Hi Everyone.

It's been a long time and life's changed a lot, but a little bird told me
that my name had been mentioned in dispatches earlier in the month and I
thought it might be time to catch up with old friends.

Jenny C was right - new house and new garden to start on............. Sadly
David (who some of you will remember from the urgmeet of 2000) died two
years ago, so it's been a time of adjustment, challenge and learning to be
independent. This move really is the start of a new chapter in my life which
I'm really looking forward to.

The old bellsbarn website is no more - Demon's tortuous procedure for
moving a broadband account finally killed it off (6 weeks of progressively
more fraught phone calls, more stressful than the house move itself!!), but
I hope to re-institute the geranium pages when I have time, and to produce
some new home pages to show the work on the new garden.

Briefly, it's a small cottage garden which has been worked for the last 200
years. The soil is wonderful - black, crumbly and so easy to dig; a big
change from the clay at Bellsbarn which is only a mile up the road.
I'm finding it hard to be patient and see what grows - from what I can see,
there is a multiplicity of all my least favourite plants. A spirea I've
hated since childhood which I've removed several specimens of, a huge
evergreen something or other that was taking up an entire flowerbed to
itself - this has gone too, after hours of fun with a bow saw, a ratchet and
pulley, a chain saw, the help of assorted neighbours, numerous cups of
coffee and several packets of chocolate hobnobs!!! I've also risked life and
limb up a cherry tree in my wellies removing the branches which were
catching on the mains electricity cable!

First important thing is to install a decent shed as I've no garage - at the
moment guests have to share the spare bedroom with my garden tools! Once
I've got that sorted I can set about redesigning the garden - a pond is a
must have, once I've decided the best position for it.

That's most of the news for now, other than I'm now working at a local
nursery( www.mercastontreecompany.com ). It sells mature and semi-mature
trees, shrubs and topiary....... summer days clipping the cypress spirals
were glorious, though it's less fun now the weather is getting
colder!However, my terms of employment state that I don't have to go in if
it rains - what could be more perfect:-)

Jill

Hi Jill it's lovely to see you back at last. Good luck with the new
garden; working at a nursery has to be a good place to start :-)

Janet

Hi Jill it's lovely to see you back at last. Good luck with the new
garden; working at a nursery has to be a good place to start :-)

Janet
wot janet said plus chin up and good luck :-)

kate

"Jill" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone.

It's been a long time and life's changed a lot, but a little bird told me
that my name had been mentioned in dispatches earlier in the month and I
thought it might be time to catch up with old friends.

Jenny C was right - new house and new garden to start on.............
Sadly David (who some of you will remember from the urgmeet of 2000) died
two years ago, so it's been a time of adjustment, challenge and learning
to be independent. This move really is the start of a new chapter in my
life which I'm really looking forward to.

The old bellsbarn website is no more - Demon's tortuous procedure for
moving a broadband account finally killed it off (6 weeks of progressively
more fraught phone calls, more stressful than the house move itself!!),
but I hope to re-institute the geranium pages when I have time, and to
produce some new home pages to show the work on the new garden.

Briefly, it's a small cottage garden which has been worked for the last
200 years. The soil is wonderful - black, crumbly and so easy to dig; a
big change from the clay at Bellsbarn which is only a mile up the road.
I'm finding it hard to be patient and see what grows - from what I can
see, there is a multiplicity of all my least favourite plants. A spirea
I've hated since childhood which I've removed several specimens of, a huge
evergreen something or other that was taking up an entire flowerbed to
itself - this has gone too, after hours of fun with a bow saw, a ratchet
and pulley, a chain saw, the help of assorted neighbours, numerous cups of
coffee and several packets of chocolate hobnobs!!! I've also risked life
and limb up a cherry tree in my wellies removing the branches which were
catching on the mains electricity cable!

