Back from our holiday which we thoroughly enjoyed. Its always good to get away somewhere different for a change of scene, see new places and travel about. We visited beaches, Sutton hoo, West stow
anglo saxon museum, Colchester, Beth Chatto's gardens, Green Island Gardens, the reconstruction of the Sutton hoo boat, Hay on Wye, Hereford cathedral and it;s chain library and mappa mundi, walked along part of Offas dyke, RAF Cosworth, National waterways museum, Chester, Biddulph garden and Holden Clough nursery
A huge thank you to everyone who popped a donation into our
collection can for Breast Cancer Now this year and who came along to our
charity open days in partnership with Scotlands Garden Scheme. With £305 from
the charity days and £120 in the can (from our wee library donations, customer
change and willow rod purchases) we raised £425 in memory of my sister Mhairi
this year. Breast Cancer Now were a great support to her during her illness and
it means a lot to me that we can help them help others who are dealing with this
horrible disease. This November marks the 7th anniversary of her
death at the age of 45, leaving behind her husband Graeme and three children. It’s
a situation too many families go through and its heartbreaking. Funding of research,
understanding and finding cures is so important but the emotional and mental
support of those already dealing with cancer is vitally important too. So a
massive thank you to everyone who donated.
I love when a package arrives from a wee indi business beautifully wrapped and time taken to make the purchase feel special and a gift. Some stamps for my paintings 
I've been catching up on my favourite podcasts whilst catching up on things at home this week. I really enjoy listening to Gardens Illustrated podcast series and in particular this week Rosie Hardy and Monty Don, a lot of what they said resonates with me personally and with the nursery too. If you are looking for new podcasts then along with Scotland Grows Magazine podcast and BBC4's Gardeners Question time they will keep you going with gardening insights, new knowledge and some laughs while we can't get out into our frozen gardens this winter. FInd them wherever you get your podcasts 
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| Keeping it seasonal with a winter
landscape in a christmas bauble |
A chilly few days back home catching up with stuff in the house, warming porridge for breakfast, dog walks along the river and enjoying the chrysanthemum flowers I cut in the nursery on Sunday before the frost came.
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| Winter trees scene in keeping with the weather |
We are excited to launch our Christmas shop for 2024! There are a few items that can be posted and also handmade Christmas cards painted by Rona, our very own Quirky Bird Gardener and owner of Quercus Garden Plants. Including several new designs for 2024, either traditional and fun Christmas scenes or Crazy Maisie's Christmas Lol! These are prints of original paintings on A6 cards. Perfect for gifting or framing. Of course you can always gift one of our vouchers for any amount over £5.00 to use on any items in the nursery. See the link below for our Christmas shop.
I will also be having a stand at the Whitmuir Christmas shopping event on 8th December where you can also buy any of the items in the Christmas shop, plus, hyacinths in pots, bird feeders, bug hotels and so many more gardening gift ideas. If you want to order cards and collect on the 8th let me know. I will also now be in the nursery a few days a week getting on with all the big winter jobs we have this year, so get in touch and I can let you know what days you can collect 
Not often I see the sunrise at this time of year as I'm too busy hibernating. Up and out early this morning tho accompanied by this.
A chilly day in the nursery getting on with a new fence which kept us warm, David digging post holes and me barrowing all the materials along. There is still lots if interest with all the grasses and seedheads set off in some freezing late autumn sun. We were kept company with one of our robins and do not believe the sad Maisie faces, she was snug in the office in front of the heater! Great Carrot and Coriander soup from the Whitmuir cafe to heat us up at lunchtime. A good days' work starting one of our big winter jobs.
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Aster umbellatus
(Doellingeria umbellata) seedheads |
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Molinia caerulea subsp.
caerulea 'Dauerstrahl' |
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| Matteuccia struthopteris |
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| Robin keeping us company |
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| Late afternoon light |
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| Deschampsia cespitosa 'Goldtau' |
Another day fencing, making good progress, another day next week should finish that job, then it's on to the next one. Meanwhile this morning we had some snow flurries which fortunately came to nothing 
Yes, its that time of year........ mincemeat and christmas cake started
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| Christmas cake baked and mincemeat bottled |
It was time to deal with the out of hand spider plant in the bathroom today. I think David is worried it will grab him while he is at the loo 
So into the potting shed for a root prune, division and potting into two new pots (that the spider plant, not David just to be clear 
) Mean while David put up a new fangled plant hanger to create a cascading wall. Now our tiger really feels like she is in her own jungle 
If you are interested in house plants I've popped the link to my blog about house plants below.
Maisie Mouse and the christmas lights
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If you to see what's new and looking good at the nursery like our Facebook
Follow us on Instagram @quirkybirdgardener and Quercus Garden Plants
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What a holiday grand tour, you've been around! Lovely cards. I hope the Christmas fair goes well, and you get to hibernate too!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it was great to get away but I dont think we'll be in a rush to go to the far south again. Its so busy and the roads are awful, and the driving! We are both seasoned confident drivers but it was not pleasant. Round about Hey and north to Chester were much better. We had a successful christmas fair well supported by a lot of my regulars which was nice.
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