it’s surprising what you can do even with a small patch of soil. The book covers everything from preparing a site and how to grow, to how to make your flowers last once picked. There is a whole section devoted to the flowers I’ve found to be the most productive and ideas about how to extend the cutting season using pickings from your garden and the hedgerows.

A page from Chapter 2 of The Cut Flower Patch

A section from Chapter 2 of The Cut Flower Patch

I love my cut flower patch, and it’s so addictive planning my list of what I want to grow next year. I really hope the book will inspire others to cut their own too. It frustrates me that so many flowers are flown half way around the globe. The environmental cost of this is huge. Then there’s the lack of any real choice, originality or seasonality. There are so many plants out there which make stunning cut flowers but we seem to be mainly offered lilies, chrysanthemums and carnations. There’s nothing wrong with any of these flowers as such but I’d like a bit of variety, blooms which reflect the seasons and ones which haven’t damaged the planet in the process. The theme of sustainability runs through the book with thrifty ideas of what to use as vases and using local suppliers and resources where possible.

A section taken from Chapter 9 of The Cut Flower Patch

A section taken from Chapter 9 of The Cut Flower Patch

Writing a book is an odd process. It has been fun, fascinating and at times frustrating. I feel really privileged to have had the opportunity. Like any other job, it comes with its stresses though. For a long period of time it is your baby and then you hand it over to the publisher and you realise it’s a collaboration where the finished product ends up a collection of ideas rather than just your own. I heard an interview with the crime writer Ian Rankin recently in which he said a draft copy of one of his books came back from the editor with a whole character removed from it!!! It can be quite a lonely process too. The ideas were in my head, it was up to me to produce the goods, and in the case of this book that meant not only the words but also the flowers. As a gardener I have always been fairly obsessed by the weather but that was taken to new levels this year. The coldest and latest spring on record followed by such a hot July played havoc with my plans. At times you start to take it personally. Growing flowers for cutting is really easy, growing them for a specific time when a photo shoot has been booked is a whole other ball game. I had small windows of opportunity for my flowers and the allotment to look their best which led to a few sleepless nights and moments of panic. Should I dead head and risk there being no new flowers or should I leave them and risk there being no new flowers. Planned photo shoots had to be rescheduled and there was a point in June when I did wonder if the plot would ever look like summer. But, in the end, it all worked out well and I’m really pleased with the final product. I have Jason Ingram, a wonderful photographer to thank for capturing the flowers and my allotment so beautifully. The photo shoots were one of the best bits of the whole process. Generally they went past in a frantic, lack of sleep induced blur but I loved them. When I have to leave my allotment behind some time in the next year or so it will be lovely to have such a beautiful record of the space I love so much.

Chapter 8 of The Cut Flower Patch

A sneaky peek inside -Chapter 8 of The Cut Flower Patch

The night before the last photo shoot I went up to the plot to give everything a final water and to make sure it was looking at its best. The sense of relief that I was nearly there was almost overwhelming. Tomorrow would be the culmination of all my hard work. I allowed myself a few minutes where I felt a real sense of pride, and then panic took over. The site is quite visible from the main road, and although I hadn’t experienced any problems with vandalism other plots on the other side of the road had. A horrible thought suddenly struck me – ‘What would happen if my flowers were sabotaged over night?’. It sounds funny and more than a tad paranoid now when I look back but this was it, a year’s worth of work now in front of me. The idea that something could happen to it over night was too hard to contemplate. Wellyman, bless him, stayed watch at the plot until 11pm. He probably would have slept up there if I had let him but fortunately our rational brains kicked in and everything was where it needed to be the following day.

So, in less than 4 months the book will be out there, which is quite scary. Of course, that’s always the point but it was an abstract thought when I first started this. The other consequence will be I’ll no longer be just Wellywoman. My cover will be blown!! Oh yes, and I need to get use to the publicity stuff which doesn’t come particularly naturally. So I’d better not forget this bit.

