{"id":41629,"date":"2026-02-08T15:53:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T15:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ossettweather.com\/gardening2022\/?p=41629"},"modified":"2026-02-09T10:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:48:31","slug":"what-a-miserable-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ossettweather.com\/gardening2022\/susan\/what-a-miserable-week\/","title":{"rendered":"What a miserable week"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What a truly miserable week it\u2019s been. There have been the odd flashes of brightness, but for the most part the days have been damp, drizzly, and thoroughly dull. On our walks, a bitterly cold wind has stung our faces, making us question our life choices.<\/p>

Ruby, naturally, remains completely unfazed. She has continued to explore every interesting smell with great enthusiasm, while we\u2019ve been keen to complete our walks at record speed and return to the warmth indoors. Priorities, clearly, differ.<\/p>

Aside from Ruby\u2019s walks, most of our time has been spent inside, so there\u2019s little to report. Even when we have ventured out, it\u2019s been far too cold and wet to hang around taking photos. Here\u2019s hoping next week brings something a little brighter \u2014 or at least drier.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"\"Excitement was in short supply, unless you count washing and ironing \u2014 two of my most favourite activities\u2026 I jest. Still, it\u2019s done, which feels like an achievement in itself, and at least it kept me warm.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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More interesting for me, though perhaps not for you to read about. I spent some time reading on my Kindle and even managed to finish one book and start another \u2014 very much a cold-weather activity. The first was The Holiday<\/em> by T. M. Logan, which was full of twists, turns, and red herrings that kept me guessing right to the end. That\u2019s quite unusual, as so many books tend to telegraph the ending well before you get there.<\/p>

I\u2019ve only just started the second book, so I don\u2019t yet have an opinion on that one.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I\u2019ve also been spending some time with my new AI friend, ChatGPT, using it to enhance existing recipes and come up with new ones. Sometimes I give it a recipe and ask for improvements; other times I simply list the ingredients I want to use and ask it to create something from scratch. It\u2019s been surprisingly addictive, especially when it\u2019s too cold to linger outside \u2014 rather like having a very patient kitchen assistant who never minds being asked to tweak flavours or swap ingredients.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I needed more onions, so I took advantage of one of the drier, brighter spells to pop up to the summer house and collect some. I think these are the last of them. Most years, we manage to have onions in store right up until it\u2019s time to harvest the autumn-planted ones, but not this year, as they\u2019ve been smaller than usual. We do have a couple of bags in the freezer, though it looks like we\u2019ll also have to start buying them again.\u00a0<\/p>

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There are still some squash stored in the summer house, and we\u2019re continuing to use our stored carrots, parsnips, and potatoes \u2014 although the potatoes are beginning to shoot, clearly sensing something we\u2019re not. The stored garlic is also starting to grow. Other than that, we still have a few leeks hanging on in the ground at the allotment.<\/p>

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While I was out, I had a quick look around the garden. Clumps of snowdrops were dotted about, the first hellebore flowers were opening, and bulbs were pushing through the soil. Hyacinths were starting to produce buds, the mahonia still had a few flowers that hadn\u2019t been nipped off by the birds, and the camellia was full of fat buds.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A few months ago, my blog friend Debbie <\/a>sent me cuttings from two of her epiphyllums. I\u2019m thrilled to see that both have sprouted new shoots! Watching them grow has been exciting\u2014each little leaf feels like a tiny victory. Now, I\u2019m patiently waiting for the day they\u2019re big enough to burst into bloom. I can\u2019t wait to see their flowers in all their glory but I guess that I’ll have quite a long wait.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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That’s all for this week, so as always, until next time, stay safe, stay well, stay warm and stay dry.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What a truly miserable week it\u2019s been. There have been the odd flashes of brightness, but for the most part the days have been damp, drizzly, and thoroughly dull. On our walks, a bitterly cold wind has stung our faces, making us question our life choices. Ruby, naturally, remains completely unfazed. She has continued to 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