Thursday 25 March 2021

Thursday

Jab day!   Yes folks, at half past eight this morning I had my second Pfizer injection.  My carer comes from seven thirty to eight thirty and was happy to take me.   My part of the agreement was to be up, washed, dressed and breakfasted before she came so that she could concentrate on getting all her usual jobs done before taking me.  This meant I got up at half past six and by the time she came I was more or less ready.

We arrived at the site with almost a quarter of an hour to spare and were allowed to drive right up to the door so that Priscilla and I could walk in in style.   There was already a long queue - socially distanced of course.   And as last time I came for my first jab, the volunteer marshall on my section happened to be a member of my Book Group so we were able to have a good discussion on 'Where the Crawdads sing' our book for this month (my choice).

I never felt a thing, sat for my quarter of an hour afterwards. came out and J brought me home   I had a coffee and a Bounty Bar as a treat after she had gone and then, an hour later than usual, I did the Times Mind Games.  My mind was really in gear this morning and I sailed through them (another morning and it would all be a struggle).   This was followed by my daily walk round the block.   I didn't feel like going but I know if I don't go - and keep my muscles working - there will come a day when I can't go.

Well so far that has been the highlight of my day.   But it is still only ha;lf past two so you never know - something else might happen.   All week I have been expecting my gardener to turn up to give my garden and lawn its Spring tidy but there has been no sign of him and if only I were mobile enough I would be out there with the secateurs cutting off some of the dead growth from last year.   But I am sure a week longer will do no harm - it is destined to turn cold tomorrow so last year's growth will give a bit of protection.

Today there is a lovely photograph of Princess Anne's daughter Zara, together with her husband the Rugby player  Mike Tindall- apparently yesterday she gave birth to their third child (a boy called Lucas Phillip) on the bathroom floor.  It is a nice touch that they have named him Phillip after his Grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh - who will be 100 in June.

 When Priscilla and I went on our walk late this morning I saw two signs of Spring.   Up here at 600 feet asl and in the North too Spring is always a little later arriving but as we walked along the footpath part of our daily routine I saw that the hawthorne hedge on the side which gets absolutely no sun at all was beginning to sprout new leaves.   When we were kids we used to pick these from the hedgerows - we called it 'bread and cheese '.   I remember we had a hawthorn hedge along the bottom of our garden when I was a child and when it was newly sprouting in the Spring if my mother was making a green salad she would go down the garden to cut a few bits of lettuce sprouting under glass, add a few sprigs of parsley from just inside the greenhouse in a pot and then pull just a few hawthorne sprigs.   The lot would be washed and chopped up small and seasoned and would make a nice salad with a couple of chopped up hard boiled eggs.   Try it sometime.

Also further along the path I walked under a tall evergreen tree and there, sadly, on the ground, was what looked like a blackbirds egg judging by the size and colour - it had presumably been robbed from a nest above - maybe by a magpie - dropped on the ground and the contents eaten.

My friends P and D who have recently moved, have a very large garden.   Yesterday they walked round Sizergh Castle, which is a short distance from where they are now living.   They walked round the garden and found something called 'A Stumpery' - they are now very enthusiastic about building one in part of their garden which is shady.  A stumpery is a shaded area which has tree stumps added, and logs and branches.   Mosses and fungi are encouraged (if you want to see some absolutely beautiful fungi go to 'By Stargoose and Hanglands' on my sidebar) and parts of it have ferns and hostas and other shade-loving plants.   Bulbs are planted for early interest - they said it was absolutely fascinating and they can't wait to get started.   If anyone has any knowledge of stumperies then they would appreciate your letting me know.  (they were very interested in your replies when I asked you the other day if you would have taken the photograph of the couple when out walking in these Covid times).

Well friends, that is definitely all for today.   See you tomorrow.


25 comments:

Jennifer said...

It's great to hear you've had your second jab! It will bring you peace of mind, I'm sure.

Enjoy the rest of your evening! (It's still lunchtime here across the pond!)

Christine said...

Well done, we're still waiting for our second jab, but my goodness you were up and ready early. Like you I try to walk each day but missed a couple of days, so walked a bit further today and the beautiful sunshine disappeared and I got drizzled on.. but as my hair is in such dire need of a trim, I didn't really mind! Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Derek Faulkner said...

I'm sure that Prince Charles has got a stumpery at Highgrove. I've got three miniature versions in my garden made out of rotting logs, they're so good for various insect life, plus some of my newts hibernate in them.
Got another four weeks till my second jab.

CharlotteP said...

Phillip is especially apt, as apparently he was born on the kitchen table!
Magpies are beautiful...but devils for destroying other birdlife...
Good news about your second jab...soon you can feel quite a bit safer.

Ellen D. said...