The Cut Flower Patch is available to pre-order now on Amazon here in the UK and in America or from Waterstones. If you would prefer to buy from your local bookshop you can pre-order from there too.

And breathe

28 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by wellywoman in On the plot, Salad, Vegetables, Writing

≈ 29 Comments

Tags

blueberries, fruit netting, mangetout, successional sowing

Mangetout peas

Mangetout peas

I can’t believe it has been so long so I last posted. I’ve missed blogging but it has all been rather hectic here. My book deadline was today so the last few weeks have been spent writing, checking, writing some more, stressing about the weather and having photos taken. I have discovered a subconscious ability to predict rubbish weather. If anyone has a big event planned in the future but the date has yet to be confirmed you could ask me to pick the date and then go with the following day. So far every photo shoot has been cold, dull and decidedly not spring or summer-like. But as soon as Jason, the photographer, has left the clouds part and the sun comes out. It could have been worse, so far we’ve yet to be rained off but I’m touching wood as I write this, as I still have one photo shoot left. So fingers crossed July is wall to wall sunshine.

Yesterday I sent off the final draft of my book to my publisher. It was a strange feeling. With sweaty palms I spent quite a while rechecking and going to press the send button but not doing. A bit like when you’re a teenager wanting to phone up the boy/girl of your dreams but you can’t summon up the courage. It’s not as if I won’t see my words again. I now face the quite scary prospect of the editing process. But between now and October it should all start to come together and I’m really excited. Hopefully soon I should be able to say a bit more about it but for now I still have to keep it secret.

As well as the book it has been busy, busy, busy with plants. I’ve just about managed to keep up with the allotment. Of course there’s nothing like the prospect of having photos taken to spur on a weeding frenzy. My lettuce supply so far this spring and summer has been bountiful. I have more baby leaves coming through so I’m hoping for the holy grail of successional sowing this year . . . well with salads at least. I’ve been picking mangetout for the last few weeks and my broad beans are looking really healthy and are tantalizingly close to picking.

The first courgette

The first courgette

I’ve even got round to netting my blueberries and tayberry. Last year the blackbirds stripped 2 blueberry bushes dripping in unripe fruit. We didn’t get any, not a sausage. Much as I love birds and they do a good service in ridding my plot of slugs and snails I wasn’t planning on providing them with such fruity delights. I had looked into proper fruit cages but was taken aback at how expensive they are. So with Wellyman’s help we used some coppiced hazel poles and bamboo canes and made our own constructions for a fraction of the price. It was a bit of a faff and like any DIY job it always takes so much longer than you planned for. Hence us still being at the plot at 10pm one night wrestling with fruit netting.

Blueberries protected from rampaging birds

Blueberries protected from rampaging birds

Not everything has worked quite so well. The topsy-turvy weather has meant some plants have sulked. The courgettes are finally looking happier but my squashes are still sitting there doing very little. The ornamental hops that I planted to grow along a trellis panel have not taken kindly to the gale force winds that battered the plot in mid-June when the weather resembled November and not the start of summer. Still, there are always winners and losers. We all dream of that perfect year when everything grows well, but I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s just a pipe dream, the dangling carrot that brings us back for more each spring.

I always think that this is a strange time of year. It feels as if the summer has only just got going, in it’s typically British unpredictable way but in so many ways the garden is what it is now for the rest of the season. The cold spring this year really compressed that short window of opportunity we have to sow, plant and divide. I catch myself thinking ‘oh I wish I’d grown that this year’ or ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ Then curse myself that I’ll have to wait until NEXT spring now to carry out those ideas. Still that’s what it is all about. I really must find a notebook though and write down those ideas.

