I bought this little fella four years ago, Christmas 2019, from the garden centre in Kirkwall. The pot was full of flowers and the plant kept flowering all through that cold winter through to the following spring. In fact it only stopped flowering this year for a couple of months in June and July, then, much diminished for the first time, it started flowering all over again. All I do is top up the water in the plastic saucer every day and as you can see there are three flowers on it now and one bud about to open. Hard to believe I only paid a fiver and it is still alive. Not bad for the money eh?
This post is mainly about surviving and growth. I planted up a number of galvanised buckets just before the springtime, adding some existing grotty square plastic pots as the year progressed. The spring bulbs came and went, the summer bulbs came and went and the hardy fuchsias just went and never lived. The dahlias looked good (I hadn’t propagated them, Bryan my neighbour a mile away did and he kindly passed them on to me). My snow in summer seeds actually grew this year, I’ve killed previous attempts in the past so I’m rather proud of these three plants.
Pictured below before, at the end of August:
The three empty pots held freshly planted seed potatoes but a freak wind chill killed them off in September. I wasn’t pleased. The chives were fine until the middle of November.
Above, this is what they look like now, all bedraggled but in a month’s time there will be daffodil buds peeking through the soil, with luck and a following wind. You can see the fat balls in the bird feeder. We have sparrows, starlings, blackbirds and a couple of robins that visit every day so I have to keep the feeder full. As soon as they see me peering out the window they fly away, ungrateful ….!
Last week I had a bit of a surprise, the post brought me 15 strawberry plants that I had ordered and forgotten about. I had to set about preparing the beds for them as they had to be planted immediately. I have repurposed the old cold frame as the glass had passed its useful time and I replaced it with white micromesh. Pictured above is how the frame looked just before the plants arrived. They were delivered at 3:00pm just as it was starting to go dark, and by the time they were in the ground both the plants and I were drenched, but at least the job had been done. The new plants will now be kept out of the wind, protected from the annoying pheasants and rock doves that have started visiting here more frequently. They are a pest as far as I am concerned.
All that preamble is to tell you that everything is carrying on as usual here. There are very few visitors about, which is just as well as the weather has been somewhat horrible with wind, rain and cancelled ferries. Hopefully it’s getting all this bad weather out of the way and so keeping the grass fresh and the roads nicely watered for when the visitors return in the new year. Farmers now have their beasts inside in preparation for the winter weather but the sheep are still in the fields. Westray really is just one big working farm, which is what I think makes it so attractive to visitors from south. Safe quiet roads, fantastic views, friendly locals and extremely well-stocked shops and yes, we do have petrol pumps here with sensibly priced fuel.
Most bed and breakfasts, self catering cottages and especially the hotel are still open, and some will be getting a lick of paint and a general spruce-up now it is the quiet time, as this island is well-known for its high standard of hospitality. I remember my first visit here over thirty years ago and I was made very welcome wherever I wandered that hot April week. Nobody had warned me to take some sun screen with me; we are a little more enlightened nowadays.
The shortest day is rapidly approaching which suits me fine because as soon as it is January the nights will be getting lighter with a new year and all it offers.
As it is now sort of winter, Christmas is nearly here, and by way of a Christmas card, I have a lovely sonnet for you below by John Clare to finish off the year. (I like sonnets) and a drawing of our local sheep, with some coloured stars for atmosphere and respect for the festive season.
Sheep in Winter
The sheep get up and make their many tracks
And bear a load of snow upon their backs,
And gnaw the frozen turnip to the ground
With sharp quick bite, and then go noising round
The boy that pecks the turnips all the day
And knocks his hands to keep the cold away
And laps his legs in straw to keep them warm
And hides behind the hedges from the storm.
The sheep, as tame as dogs, go where he goes
And try to shake their fleeces from the snows,
Then leave their frozen meal and wander round
The stubble stack that stands beside the ground,
And lie all night and face the drizzling storm
And shun the hovel where they might be warm.
John Clare
Here’s a thought for you, our lambs should be with us late April-May and later still for the stragglers. If you are thinking of coming to Westray, now is a good time to book your accommodation. You will find lots of information at Orkney.com
I wish all readers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2024.
I expect to have a new post around New Year time.