We've had some good weather. Well, when I say 'good' what I mean is that it wasn't raining and the wind was absent or a tolerable whisper instead of the usual eye-watering gale. In fact on a couple of days we had sun as well. So I've spent a couple of weeks in the garden. I've cut down bushes and spent hours removing the roots to make way for a wild flower bed. I trialled one last year and got lots of pleasure from the colour and the increased bee and insect population.
Many of the plants in the garden are Alpines and they are not in suitable conditions so I've dug out an area and am making a rockery of sorts with a more suitable growing medium.
I have also been moving lots of tubs of daffodils and tulips as well as humping 100litre bags of garden compost etc around.
One thing all this has taught me is that I'm not as young as I was this time last year. Then I could actually pick up 100l bag of compost and put it in the wheelbarrow. This year I struggled. So now I'm planning the garden on the basis that there will come a time (if it hasn't already come) when I have to ensure that things are done in such a way that it minimises lifting large, heavy things.
At 0500 yesterday morning my body sprung (well as springy as my body does anything these days) into action and I set off to be on board MV Loch Seaforth for the exciting journey to Ullapool from whence I would drive to Glasgow for my 16-weekly three days of scans and my drugs trial review.
The main arterial road through the Scottish Highlands from Inverness to Perth and thence towards Glasgow is the A9. As you can imagine it is a very busy road carrying most of the freight to and from the North of Scotland. However most of it is still 2 lane with occasional 4 lane dual carriageway. I have been travelling up and down it for nearly half a century. I think that I can safely say that I have never seen it as quiet as it was yesterday. It is a road controlled by average speed cameras so people rarely speed on it. Heavy goods vehicles, however, have a speed limit 10 miles an hour less than cars and one often gets stuck behind them until the next dual carriageway or overtaking lane. Not so yesterday.
There are no toilet facilities open anywhere in Scotland so I made no 'comfort stops' either.
As a result I was in Bishopbriggs in a record time of about 4¼ hours after leaving the ferry in Ullapool.
Today has been shopping day for all the messages I've been asked to get for people marooned on the Island plus, I have to say, some odds and ends for myself.
The next few days will be spent having scans and my drugs trial review. Hopefully. I'll be home on Thursday evening.
Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adrian.
DeleteWhat a trek! I expect you will be glad to reach home again. Travel safely Graham.
ReplyDeleteThank you, JayCee. I've got used to the journey and it is a very pleasant one through some spectacular scenery.
DeleteI wonder why the traffic was so light. Perhaps it has all come to London - we are wondering here where everyone can possibly be going. Good luck with your scans, and hope you will soon be back home to continue with the gardening. 100 litres of compost sounds like a pretty heavy load to me, and I hope the plants appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteJenny, people in Scotland are supposed to be staying at home unless they have a justifiable reason for travel (going to hospital is, of course, such a reason). I was still quite surprised how little private traffic there was. Heavy commercial vehicles tend to travel through the week although there were still remarkably few. It may be that a lot of the vehicles travelling normally at weekends are transporting good for shops and businesses that are now closed.
DeleteI've been minimising lifting large, heavy things for as long as I can remember... ;) I hope your garden will once again reward you for all your hard work! 4 1/2 hours drive without stops sounds tough as well. Glad to know you arrived safely and I hope your scans and tests etc will all go well, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Monica. I would never normally drive without stops but the empty roads made it easier.
DeleteGlad you didn't have too much traffic on that journey, Graham. Good for you doing such great gardening. Could you not hire some local, hunky lad to help you? Just a thought! Hope all goes well for you on the medical front.
ReplyDeleteThat photo with the red poppies, that looks like a post card. x
Thank you, Kay. Trying to hire 'odd job men' these days isn't easy. Mine is an area of older people unfortunately.
DeleteMuch easier to hire ODD "job men". 8-)
DeleteMarcheline, you can just omit the 'job' and make it really easy.
DeleteSending good wishes for your scans and tests. Safe drive home.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Jill.
DeleteHope all goes well.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Fran.
DeleteThe trial drug they have you on must be good because you just keep going and going and doing well!
ReplyDeleteI hope this time is no different and i look forward to seeing your alpine flowers
Kylie, the drug trial I've been on for a while showed very positive results from the first few months and I've been on it for a while now.
DeleteI hope that your body remains springy and strong for a long time yet. I hear ya about not being as strong as you used to be.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Red. I like the idea of being springy!
DeleteI like your use of the word 'messages', they used to say that in Wales too.
ReplyDeleteCro, I was brought up in Liverpool where half the population was Welsh (including my paternal grandmother although she died when my Dad was very young).
DeleteI hope it all goes well. X
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules.
DeleteVery best wishes for your health. My dog has had his pill dose reduced after the last 3 monthly blood test, which must be good news even if only on the financial front!
ReplyDeleteI have had to admit to 'getting a man in' for the repainting of my back garden fence. It's just too daunting, 10 yrs ago it would not have been a problem. Lesley
Thank you for your good wishes, Lesley. I'm glad your dog's pill dose has been reduced because it presumably means he's on the mend. I was looking at all the fences which, because of our salt-laden gales need painting every year, and dreading the task.