A Blogger’s View

05 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by wellywoman in Countryside, Writing

≈ 33 Comments

Tags

Bill Bryson, Cornwall, David Day, Good Gardens Guide, NASA, Norfolk, Troublesome Words, WiFi

I seem to be spending more and more of my time in front of my computer these days. Increasingly for work but also, of course, for blogging. Catching up on other blogs yesterday evening, I was struck by the thought of the people I have got to know ever so slightly via their blogs over the last year, and I wondered what they were looking at whilst they were composing their posts.

view from my computer

David Day painting – the view from my computer

I don’t actually have a view from my desk, it’s positioned in such a way that I’m staring into a corner. It does little to inspire but I suppose the upside is I don’t get distracted. Last year we finally got round to buying a painting to go above the desk. A painting of a local scene in really muted colours which captures the dark brooding hills and farmland around my village in Wales. The artist, David Day, used to be an architect and I love the buildings and the way he has drawn them with a flattened perspective. This style is more prominent in some of his other works. I just fell in love with this painting though. The sheep, the farmer, the white farm buildings and the looming form of the Skirrid, the hill in the background will always make me think of this part of the country, no matter where we live.

I often find myself drifting off and staring at it. In a very small way it connects me to the outside whilst I’m in front of the computer. We’ve had the painting nearly a year now and even though I see it pretty much every day I haven’t got sick of it.

Joining the computer on my desk is a peace lily. With yellowing leaves and crusty leaf tips it has that slightly unloved look most house plants seem to have, certainly in my house anyway. I haven’t managed to actually get this plant to flower since I bought it which is disappointing but not unusual apparently. So often the conditions in our homes aren’t suitable for the plants we grow indoors. Still I don’t mind too much, it adds a splash of greenery and it was voted by NASA as one of the best plants to grow to clean the air. A plant particularly useful for sticking next to electrical equipment as it can absorb the small levels of radiation given off by computers and also chemicals such as formaldehyde, given off by paint and soft furnishings.

view from my computer

There’s a selection of books including a bashed and battered dictionary that has seen me through A’ Levels and university, this has sat on many a desk and bookcase over the years. It isn’t the most comprehensive of word collections but suffices; I probably use the thesaurus more. An out of date Good Gardens Guide that my dad gave me, which is a useful reference guide and Bill Bryson’s Troublesome Words sit on the desk too. I first read the latter a few years ago and loved it. I’ve always been a huge fan of Bryson, an American writer, who has become an honorary Brit. Known mostly for his travel writing, Troublesome Words is one of his very early books written when he was working as a sub-editor for The Times newspaper. Inspired by having to use the English language and its glorious disorderliness every day he wrote this book to answer some of those questions that even the most educated get wrong. Peppered with some quite cringing examples of grammar and spelling misdemeanours by journalists, his book highlights the problems most of us encounter with our own language. Whether to use flaunt or flout, is there anything wrong with splitting an infinitive and whether you can start a sentence with ‘and’? After taking it out from the library again this year I decided I would buy myself a copy. I knew of a little second-hand bookshop in a town we were visiting whilst on holiday and thought I’d pop in. I couldn’t quite believe it when I saw it sitting on a shelf in the shop and for the bargain price of £3. For anyone who likes writing and language I can highly recommend it.

view from my computer

And finally, sat on the far corner of the desk is a collection of natural stuff, shells, pine cones and pretty stones picked up on walks. They remind me of particular places, my favourite beach in Cornwall, a woodland walk in Norfolk. Again these connect me to the outdoors even though I’m writing away on my keyboard. At the moment they have been arranged by Wellyman to sit on top of the router. He is trying to achieve the optimum range for the WiFi and has moved it about in an attempt to discover where this is. At the moment it seems it’s at the end of the desk with shells perched on top. I don’t think these are adding anything to the signal though.

I dream one day of having a view from my desk, maybe of my garden or of the sea. I’m sure I get more work done without one though. I’d love to know a little bit about what you see whilst you’re writing your blog.

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My latest book – The Crafted Garden

My latest book - The Crafted Garden

My latest book - The Crafted Garden

My Book – The Cut Flower Patch

My Book - The Cut Flower Patch. Available to buy from the RHS online bookshop.

The Cut Flower Patch – Garden Media Guild Practical Book 2014

The Cut Flower Patch - Garden Media Guild Practical Book 2014
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