Carolines Cuttings, January 2010.
 

Early January. Here in our corner of Hampshire the spades have been out already, but to clear over a foot of snow, alas, rather than using them for proper gardening.  Just as the last string of lights in the trees was being packed away, we noticed a few tips of emerging snowdrops to cheer us up only for the poor things to be swamped by an enormous white blanket.  We were all recovering from Christmas, the inevitable colds and ‘man flu’ and gearing up for a new year.

Alan and I had been through the 2010 diary together (don’t ask, it’s already full!), and now we’ve all been forced to stop by this extraordinary weather.  We can scarcely get out of the gate, we’re good at pushing the only very occasional car up the hill, yet the snow shovelling might just have helped remove the extra half pound from the rather too many accumulated over Christmas. 

The dog and cats think the snow is wonderful, and skid around in it for ages, making sure their paws are thoroughly wet before they charge in at 100 mph to jump on the nearest sofa to dry off, if you’re not quick enough to catch them first.

It’s been a very sociable Christmas, with lots of parties and gatherings locally, and somehow all the more traditional by the very cold weather.  The start of the season for us is the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire’s Carol Concert in Winchester Cathedral, which Alan introduces and does readings and poems – and a very good joke about three balloons this year!  He and his family host a private entertainment, with carols, for close friends and family at home too, and that also means it must be Christmas. 

We held a party on one of the nastiest nights of the year, with black ice, rain, snow, thunder and lightning for good measure, but the brave souls who did make it (including, fortunately, the friend who brought a large bunch of mistletoe from the apple tree in her garden) stayed long enough to make their journey worthwhile, and to ensure we didn’t have too many bottles of wine left over after all the festivities.

Now the seed catalogues and holiday brochures are arriving in the post and it doesn’t seem to be getting dark quite so early.  Alan’s ITV show starts again on 11th January, his Radio 2 Sunday night one continues, and he has several other television programmes, some to do with gardening, lined up for the year. 

He will be at the Chelsea Flower Show in May again too.  As ever, there is a lot going on and exciting things are being planned, so we’ll keep you posted.  In the meantime, it’s back to the hot lemon, another packet of tissues and the spade and shovel!

Happy New Year.

Caroline