Snow is Falling on My Hair

Here in S.E.England light snow has been falling and settling for most of the day. When I took two black bin bags to the rubbish bin I couldn't believe how cold it was. By the time I came back into the warmth of my house snow had not only fallen onto my hair it had settled, and I was shivering. However, the sight of a bouquet of yellow roses given to me by guests who came to lunch today, and a vase of pink carnations brought a touch of summer to my house.

Revision, 'Writerly' Activities and Snow

My New Year Resolution was to blog daily. I've broken it.. This weekend was taken up by family. I treasure my time with them so, as the saying goes, I went with the flow, and enjoyed myself.

Today, apart from beginning to revise a novel set in the reign of Queen Anne Stuart, 1702-1714, I began to tackle a backlog of writerly activities. After that I planned to sow seeds in containers which fit into a heated propagator but when I looked out of the window I saw a winter wonderland of snow and ice. Instead of sowing seeds I continued decluttering my house. I'm still going through files full of my short stories, cuttings, letters and other material, keeping some and discarding a lot.

Revision and A Change of Scene

I'm one third of the way through my novel set in Edward II's reign and looking forward to researching and writing the sequel.

Due to the snow I haven't been out and about much so I'm more than pleased with my change of scene. I'm spending tonight and tomorrow night with my youngest son and his family. His older son made me laugh, he wants to be an author when he grows up if he can make a living at it.

Snow versus gardening

Covered with snow the garden looks very pretty, however, by now the curly kale will be too tough to eat.


I can't wait for the snow to go so that I can sow micro greens, lettuce and tomatos, as well as going to buy new potatoes to chit. For the uninitiated chitting potatos means putting them in separate spaces in a warm dark place and waiting for them to sprout before planting them out.

Every year, I grow something new. I'm tossing up between a grape vine, a nectarine or kiwi fruit,

England and Kenya

The view from my back garden is spectacular. The withered hydrangea flowers covered with snow look like large pompoms. Every branch is outlined with snow and the top of the native hedges around the garden look as though they have been iced by a giant hand.

In spite of the intense cold I am glad to be in England. When I lived in Kenya for 20 years I missed the changing seasons, each one with its own beauty. However, I do miss the Kenyan coast with coconut plams, white sand and warm sea, I also miss the trips to National Parks in the days when I saw herds of elephants, lions, giraffes zebras, wildebeeste and many other animals. Yet, today, I would not exchange my somewhat privileged life for my life in England.

More Retail Therapy

Although snow was falling this morning, it wasn't settling, so my daughter and I decided to return to Dunelm for some more retail therapy. I bought a very comfortable Memory Foam Mattress for an excellent price, some artificial sweet peas, which look realistic, to put in a vase on the windowsill on the landing, a large new wok and a nifty little chopper that is just right for herbs. As I grow a lot of herbs to make teas and for culinary purposes it will be very useful.


There are loads of goodies in the sale that will conclude at the end of January so we will probably go back once more.