cheer yourself up in the garden!

What a load of gloom and doom - if the weather wasn't enough to heap the depression on then the financial news certainly would. Which is why I have put on this nice picture of these wonderfully colourful pelargonium (Ashby) taken at this year's Chelsea.Go on look at it and cheer up.

Gardeners are lucky in many ways because it has been proven that to work in a garden helps us health wise - we can get rid of a lot of stress in our gardens - so if it would stop raining long enough I would gladly go out in mind and get some much needed R & R away from the newspapers and t.v.

I was cheered up the other day when a little book called 'The Gardeners' Book for the Gardener who's Best at everything" landed on my mat. It's a lovely little essential handbook that every novice gardener will benefit from, containing tips, advice, quotes and sayings. Written by Diana Craig and Published by Michael O'Mara Books Ltd., it will make a great Christmas Gift.

Thinking of Christmas I have decided to stock in on Porridge because it might be all we can afford to eat when the time comes. Each day the news gets grimmer, the rain falls heavier and the garden looks like it has been hit by a meteor.

We are busy working on the website for a relaunch so my little fingers are worked to the bone but at least I do not have to look out of the window at the rain.

Recently spent a wonderful weekend in Dublin at a family wedding and much enjoyment was had too. The Irish are a warm and friendly lot and needless to say the crack was good too. And you know what? It didn't rain, what joy, even able to walk in St Stephen's Green Gardens and enjoy the colourful flowers. No coat! Just bliss.

We are now looking toward Christmas and will be posting some present ideas on the website so keep logging on. Try not to get too depressed, there is always someone worse than ourselves and every cloud has a silver lining, so they say!

My silver lining this week has been the fact that my geranium cuttings seem to have taken, small pleasures but big satisfaction eh!