First important thing is to install a decent shed as I've no garage - at
the moment guests have to share the spare bedroom with my garden tools!
Once I've got that sorted I can set about redesigning the garden - a pond
is a must have, once I've decided the best position for it.

That's most of the news for now, other than I'm now working at a local
nursery( www.mercastontreecompany.com ). It sells mature and semi-mature
trees, shrubs and topiary....... summer days clipping the cypress spirals
were glorious, though it's less fun now the weather is getting
colder!However, my terms of employment state that I don't have to go in if
it rains - what could be more perfect:-)

Jill
Welcome back, I almost envy your garden challenge. You have blotted your
copy book already by offering such a tempting website.
The best of luck and look forward to hearing more from you.

The message
from "Rupert" contains these words:



Welcome back, I almost envy your garden challenge. You have blotted your
copy book already by offering such a tempting website.

Yes, full of pictures of Monty Don on opening day..did you meet him Jill?

(also tickled to see they have an internet service called "Ask our
experts". That's the benefit of employing an expert gardener :-)

Janet

On 7/12/05 13:28, in article , "Jill"
wrote:

Hi Everyone.

It's been a long time and life's changed a lot, but a little bird told me
that my name had been mentioned in dispatches earlier in the month and I
thought it might be time to catch up with old friends.

Lovely to have you back!

Jenny C was right - new house and new garden to start on............. Sadly
David (who some of you will remember from the urgmeet of 2000) died two
years ago, so it's been a time of adjustment, challenge and learning to be
independent. This move really is the start of a new chapter in my life which
I'm really looking forward to.

I'm very sorry to hear of the sad news but it's clear you're treating life
as you expect it to treat you - good for you.

The old bellsbarn website is no more - Demon's tortuous procedure for
moving a broadband account finally killed it off (6 weeks of progressively
more fraught phone calls, more stressful than the house move itself!!), but
I hope to re-institute the geranium pages when I have time, and to produce
some new home pages to show the work on the new garden.

Briefly, it's a small cottage garden which has been worked for the last 200
years. The soil is wonderful - black, crumbly and so easy to dig; a big
change from the clay at Bellsbarn which is only a mile up the road.
I'm finding it hard to be patient and see what grows - from what I can see,
there is a multiplicity of all my least favourite plants. A spirea I've
hated since childhood which I've removed several specimens of, a huge
evergreen something or other that was taking up an entire flowerbed to
itself - this has gone too, after hours of fun with a bow saw, a ratchet and
pulley, a chain saw, the help of assorted neighbours, numerous cups of
coffee and several packets of chocolate hobnobs!!! I've also risked life and
limb up a cherry tree in my wellies removing the branches which were
catching on the mains electricity cable!

Lazy as ever, I see! ;-)

First important thing is to install a decent shed as I've no garage - at the
moment guests have to share the spare bedroom with my garden tools! Once
I've got that sorted I can set about redesigning the garden - a pond is a
must have, once I've decided the best position for it.

I think the garden tools idea is brilliant - get those guests earning the
morning fry up!

That's most of the news for now, other than I'm now working at a local
nursery( www.mercastontreecompany.com ). It sells mature and semi-mature
trees, shrubs and topiary....... summer days clipping the cypress spirals
were glorious, though it's less fun now the weather is getting
colder!However, my terms of employment state that I don't have to go in if
it rains - what could be more perfect:-)


Sounds good. I hope you keep posting and keep us up to date with your
progress and that of your garden. Welcome back.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Rupert" contains these words:



Welcome back, I almost envy your garden challenge. You have blotted your
copy book already by offering such a tempting website.

Yes, full of pictures of Monty Don on opening day..did you meet him
Jill?

(also tickled to see they have an internet service called "Ask our
experts". That's the benefit of employing an expert gardener :-)

Janet

Guess what? I have asked them a question.
How do you stop someone nicking a tree valued at pounds 5999 ?

"Jill" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone.

It's been a long time and life's changed a lot, but a little bird
told me that my name had been mentioned in dispatches earlier in the
month and I thought it might be time to catch up with old friends.

