This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Tuesday 4 January 2011

2011 cold damage

Our big snow over Christmas caused a few problems - many people had burst pipes & there have been water shortages in NI affecting thousands of homes. I've been without water for awhile and had some problems with pipes and a little flooding. The weather also affected some areas of the garden. Pictured left is a water fountain; the base didn't take the cold very well and crumbled.

Pictured below: a few months ago the fountain was beginning to crumble a little... if only I'd sealed it before the weather got bad. Too late now!
Over the cold days I've been catching up on my reading. I came across an article entitled 'What does your hobby say about you?"  Here's what it said if you love gardening (a nice little compliment to all gardeners!):

'Gardening: You're a profound thinker!'
'When you garden, you're challenging yourself physically, and your planning and visualising, especially now that winter's here. No wonder cultivating a green thumb is one of the best ways to stay sharp and stave off degenerative diseases like dementia. You're super smart, and more than that, you're wise. After all, tending to your garden helps you develop a sense of inner calm and allows you to give back to the Earth at the same time.'  (source: Woman's World, 1/10/11).

Best wishes for 2011
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5 comments:

  1. Mark Willis4 January 2011 at 10:19

    Makes you feel quite smug, doesn't it?... though it's probably as reliable as the horoscope section on the following page. (I don't personally follow Woman's World, so I'm speculating about the horoscope section you understand!)
    Sorry to hear about the damage to your fountain. I know this is not in the same league, but some of the bricks I have been using to anchor my fleece have fallen apart in the cold weather too - just crumbled!

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  2. Egretta Wells blog4 January 2011 at 14:22

    I do hope there will be no more severe cold this winter! I liked your gardening quotes!

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  3. Hazel4 January 2011 at 15:12

    Until I visited Versailles, quite a few years ago, I had no idea how damaging the cold could be. I was amazed that they had all those huge pots they have down the main drag of the garden all wrapped up in blankets. I had to ask why. I don't know how you all stand it. Give me drought and flooding rains, locusts and snakes....and warmth any day.

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  4. ann4 January 2011 at 21:02

    Aren't we glad when the weather warms? It's cold here in Colorado too. A bit of snow over New Year's; none to the amount that you had, but bone chilling cold. So cold that our heated horse tank froze. Fortunately no damage. I like your definition of a gardener, so let's get our gardening catalogues out, bookmark our fav web links, start our plans for spring. cheers. ann

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  5. Jo5 January 2011 at 01:49

    Sorry to hear that you've been one of the casualties of the water problems. I hope you get your water back on soon and that the flooding hasn't caused too much damage. What a shame about your fountain. Some of the bricks in my wall have just disintegrated with the frosts.

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