Congrats on the 2nd jab! I will have mine in a week or so and I will be so glad. How nice that you got out for your walk - it is cloudy and chilly here but I will get out for a walk also. Use it or lose it, right?!
I hung up my hummingbird feeder today even though it is weeks and weeks until they may show up. I thought I would just in case some "early birds" show up! Don't want to miss them.
Hope you have a nice evening!

Share my Garden said...

It sounds to have been a very good, productive day, although I don't envy you your early start! I get my second Oxford jab next Monday and am very pleased with how well our local surgery is performing.
The Coverdale book group discussed 'Crawdads' last month via zoom and it was a lively meeting with most people in agreement that it was a good read. I haven't been 'home' to Yorkshire now for well over a year but friends in the village attacked my garden last week and sent me an email to say that they had re-established the path to the door! God bless good-hearted Yorkshire folk.

JayCee said...

My goodness you have packed a lot into one day. It has been quite some time since I was up and around at that time of the morning.
I am glad that your second jab went so well. I had my first one today so hoping for no side effects.

Amanda said...

Never heard of eating new hedge leaves, but old-timers where I grew up in Appalachia were big on eating dandelion greens - the first new small leaves of dandelions. I found them to be a bit bitter for my taste, but my Dad loved them.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

You sound as though you're on great form today. Thanks for sending people my way to see the fungus!

Heather said...

You have done well today with that early start. Glad you have had your second jab, I hope to hear that mine is ready for me soon. Hope you enjoyed your Bounty Bar - the dark chocolate ones are my favourite.

Minigranny said...

Lovely to have had your second jab.Im looking forward to my second in April. I was intrigued by the Hawthorne leaves in a salad though I've heard of them being called bread and cheese.I did eat dandelion leaves as someone else mentioned when we lived in Greece.

The bike shed said...

Absolutely never heard of a stumpery - what a good idea for wildlife; bugs especially, but then they support others... Signs of spring everywhere - and in a way our jabs are that too - a signal of brighter days ahead.
And it's marvellous technology - how lucky we are

the veg artist said...

We have an area in our garden which we call The Fernery. In the summer it is is heavy shade from an oak tres, but it does get some winter sun. We've put in as wide a range of ferns as we could find, laid lengths of tree/logs, planted lily of the valley and bleeding heart, and keep adding autumn leaves as mulch and long lengths of logs as the others break down. It works really well in a part of the garden where nothing else would grow. Yes, Prince Charles has a fancy, garden-designer version at Highgrove!

Bovey Belle said...

Snap - I had my 2nd Pfizer jab yesterday. Very organized and well done. No nasty side-effects this time just my arm very slightly sore.

I remember visiting Sizergh Castle on my way back from taking middle daughter back to Uni in Durham. A lovely place. I hope your friends have a lovely Stumpery area. Here in Wales the air is so pure we have ferns growing on the trees, and so much Oak Moss that it is like the hanging Spanish moss on the trees in Gone with the Wind!

Susan said...

With your 2nd jab completed, in 2 weeks you are protected. Another good milestone! The stumpery is very interesting. Fungus and moss growing on rotting wood has a beauty all its own. Woodland gardens are one of my favorites, my ferns are prolific in dappled shade.

Mary said...

Onward and upward as they say Pat! We still have to be cautious even with the 2 jabs but I think you will agree we feel a lot safer!
A Stumpery sounds interesting - I should have kept my oak which was felled recently! I have heard that leaving logs, pruned shrubbery bits, along with other organic garden detritus does give safe haven to many garden birds and creatures in winter.

Joanne Noragon said...

So glad your are double jabbed. A lot of catching up with friends to do!

Cro Magnon said...

So, now that you're fully 'jabbed', I suppose you'll be off to the pub', the disco, Glastonbury, and the Costa del Sol.

Librarian said...

Hooray for your completed vaccination! I know very few people here who have had theirs; it is really embarrassing how badly organised and slow going it is in this country.
Nothing like spotting signs of spring to cheer us up on our walks! I saw two hares in a grassy field yesterday on my way home, a few minutes before sunset.

thelma said...

So glad your second jabbed, but I suppose a couple of weeks for it to take hold. Wish the weather would cheer up or at least warm up, tired of that westerly wind.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Glad you've had your second jab and it was all straightforward!

The Stumpery sounds amazing.

Tom Stephenson said...

An associate (I have long since stopped calling him a 'friend') built the stumpery for Prince Charles at Highgrove. Rustication is the theme, like grotto building.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks folks for your comments - absolutely no side effects so far.
All stumpery comments I have referred to my friends.

Rachel Phillips said...

It sort of helps if you have an old tree stump in the garden for starters.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes Rachel I am sure this is true - my friends are now searching for somewhere to get some__