Garden's looking a bit of a mess!!

[Constance13]

It's that time of year again!🥶 I don't mind Autumn but I hate winter (well I do since PMR and PA hit me).

Time to hybernate!

[SheffieldJane]

I fight off the gloom with fairy lights and candles. 🙂

[Constance13 in reply to SheffieldJane]

I put all the lights on, which makes my OH really annoyed (he doesn't mind the cost, he just can't see the point)! Nor can I when I come into the sitting room at 9 pm and he is sitting in the dark reading/faffing about on his pad!😬

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Constance13]

Other way round here - I only put the light on if I need to see.

[Constance13 in reply to PMRpro]

Perhaps I'm afraid of missing something.😂

[Rosbud in reply to PMRpro]

That's so me , my OH is always on at me to put lights on but I love low light or candle light x

[Hidden in reply to SheffieldJane]

Definitely candles. 😁. Laying in a supply today.

[Marijo1951]

I feel pretty sure that our early ancestors did hibernate, if not completely, then they certainly rested a lot and reserved their energy. That's my excuse for feeling lethargic from October to February anyway!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Marijo1951]

Apparently Scandinavians in the far north do lots more in summer when it doesn't get dark and sleep a lot in the winter. So I have been told at least. But I notice that snow lying and lights being on also makes a lot of difference to SAD - and they also do a lot of snow sports under floodlights.

[Marijo1951 in reply to PMRpro]

At the time of Glasnost there was a documentary on TV about people who live in Siberia. They were incredibly busy throughout Spring and Summer, growing and preserving as much food as possible for winter which was when they relaxed and rested, mainly doing household things like mending furniture and clothes, except for the occasional deer or game bird hunt.

[selkie2019]

Hi there, garden looks pretty good to me! I struggle with seasonal affective disorder so I have a SAD Light Box for my desk at work. Probably time I switched on for this year. Winter is a great time to snuggle a hot waterbottle and catch up on old movies!

[Constance13 in reply to selkie2019]

If it was my private garden I would have at least half the trees cut down - I hate overcrowded gardens - it feels like living in a forrest (especially in the summer - but it's at least more attractive then)!

Some people are never satisfied! 😂😂

[HeronNS in reply to Constance13]

If you have a chance to see a documentary featuring Diana Beresford-Kroger called Call of the Forest: the forgotten wisdom of trees you will never look on a tree in the same way again.

calloftheforest.ca/

[Constance13 in reply to HeronNS]

Thanks Heron! I had to laugh though.😂 'MY' forrest is just a tad different from the forrests mentioned!!!

The photo doesn't include the lawn in front (which softens the view). I am only really annoyed that it spoils my view of the Spa gardens (fountains, ducks, black swans) etc.😂😂😂

[HeronNS in reply to Constance13]

I used to live in a house where the back view (to the East) was of our garden and then a steep bank fully treed with an uncultivated mini wilderness. I always regretted that some of the trees (neighbouring properties) grew so tall while we lived there and cut off our sunshine for part of the morning. But mostly I loved being able to look out at all that greenery, there would be birds nesting there, and it was like a tiny fragment of country in the city. Neighbourhoods like that are becoming more and more scarce and we were so lucky to be able to live there so long. I could even see a few stars from that backyard although the neighbours did tend to have too many lights turned on. Once or twice I saw multi-coloured northern lights. Another time I went out in the wee small hours and counted at least thirty shooting stars - it must have been like fireworks in dark sky sites! Now where I sit I have a view of the heat pump on my balcony and out the other window the sky. I can no longer tell what the weather is like simply by stepping out my front door. I'm lucky when I manage to see the moon or a planet, never any stars because of the light pollution where I now live. Yes, fabulous view of Halifax Harbour, very pretty at dawn, but I'd give that up in a heartbeat for ground level and trees and the ability to see the stars from my own backyard. I'm only a fifteen minute walk away, it seems like a hundred miles.

[SheffieldJane in reply to HeronNS]

Oh Heron! I know.

[HeronNS in reply to SheffieldJane]

I think it's harder than I anticipated because my son, the new homeowner, has a girlfriend now, and although I am truly happy for him it means the summer we expected to be helping him in his garden (and, incidentally enjoying the fruits of) didn't happen after all, so it meant the break was a lot faster and harder than I'd subconsciously expected. If we'd sold the house to a stranger I'd have been more mentally prepared I think.

[Constance13 in reply to HeronNS]

Your move hasn't been the best decision in you life, has it?

I do understand, we made a silly decision to "downsize" before our last move. Big mistake! We also lost £25k because we couldn't sell the place quick enough.

REALLY pleased now! Worth the money in the end.

[HeronNS in reply to Constance13]

In the long run I think it was the right decision. Hubby has settled in very well and he is nearly five years older. There comes a time when it's too late to make a move like this and he was nearly to that point, would have been if I hadn't still been in his life to push him along! And if the power goes out there's a generator in the building so we can go to the little library and boil water for tea, or charge a device, or go to the "party room" and watch tv, or make hot food. I'll be okay after a year has gone by. Just having a little grieving session today....

[SheffieldJane in reply to HeronNS]

Maybe one day there will be little ones enjoying your trees and stars. As one door closes another one opens.

[Purple-Owl in reply to Constance13]

Oh no! I'd never cut down a tree unless I had to. They purify. the air and delight the spirit! My garden is like a forest and I love it more and more each day as the trees get bigger - which they have done this year as the weather has suited them.