One Year On

Tags

Facebook, my plot, Twitter, Wellyman, wellywoman

I’m quite embarrassed by the state of my wellies.

So today is the first anniversary of Wellywoman. A kind of birthday, I guess. It was hubby’s idea, knowing the looming prospect of winter and the effect low light levels have on my well-being, he suggested I give writing a blog a go, as a bit of a distraction until spring came. And so Wellywoman and Wellyman were born.

I have to admit, I have always been a bit of a technophobe and a late adopter when it comes to new technology. A year ago I didn’t get any of this social media stuff and now, well there are aspects of it that I still don’t like and you’ll never convince me about Facebook but I can now say I can’t imagine life without blogging. I’m even on Twitter.

For me, sitting at the computer seemed the antithesis of everything I love about gardening; the outdoors, fresh air, birdsong and getting my hands dirty but what has surprised me most is that writing about my plot, my garden and plants, in general, has made me appreciate them all the more. I thought I might struggle to find ideas to write about but actually wanting to write has made me seek out new places, people and plants, whilst looking at what has been around me for years in a new light.

On the face of it, blogging possibly wasn’t going to work for me as diary-keeping has never been a strong point. I was given a diary for my thirteenth birthday. It seems to be quite a rite of passage for a teenage girl to keep a diary. Most of my friends were very good at it, but I was rubbish. I’d write maybe once a month and then, even that dwindled. I’d occasionally have a spurt of writing activity but then I got engrossed in other interests. I think it was the writing about the minutiae of daily life that didn’t really appeal, I did love writing and research though and ended up doing a lot of this in my previous life and I didn’t really realise how much I had missed it until I started writing again. Somehow I’ve managed to write 115,192 words over the last year for my blog, so maybe I can finally say I cracked this diary writing.

Wellywoman has introduced me to people I wouldn’t have ordinarily met and given me opportunities I wouldn’t have thought possible a year ago. But the best bit about blogging has been discovering a whole community out there of passionate people who love the good things in life, plants, wildlife, food and books, as much as I do. Gardening tends to be a solitary pastime or job. For some, this is part of the attraction. I’ve met some gardeners/nursery owners who really seem to dislike the intrusion of other people, even if they are customers, into their space but I think most gardeners are actually very social people. Well, my experience from blogging, and more recently Twitter, certainly seems to back this up. There are some who have formed real friendships through the blogosphere, those who swap seeds and plants and those who share the highs and lows of life, in general.

For me, blogs provide a source of inspiration, hints and tips and personal views that are not possible through any other form of media. I love the honesty I have found in people’s writing. There is an immediacy that is especially appealing about blogging. I’m reading a book at the moment about the plant hunters and collectors of 18th century, when it used to take months for letters to reach their destination. The tensions and disputes that resulted because of misunderstandings and the time lag between explanations is amusing and quite incomprehensible in our modern world of instant communications. That’s not to say blogging and Twitter don’t come with their problems but, so far, the best bits far outweigh any negatives.

So, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who pops along to read my blog. I hope you like what you find. To all those who leave a comment, I really appreciate it, to hear your thoughts and suggestions make the difference between just writing and actually engaging. To those fellow UK gardening bloggers, you have been a source of solace and inspiration, in what has been a particularly difficult growing year.

To those from overseas, thank you for adding a different perspective. I find it fascinating to read about a shared passion from places as diverse as America, Italy, South Africa and Tasmania.

It has been a real pleasure to hear from you all. Here’s to another year of blogging.

The Story Behind the Name

Tags

Hunters, wellies, wellywoman

Me and my wellies

Over at Garden Faerie’s Musings, Monica got to thinking what was the story behind blog names and so she has written a post encouraging people to share why they chose their blog name. I’ve loved reading about where people have taken their inspiration from, whether it be a book, a relative or the landscape around them.

So I thought I’d share with you why I became ‘wellywoman’. To answer Green Tapestry’s question about whether I have wellies permanently welded to my feet, no I don’t, although there are times here in Wales when I feel I should. There’s a reason why the countryside is so green, it does rain quite a lot.

I wanted to have wellies in my name because when I’m wearing them I’m doing something I love, whether that is working in my garden, tending the allotment or walking in the countryside. From mid March to mid October I’m probably in my wellies everyday. I used to garden in walking boots because they were so warm and comfy but they were such a pain to get off in a hurry, for example needing the toilet or to answer the phone without treading half the garden onto the kitchen floor. Invariably my jeans would get wet and muddy and I was also suffering from a lot of insect bits on my legs. And then one Christmas Wellyman got me some lovely green Hunters. Now I wouldn’t be without them.

I love going to the allotment in my scruffy jeans and wellies because it isn’t about your image and what you look like. Don’t get me wrong I like nice clothes and shoes but I am the sort of person that gets dressed up and then ladders my tights and leans against something ending up with a dirty mark on my dress or cuts my finger but doesn’t realise until I’ve left a trail of blood over my clothes. I was in awe of Joanna Lumley and the white trousers she wore for her travels around Greece for her recent TV programme. I think I’m more of a paint and mud splattered jeans and wellies kind of girl.

I was actually going to be ‘wellygirl’ but discovered someone from Wellington, New Zealand already had this name. Although they hadn’t posted on their blog for a long time which miffed me slightly. So that’s when ‘wellywoman’ came about. To be honest, I’m in my mid thirties now so ‘girl’ was probably stretching it a bit anyway.

So that’s the story behind ‘wellywoman’. I just want to say thanks to Garden Faerie for this great idea. Why not go over to her blog and share the story behind your name.