DeleteHello Graham: I am delighted to hear that you are turning over more of your garden to wildflower meadows, both for the aesthetic satisfaction you will derive from it, but more importantly to assist in pollination. I hope that all of your tests and procedures in Glasgow go well. No doubt you will be happy to get back to the tranquility of your island after a few days in the city. Soon you will have those long days to enjoy it all the more.
ReplyDeleteThank you, David. Many of my garden plants are designed to provide wild bees in particular with food right through the spring, summer and autumn. I occasionally enjoy city visits but am always happy to get back home.
DeleteBeautiful photo, positive post, well written...what more could a blogreader want?
ReplyDeleteI hope your scans go well and the medicine keeps on being efficacious, that the return trip home is equally incident-free and mostly truckless, and that you will be working in your garden for many years to come.
Thank you for your compliment and good wishes, Bob. The medics have found new ways of keeping me alive since my first cancer op in 1998 and for that and for them I am extremely grateful.
DeleteGraham, thanks for a beautiful photo of your poppies again. Sending warmest wishes for an excellent follow-up of your treatment. I definitely relate to having these sorts of appointments with long drives and lots of time eaten up...but absolutely necessary. I'm also delighted about your going the way of wildflowers...we wrote about that about one year ago. My warmer temps are later than yours but I'm enthusiastic about adding even more varieties in our wildflower back garden. And, like you, as well, feel not quite as strong as last year. Decided (with a bit of agonizing) to have someone help with the garden for the first time. Take care. (from the base of the mini-mountain in Maine.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Regina M. At least we have the blessing of still being able to work in and enjoy our gardens.
DeletePrayers all goes well
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are beautiful.
Thank you, Maywyn. Flowers and plants give me, along, of course, with millions of others, great joy.
DeleteHope that all goes well with the scans and testing, Graham. The poppies are a lovely sight.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beatrice. Poppies are such happy flowers.
DeleteThe accompanying photo is lovely. If only your view to the little harbour always looked like that! I hope that all goes well in Glasgow.
ReplyDeleteThank you, YP. The harbour has seen a few wilder moments this winter!
DeleteGetting older is so much fun!! I don't lift anything heavy anymore, I don't dig in the earth anymore, I don't run anywhere either - but I know how to appreciate each day more and take pleasure in little things that I never had time to notice before.
ReplyDeleteHope your hospital visit goes well, and you have an uneventful trip home again :) xx
Margeret, it is said that old age doesn't come alone and it's true. However not all the things it comes with are bad. For a start we generally have a lot more time to enjoy our gardens than we did in middle age. When I finish these comments I'm off for another scan: a moment's rest when lying down!
DeleteGood luck in Glasgow and safe travels on your return journey. Please can you throw some meadowsweet seeds into your wild garden. I remember how lovely they looked in the field beside a little cafe we stopped at for a cuppa. And the lovely lady who went out of her way to find out what they were called. I have such happy, happy memories of your part of the world.
ReplyDeletePauline, I will ensure that there is some meadowsweet in the garden. I'm glad that you have happy memories of our Scottish safari. I certainly have. Indeed all our safaris are etched in my memory banks.
DeleteFor the past few days we, and other areas throughout Qld and NSW have been receiving non-stop, torrential rain. Many areas are now underwater....suffering from massive flooding. Just over a year ago many of those areas were ravaged by bush fires...now they have to contend with massive flooding. One's heart goes out to those poor folk who have and are losing everything.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well with your forthcoming scans etc., Graham. Take good care. :)
Lee, it's always a matter of putting things into perspective. Those suffering from flooding having previously suffered from fire are so unfortunate. All I have to worry about is the possibility of a gale cancelling my ferry home.
DeleteHope all goes well in Glasgow.
ReplyDeleteWell done on all the gardening, you are ahead of me both in organisation and what you can pick up and put in a wheelbarrow 😉
Thank you, Jayne. Just before I left Lewis I noticed that the first lot of frogspawn had arrived in the pond. It will probably be full when I get back home.
DeleteAll the best for your scans etc., Graham!
ReplyDeleteThe photo of your flowers in the garden is beautiful!
No comfort stops for 4 1/2 hours would have me burst!
I have never been good at lifting heavy weights and admire anyone who has enough strength for such work.
Thank you Meike. Just one more day with bone scan and review. All the staff will be the same and it's usually very enjoyable and good craic with staff and other participants I just see once every 16 weeks. The sadness is the occasional absence. As far as bursting is concerned, I just drank very little 😂.
DeleteI hope your scans and drug trials go well. A rockery would do really well in your corner of the world, in fact if you see plants you like try taking a small cutting to put in your garden. That's what I do and it's cheap way of growing things.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy. It's all over now for this time bar the results of today's scans which I'll know next week. As it happens I've been given some cuttings and small plants today. It's one thing about gardeners - they are always willing to share bits and pieces.
DeleteWhat lovely poppies! Best of everything to you on your trip, hope all goes well and that you are soon home and gardening again!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marcheline. I arrived home, safe and sound, last night. Sorting out and, as we say in Scotland, surveying the policies today (ie going to have a good look at the garden.
DeleteThe flowers and backdrop are beautiful. Glad you had a good run. Hope the scans are okay. Take care and enjoy spring.
ReplyDelete