Jenny C was right - new house and new garden to start
on............. Sadly David (who some of you will remember from the
urgmeet of 2000) died two years ago, so it's been a time of
adjustment, challenge and learning to be independent. This move
really is the start of a new chapter in my life which I'm really
looking forward to.

The old bellsbarn website is no more - Demon's tortuous procedure
for moving a broadband account finally killed it off (6 weeks of
progressively more fraught phone calls, more stressful than the
house move itself!!), but I hope to re-institute the geranium pages
when I have time, and to produce some new home pages to show the
work on the new garden.

Briefly, it's a small cottage garden which has been worked for the
last 200 years. The soil is wonderful - black, crumbly and so easy
to dig; a big change from the clay at Bellsbarn which is only a mile
up the road.
I'm finding it hard to be patient and see what grows - from what I
can see, there is a multiplicity of all my least favourite plants. A
spirea I've hated since childhood which I've removed several
specimens of, a huge evergreen something or other that was taking up
an entire flowerbed to itself - this has gone too, after hours of
fun with a bow saw, a ratchet and pulley, a chain saw, the help of
assorted neighbours, numerous cups of coffee and several packets of
chocolate hobnobs!!! I've also risked life and limb up a cherry tree
in my wellies removing the branches which were catching on the mains
electricity cable!

First important thing is to install a decent shed as I've no
garage - at the moment guests have to share the spare bedroom with
my garden tools! Once I've got that sorted I can set about
redesigning the garden - a pond is a must have, once I've decided
the best position for it.

That's most of the news for now, other than I'm now working at a
local nursery( www.mercastontreecompany.com ). It sells mature and
semi-mature trees, shrubs and topiary....... summer days clipping
the cypress spirals were glorious, though it's less fun now the
weather is getting colder!However, my terms of employment state that
I don't have to go in if it rains - what could be more perfect:-)

Jill

Lovely to see you back here Jill, so sorry to hear about David.
Now about these Geraniums I can't identify........................

--
Rod

My real address is rodtheweedygardeneratmyweedyisp
Just remove the weedy bits
and transplant the appropriate symbol at.

"Jill" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone.

It's been a long time and life's changed a lot, but a little bird told me
that my name had been mentioned in dispatches earlier in the month and I
thought it might be time to catch up with old friends.

Jenny C was right .....
snip

Hi
Glad I managed to tempt you back :~))
Now we only have to get Tony, Anton and Pete as well .............!
Jenny

The message
from "Jill" contains these words:

Hi Everyone.

It's been a long time and life's changed a lot, but a little bird told me
that my name had been mentioned in dispatches earlier in the month and I
thought it might be time to catch up with old friends.

Hello Jill - long time no see. I hope you'll be staying.

--
Tony
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Thanks to all of you for your welcome and kind comments. It's good to be
back in the company of old friends.

In answer to the various remarks:-

I didn't get to meet Monty Don - didn't start work at the nursery until
later in the year - but the people who did enjoyed his company.

As for the 'Ask the Experts' on the website - I'm not involved with that;
much of the nursery stock is outside anything I have grown before or have
much knowledge of, so I'm on a steep learning curve!!! The hope is to sort
out the plant names over the winter when things are a bit quieter.

How do you stop somebody nicking a tree worth £5999.............. well, the
only one I can think of at that price would need specialist heavy lifting
gear and transporters to move it. Anyone that determined would probably risk
running the gauntlet of most security devices:-(

Hope to be able to join in some of the questions - my gardening knowledge is
a bit rusty and in need of sharpening up after a couple of years off -
definitely in need of some memory jogging. I refuse to admit that senior
moments are starting to happen to me too!!!

Jill

"Jill" wrote in message
...

so I'm on a steep learning curve!!!

No-No-No- Too much management speak.
You are in an ignorance trough!

So much easier to escape --just roll over the sides.