Black dog descends...

28th October, 2017

Halfterm hijinks don’t help with the gardening!

You probably don’t expect my trip to the British Library to see a Harry Potter show to have anything to do with my gardening blog but... it did and I found reference to another of my favourite plants, helleborus Niger, which I do remember appearing in the books and being surprised. I was pleasantly surprised by the background knowledge, from mandrake to folklore to props, that went into the whole 7-book series, and going to this exhibition raised the books in my eyes. Such that some little hellebores were brought home from the supermarket today...

Planting this afternoon? Bulbs and seeds desperately needing planted too. I also chopped a lot of the hawthorn before the holiday and the green bin was emptied so there is room for me to fill it again.

And what was one reason I raised the black dog earlier? I was wiped out after our 12k steps on a London day and woke at 3 am on Thursday and 5 on Friday which doesn’t help me get through a school holiday normally but in stopping my medication (Rebif) my moods have been (largely) more positive. But I turn over lots of things in my head when insomnia hits. We have had builders quotes and I so much want to get started it’s not funny. I desperately want to have a home I feel proud of but which mostly smells of damp. The bedrooms needing plastered have affected our breathing and having sent jobs out for prices we need to discuss what gets done... again this added to my ‘black dog’ moment! 

We are also looking after our little ‘borrowed’ black doggie and it has meant gardening has not been possible but he goes home tonight (owners flight permitting) and yes I’ll miss him but my feeling that a dog of our own at the moment is not a possibility will be reinforced by my poop picking this afternoon...