Snow

Yesterday we woke to see snow on the ground. Just a light covering, but enough to throw the area into chaos as any fall of snow seems to do. There were complaints of roads not being gritted and drivers who didn't know how to drive in snow. We were just glad we didn't have to drive to work any more. All we had to do was walk the grandchildren to school which took longer than usual as we had more clothes to put on.  Then there was the wellies I had to find our granddaughter as she'd grown out of her own. She clomped up the road in a pair two sizes too big for her. And of course there was all the silliness that a fall of snow seems to bring.  I don't find snow that much fun, it's cold, wet and  slippy.  I still have bad memories of falling in the snow two years ago and fracturing my wrist.

I must admit though that snow transforms the landscape in a very beautiful way. We took our usual morning walk after we'd left the children at school.  Some places were quite snowy but there was only a light covering on the fields.

Today everything was completely different, the snow had gone and we just had a cold wind. The fields still looked lovely.

Selling plants in the rain

It poured with rain for the school summer fair.  Our plant stall was out in the school yard, in between the bouncy castle and the barbecue. My daughter and I coped as best as we could, sheltering under a gazebo, taking turns to go inside school to try out the bottle stall and  the tombola, get ourselves a warm drink or try to persuade people to come outside and buy some plants.

There seemed to be very few customers.  Some came to chat to us, some to just look, some to shelter from the rain.  But this being the third year we've done a plant stall, we now have some regular customers.  Amazingly this turned out to be our best year yet for takings, we raised over £100 and money is still coming in.  I don't know how we did it, but we were pleased.  It made standing around in the rain for several hours worthwhile.

Now I'm wondering what to do for next year. I feel it's time for something different, but what that is, well I haven't decided.  So watch this space.

Plant stall

On Saturday it's the Summer Fair at my grandchildrens' school. For the last 2 years, since the eldest started school, my daughter and I have run the plant stall.  The first year it was a bit of a last minute thought that we could do it and we gathered together what plants we both had to make up a decent stall. I always have plant cuttings potted up around the garden ready for those requests from church coffee mornings, so we didn't do too badly.  The next year I was much better prepared, with more plants, perennials, annuals, vegetables, herbs and  we had 4 tables almost collapsing under the weight!

We've had great fun each time, selling our plants and talking to people about gardening. We even encouraged children to get gardening.  When they arrived at the stall with 50p to spend we gave them courgette plants, strawberries, sunflowers and anything which was easy and fun to grow.  I had a couple of jam jars with flowers I'd cut from the garden, just to decorate the stall and one little girl bought them for her mum!

Each year when we've finished, we think about how we can improve things for the next year. I start potting up cuttings in the autumn and then again in the spring.  I find plants sell better if they are in flower. Perennials are the most popular, although some annuals sell quite well such as cosmos and sweet peas.  It can get difficult finding more variety of plants to sell as I am limited to what I have in my own garden. We try to save vegetable plants from our own allotment planting.   This year we  have some purple sprouting broccoli, kale, squash, courgette, tomatoes and climbing beans.

We found that people wanted to leave the plants to pick up later whilst they go around and enjoy the fair.  So we now have a 'Plant Creche' so they can 'buy now, collect later'. Pricing the plants is difficult as I know how much they would cost in the garden centre, but at a school fair, people want bargains. So the big healthy looking ones I price slightly lower than the garden centre and then there are others which may not look as good which go cheaper.

As the day of the Summer Fair gets closer, I am looking forward to getting my garden back.  For the last few months there have been plants all over the place, along the paths, on the potting benches, stacked up in the grow houses. It will be great to be able to walk through the garden without falling over boxes of pots.  I just hope we manage to sell them all or at least most of them, I don't really want to have to bring them back home.
And looking at the weather today, with the rain heaving down, I'm hoping for a dry day.

Safety outside school

I'm having another moan. Sorry about that but I'm really annoyed so I'll have to share it with someone.  Its about  parents who take their children to school by car.

Its not the fact that they take their children to school by car, because I know that some people may live a long way from school and it might be too long a walk for them. I also realise that some parents have to take the children to school  then go off to work. What has annoyed me is those parents who insist on driving right up to the school gates and dropping their children off  without even getting out of the car themselves, simply because they can't be bothered to find somewhere nearby to park. This causes a lot of congestion outside school and is also a danger to children who are trying to cross the street. The same happens at end of school time.

My grandchildrens' school is situated up a small side road and the zig zag lines extend to most of the school side of the street, so there's not much room for cars to park as there are also residents' cars parked there. Most of the time I walk my grandchildren to and from school as we only live about 10 minutes away.  If the weather is really bad I will take them in the car, but I park safely in a nearby street or on the road. It doesn't do the children any harm to walk a few yards even in the rain. I am also thinking of other children's safety when I do this.

So why can't other parents think this way?

Not a good day

Yesterday was a bad day for me.  It rained and rained all day, horrible drizzly rain, and it was windy too. I got wet and cold taking the grandchildren to school even though we went in the car ( we normally walk as it's not far).  I got wet again when I went out to the shops. My waterproof was dripping wet, my jeans were soaked, my trainers were wet and so was my hair.  I had to change my clothes, dry my hair and hang my waterproof to drip dry next to the radiator.

Later, I had to go up to school again for the children. We battled against the wind, rushing to get to the car, trying to keep our hoods over our heads, my grandson ignoring my request for him not to splash in the puddles. Then I realised he had left his lunch bag in school and we had to go back to get it. Aargh!

Finally  home, the children decided to annoy me in a big way.  I did at one point wonder if they had eaten or drank something at school which had put their hyperactive levels up. Well anyway, it got me wound up. Later when they had gone home and I reflected on the day, I felt bad for having got so cross with them. Maybe I was tired, or perhaps the rain had got too much for me.

So tomorrow when they are with me again I will try to be a better Nana and have more patience. I also hope it doesn't rain.