“We haven't had rain for nearly two months (the covering of snow mid-April notwithstanding) and the ground is parched. We get the promise of rain with roiling clouds which then pass over without crying over our forgotten land [Ed: pretentious, much?] leaving blazing sunshine in its wake. (Oh woe for unseasonably gorgeous weather!)
The fields of wheat are turning brown two seasons too soon, the garden is alive but in stasis, yet the wildflowers and blossom of the countryside aren't bothered in the slightest! Vive La Nature!!"
My first Spring looking after a garden, and no rain. I mean, huzzah, because I can partake of a jolly good tramp around the countryside without worrying about slipping about in mud eight steps out of nine, but seven-and-a-bit weeks without rain? IN THIS PART OF SCOTLAND? This never happens even in the most Summery of Summers. No, scratch that. This just never happens, full stop.
Yet the earth along the track to Blebo begs to differ.
Yet the earth along the track to Blebo begs to differ.
I should have put something for scale in the photo, but that crack was about a foot long.
It's not like we've had record-breaking temperatures for the duration. It's been more of a long bake on a low heat than a short roast on a high setting! (Hey, look at that - culinary terminology in a non-Fake-Food-Blogger™ post - must mean that cooking lingo is starting to make sense in my old noggin at last!)
Still, it seems apt - the long leaves of the crops up Clatto Hill did look a little bit on the WE-SAID-FAHRENHEIT-NOT-CELSIUS side.
But for every desiccated piece of man-made ex-wilderness, there were ten examples of Mother Nature not giving a f*ck.
Broom
Perennial Cornflower
Common Dandelion
Red Campion
Gorse
Wild Violets
White Dead Nettle
It's not like we've had record-breaking temperatures for the duration. It's been more of a long bake on a low heat than a short roast on a high setting! (Hey, look at that - culinary terminology in a non-Fake-Food-Blogger™ post - must mean that cooking lingo is starting to make sense in my old noggin at last!)
Still, it seems apt - the long leaves of the crops up Clatto Hill did look a little bit on the WE-SAID-FAHRENHEIT-NOT-CELSIUS side.
But for every desiccated piece of man-made ex-wilderness, there were ten examples of Mother Nature not giving a f*ck.
Broom
Perennial Cornflower
Common Dandelion
Red Campion
Gorse
Wild Violets
White Dead Nettle
Bluebells
Wild Cherry
She just didn't care about the drought, our Màthair Nàdar, she merely changed her style of creating art from watercolours to pastels and chalk!
And Happy Birthday to my Granddad, who would have been 115 today. One day I'll get your garden back to it's full glory, promise xx
