We are still getting frosts overnight, so apart from some onion sets and shallots nothing is planted in the garden yet, the greenhouse is being used for early crops, carrots are sown in the border, lettuce in trays, peas in cells and broad beans in cells, all growing.

Sadly Thatcher's government killed off British manufacturing, we now really are Napoleon's nation of shop keepers, I worked as an engineer in various capacities, I had to move my family and go and work in a Japanese car factory, only job I could find in middle England in the 1990's.

Quite a blizzard, just now, being on the coast we don't usually get much snow, but it is settling, village a few miles in land has roads closed with 3 foot deep drifts, still I like the seasons.

Happy New Year

Black Grouse leks are not un common round here, but most involve a climb half way up a mountain, luckily I have found a possible location I can drive close to and a short-ish walk.

Raised beds and no digging is the way to go for a Septuagenarian, but I do miss it weirdly.

This is a Black Grouse, rather difficult to find, even though we do have quite a few of them, this was taken a few years ago, I am hoping to film them in the coming Spring
https://flic.kr/p/2pcZQim

I am still doing some filming, we have a red weather warning for snow, so if it's not too rough I hope to be out in it over the next few days . I am doing less stills photography, but I'll see if there's anything worth posting.

Already under way up here, Onions were sown a few weeks ago and are already shooting up in the conservatory, Red Baron again as we got on well with them last year.
Email came through to order seed tatties, so they are ordered, Anya, Rooster and Java, the later I have not grown before.

Good to see you back, Burnie, and hoping you are keeping well! Thankyou, it's been a relatively quiet year for me, but our youngest Grandson is going through a rough patch health wise, took the edge off it really. I hope you are well and I wish all posters here a Happy New Year as I may be busy for...

I'm in North East Scotland and grow mostly in three raised beds, I have noticed some crops begin really well in them then seem to fade away, carrots in particular. Now I crop rotate and have grown veg in the ground for 70 years now(with a short break when I was seeking my fame and fortune with a roc...

I know this is a horrible thought but, I have an awful feeling the forum might come to an end in the near future…..so I had a thought, and only if this did happen, do you think it would be worth looking to all join another forum….maybe we could choose one in advance and we all move over to it, if t...

Don't forget to throw a dead sheep under the new one when you plant it..................................................

I have had a mixture of success and fails, I sum up the summer thus, I have not had to top up the wildlife pond or the water butts and have cut the grass almost every week. A first for all of those things in the past decade, but it has been a bit warmer and a lot less Harr rolling in off the sea.

Summer has definitely gone here, foggy, raining with not a breath of wind.