Joanne's Cottage Garden: Jobs In The Garden

Monday 13 April 2009

Jobs In The Garden

A few days ago I weeded the front of this spring border which was full of buttercups. I had potted on various seedlings Alchemilla Mollis, Primroses, Cow slips and Denticularta Primula and Adjuga so I was able to plant up the empty space with a variety of these home produced seedlings. After the rain they are coming along well.

Mike has been busy making me arches. The poles he cuts from where he works and then he bends them round a forma of pegs in the grass.

This is the one at the bottom of the garden nearly finished. I am waiting for the go ahead to plant my sweet peas to grow up it.

Either side of the arch is a Gleditsia tree. They are still very young.

Yes the arches are rather rustic but then that suits our style of gardening.

9 comments:

Alison13 April 2009 at 15:33
lovely to take a walk through your garedn and see how spring is progressing!!
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Northern Shade13 April 2009 at 17:06
Your twig arches go perfectly with your fully planted garden. They will look great with sweetpeas clambering over them, and will smell heavenly when you walk underneath them.
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Anonymous13 April 2009 at 18:05
Joanne your garden is beautiful! Love the arches - rustic works for me - and the path is great, it all works together and looks lovely!
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Joanne13 April 2009 at 18:28
Thanks for your comments. It has been such a beautiful day I have done lots of gardening and if I get chance I will post some more this evening.

Looking at these photos I can see another job for the list is to weed the path!
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Victoria Summerley13 April 2009 at 18:34
Happy Easter, Joanne! Your garden looks beautiful, and so do the rustic arches.
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Joanne13 April 2009 at 19:05
Victoria

Thank you for your comments.
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Carolyn13 April 2009 at 22:40
Your garden looks beautiful. I love the path and the arches.
Carolyn
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Roses at Wedgwood House and Gardens15 April 2009 at 08:09
Hi Joanne, back for another peek and finally post. My! oh my, You really do have a true cottage garden, jammed with all sorts of interesting plants. It is amazing. I love the rustic arches your hubby has made and especially love the fact that you have demonstrated how they were built. Cool! I think it is great now that you are feeling well, that your enthusiasm comes across. I am very happy for you. You certainly deserve it.

Pauline
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Joanne15 April 2009 at 09:45
Pauline Thanks. Yes I feel like a child in a sweet factory I don't know what to do first. I am off today to get some plants for hanging baskets I have not bothered to grew my own I can't manage everything in my small space.
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LYME LIFE written 2009

I started suffering with arthritis in mainly my large joints especially my knees 6 years ago. The symptoms varied and I remember saying that every joint was affected except my elbows to one doctor. I was told it would be hormonal and to take the usual supplements cod liver oil or glucosamine ( I would certainly recommend buying shares in the companies producing these supplements) They had no noticeable affect.

All my symptoms deteriorated significantly over a few weeks, 4 years ago. Hips shoulders and knees being the worst and I started with muscle weakness in upper arms and upper legs. I had difficulty standing and walking across a room. I was unable to walk upstairs and my husband was making plans to convert to a downstairs bedroom. I had seen 5 doctors and 3 Rheumatologists and put on steroids for Poly Myalgia Rheumatica diagnosis. I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS.

I have X rays and scans showing signs of osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. I have been retired early from the Civil Service having lost my job not to mention my earning potential.

My illness seemed to progress through my body not affecting the same joints left to right at the same time. I had bursitis in left hip, right hip, left elbow. I had synovial thickening in both wrists. At that time I could not lift and hold a magazine so lifting a kettle I could only do if a third full and with two hands. Each joint in my hands fingers feet and toes were affected. I had swallowing difficulties and many other symptoms. None of this describes the endless and awful pain whenever I moved or the tiredness but inability to get quality sleep.

Two years ago my GP gave me Amoxicilin for a sinus/throat/chest infection. All my arthritis symptoms improved. The course ended the symptoms deteriorated I started a second course the symptoms improved. The improvement was more significant than when I had started taking steroids. This led my GP to suspect Lyme Disease. I laughed because we do not travel abroad but she said they had had other cases in the surgery in the early stages of tick bite and Erythma Migrans rash. She said, but you have not had a bite. I said oh yes I have I had two on my ankles with rashes, March 05 this was confirmed on her computer at the time I had seen a locum doctor. My worst symptoms were waking up feeling rigid and having to painfully flex every joint in my body before struggling to get up. The only other time I had experienced this was in May 2003 during a flu like illness like no other I had ever experienced. At that time I had a bite and similar rash on my right foot which lasted like the other rashes about four weeks. I had also consulted the surgery and it was dismissed as a virus. I walked our dog daily in the woods adjacent to our house where the deer roam, prime tick area.

Thus started my very lengthy search about Lyme Disease leading me through http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ to a doctor who specialises in this illness. He confirmed my GP's suspicions. I never had a positive blood test but then they are antigen tests and there is much research that shows they are unreliable. In my case the year of steroids and many weeks antibiotics could have affected the results. So with a clinical diagnosis and following ILADS International Lyme and Associated Disease Society guidelines I continued on antibiotics for two years. Both my doctors continued to treat me despite the Health Protection Agency advising against long term antibiotics. I am now nearly 100% recovered I have no pain or muscle weakness. I can walk upstairs something I could not do for three and a half years. I can garden do house work and live a normal life. I still need to pace myself and with only a few months to 60 will not be looking to return to work.

Life is such a joy.

Sadly there is much controversy about Lyme Disease and doctors in UK are taught that it is so rare. Well where I live in Guildford I have been in contact with a dozen other people with it so perhaps not so rare as HPA would like us to believe. I am in touch with nearly 2000 other patients through a chat line Eurolyme most had been misdiagnosed with several other illnesses.

Look at UK charity http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ if you want to read more about this illness. There are many MP's taking an interest in the problems surrounding diagnosis and treatment see above charity links into a recent meeting at the House of Commons.

Thank goodness there are some thinking doctors around who have courageously treated me against opposition and I have made such a miraculous recovery albeit rather a lengthy one.

One day there will be many more people who are helped with their chronic illnesses when IDSA starts taking note of what our courageous LLMD’s are doing following ILADS Guidelines.

ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, Poly Myalgia Rheumatica, Arthritis, Bell’s Palsy, MS,MN, ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Heart Block, Stroke, Psychiatric, gastric problems the list is endless. Not all suffering from Lyme Borrelia but how many are even properly assessed for it.

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Joanne's Cottage Garden

Monday 13 April 2009

Jobs In The Garden

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