New arrivals and goodbye to old friends

Peedie and I are very excited!

Lot of lovely comments on the blog - thank you all. We've hit the heady mark of 37 followers (although 2 of them are me and my other half...............!)  :) I can't imagine why so many people follow and read but I'm so glad that you do! It makes life up here in the north nicer being able to share it with you all. Again, I thank you! I started blogging after I had a diagnosis for dyslexia during my PhD annual assessment - at my age (40!), a bit wierd, I'd got all the way through an Msc without finding out!

I've always loved writing and the diagnosis, whilst it made more sense, after I found out more about it, was a bit unnerving. Would I be able to write properly? For a long enough time I think it really took the wind out of my sails - I'm not embarrassed to have it, it explains alot of the way my brain works but it did knock my confidence hard. I'm almost at the end of another post graduate study - a lower qualification thesis is being constructed as we speak - but my normal confidence with all things to do with making myself understood, in written language really took a battering.

This blog is helping so much and I always appreciate the time folk take to read. Its helping me regain my confidence in writing. Writing is fun, I really enjoy it and this is improving my confidence every day. Thank you!

On a completely different topic, today I am very sad, but excited - 6 chillis which were cut back hard in the autumn are bursting back to life - one looks a bit dodgy (in the manner of an ex-parrott in Monty Python) and 3 have definitely shuffled off thi mortal coil and have been put into the new veggie bed as 'under compost'.

To be honest whilst I'd read you could cut back chillis and grow them again I was doubtful of - however - blow me down - its worked. I am hoping this means I get an even better crop this year - I'm slowly munching my way through my home grown ones. Only to make space for the crop next year you understand.

On the up side - I've very excited. I got not only 2 pots of parsley for 10p from the supermarket which when I carefully split them up will give me about 50-100 plants (from two tiny pots) that should do me for the year too. I'll show you how I will do that later - these supermarket pots are great value if you can carefully split the plants up and give them the space they need to grow.

My biggest excitement is however that the bare rooted autumn raspberries have arrived today- 12 of the lovely beasts :) - I love this variety - works better in my climate - no staking up, no branches needing over wintered to give you fruit the following year - just cut them back at the end of thier fruiting and they regrow from the base, fruit on this years growth. No fiddly tieing in, No fiddly pruning, just an easy raspberry to grow and it does very well here. Its going to be part of my fruity hedgy in the veggie garden.

Ups and downs this gardening lark - but always interesting!