Sorry for the break in service. I've been focusing all my blogging energies on the Guardian gardening blog in a naked attempt to win the Garden Media Guild best blog award. Having been beaten to the line for a second year on the trot by the inestimable Mr James Alexander-Sinclair, I thought I'd retire to my personal blog to lick my wounds.
Here's a potted summary of what I would have been blogging about, courtesy of a look back at my Twitter feed:
- I've finally found a way of dealing with the fruit flies that seemed to be plaguing my kitchen, courtesy of a bottle of silver birch wine (I know, what was I thinking of?) which sat half-drunk in the kitchen, swallowing those suckers and drowning them in a haze of bad-tasting alcohol
- RHS president Giles Coode-Adams to retire next July. I'd love someone to write a "Friday debate" post for the Guardian blog entitled something like "how to fix the RHS" but no luck so far. Volunteers?
- Managed to tweet most of the winners from the GMG awards, well the categories that I was interested in, anyway. I may sound bitter above, but I am only jesting - if I'd been judging best blog I'd have gone for Veg Plotting.
- I'm planning the purchase of my first ever shed. I know, hard to believe - how have I got through life thus far without owning a shed? The one currently in contention is this one from Taylor's Garden Buildings - not cheap, but it looks good and is carbon neutral, too
- In honour of James Alexnader-Sinclair, I've added this random clematis pic above, taken in Kathy Brown's garden in Stevington, Beds. the soft focus, by the way, is not due to some nifty camerawork but my daughter grabbing the daughter grabbing the lens with sticky fingers. I'm guessing it's Clematis tangutica?
- Coming up next: Hot Plot Or Not's latest instalment, OMG award winner Anne Wareham's garden, Veddw. Can't wait to see what you make of it...
Hi Jane,
Congrats on the GMGA nomination and bad luck on missing out. The competition was fierce though so I would take comfort in that.
I love the concept of the friday debate posts and look forward to the next one.
The blog is always interesting and I've enjoyed reading it for the last few months. Keep up the good work and I'm sure you will be runing for best blog again next year!
Ryan
Posted by: Ryan | December 09, 2009 at 07:36 AM
If i was gonna NOT choose James, which would probably be wayward of me, I would have chosen to import Nigel Colbourn into the competition. Given that he wasn't even on the list of nominees, I assume he didn't enter - but I love the way he writes SO much, he'd have been my fantasy winner.
Posted by: emma t | December 09, 2009 at 09:21 AM
Ha, your daughter should grab the cam more often if this is the result. ;-)
Good luck with the shed. There was already a shed in my garden when I bought the house but as it looked very dull and dingy I pimped it up and it looks much better now.
Posted by: Yolanda Elizabet | December 09, 2009 at 10:33 AM
I invariably enjoy the Guardian blog and I think it is a shame that there isn't more than one "blog" category in the awards. I don't think the Guardian and James' blog can really be compared - they both offer something very different.
Posted by: Arabella Sock | December 09, 2009 at 08:01 PM
Awww, thanks Jane that's very kind :)
The nominees were all so different: it's hard to know what the judges were looking for.
Here's to giving James a run for his money next year!
Posted by: VP | December 11, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Hiya Jane
You got a volunteer to write 'How to fix the RHS' right here... but I'm figuring you wouldn't want to publish it.
Posted by: Soilman | December 18, 2009 at 01:37 PM