December 2005

Not much going on in the garden this month - most time consumed with Christmas preparations, present making and visiting family & friends.

1 A new project started today.  I've been wanting to compile my family tree for some time so I registered with Genes Reunited and keyed in a few current family members to try out their Tree software.
2 Up in the loft today to retrieve the Christmas tree and decorations.  Just love to decorate the house for Christmas.  Seeing the six foot fibre optic tree in all its glory just makes me smile......

Quite a surprise to receive a message from a fellow Genes Reunited user, about my uncle.  He has quite a bit of family tree already for my mother's father and has put me in contact with someone searching for her nan's cousins, one of whom is my mother !!!!!  What a stroke of luck to the start of my project.
3 Crow is doing a rally tonight, so I'm going out marshalling for the first time.  Not tried to stay up all night for over 25 years, when I was at university.  Then I don't think I ever made it.  Wonder how I will fair?
4 Preston rally spectating Well, that wasn't too bad.  I did snooze a couple of times but was otherwise amazed at my ability to stay awake.  Marshalling was quite demanding for those recording times etc. but I was just chief torch bearer.

After nearly non-starting (very late arrival of driver), Crow and his driver did finish the event, which is renowned for being particularly hard on vehicles.

(Pictured here standing out in the cold & dark, spectating at an airfield section and standing in some kind of slurry that I'd rather not remember!  Made a mess in the car though.)
6-9 A visit to my brother and his wife in Flintshire.
11 Friends round for lunch.  Menu: smoked pepper mackerel pate, rich beef stew with mashed white/sweet potatoes and mashed coriander carrot & swede followed by iced xmas pudding and 
cheese board (cheddar, emmental, white stilton with cranberries). Yum yum!
12 A rare appearance of the sewing machine to make 26 inch square pillowcases (can't be found in the shops) for a birthday gift.  Made special with embroidered flowers.
15 Green woodpeckerGreen woodpecker A green woodpecker visited our garden.
16 More time spent this week deciding on how to best research my family tree.  This could take over my life while the garden is undemanding.
18 Pruned some bushes outside of our bedroom window today, as they have grown too tall and are very "leggy".  No science to it I'm afraid, I just chopped them down to size with loppers, secateurs and wood saw, as required.
20 Planted 3 raspberry canes today, obtained from a free offer in Grow Your Own magazine.  (You'll soon learn that I love something for nothing!) 
Have chosen a part sunny, part shaded position in the vegetable garden where I think other items might struggle to grow.
Also, a spot where they can be left for several years without affecting the other crop rotation. 
Dug soil and loaded with well rotted horse manure as I've read they are hungry plants. Also included some sand to help with the clay soil drainage and wood ash from our fire. 
22 More great family tree progress.  My mum arrived for Christmas with a batch of papers from my dad's cousin - giving me a head start on my dad's side of the tree.
26 Chick Boxing Day run finishTook part in the Witham Boxing Day 5 mile run today.  My jogging is pretty slow these days, so I came in at 440th in a time of 54min 40 sec (sorry it's such a dreadful sight).  Crow did better at 255th in 40min 41sec.Crow Boxing Day run finish

 

 
27 Luckily, just made the airport trip for my mum's flight home before the snow really set in, making the back road to our house quite tricky.
28 Card making today - a New Year card for special friends, a wedding anniversary card for my brother and a birthday card.  This taxes my creative brain, but I do enjoy it!
30 Ordered a Hinari HBM230 Variable Loaf Twin Paddle Breadmaker today - half price at Tesco.com.  Will report its success next month.
31 Yippee - the snow has gone, so we can get back out on the road jogging again.

Planted our first fruit tree today - a Cox's Orange Pippin.  Crow did the heavy digging and compost carrying, whilst I made the technical decisions regarding planting depth, tree support and drainage bottle (see Fruit Garden for more detail).

This evening we're seeing in the New year with friends in Chelmsford.