The plants in the glasshouses are shrouded in fleece and sheep’s wool to protect them from the persistent freezing temperatures. It is so tempting to start watering the geraniums to help new growth, but this will mean the soil around their roots could freeze & which would end their lives.
We have all made New Year’s Resolutions here, which are purposefully achievable, to give us no manoeuvrability on weakening or failing. Mine centres around more sustainability & less waste, and more recycling. I am cooking up the vegetable peelings for the hens, who are still locked up in fear of avian flu. But they love the root mash that I give them, and I am reusing the food waste, instead of composting it.
The estate cottages have now been cleared of their festive decorations, fauna and Christmas trees. The trees have been slowly acclimatising to the colder temperatures, they will be re-potted in readiness for next year and spend the summer months growing even larger. The forsythia is blooming & looks beautiful in jugs by fireplaces in the cottages. It won’t be long before the early spring bulbs are ready to decorate the cottages.
I have been making simmer pots in the kitchen here, filling a huge pan with water, adding herbs, I’ve used rosemary, sage and some spruce sprigs with cinnamon and lemon peel, it is a wonderful aroma.
It is time to make the marmalade this month too. We leave preserve pots in the cottages for breakfast feasts- nothing beats homemade marmalade in the winter months. Onward to February and Valentine’s Day!