Tiny gardens

Another back blip... I had time to take photos, yesterday, but not to upload anything.  Or comment on anyone else's journals much, either (apologies).

Richard and I are busy getting ready to go to Northern Ireland on Friday. So we've been catching up on some tidying-up in the garden, among other jobs. But I did find time for a quick visit to Hathersage for an outdoor swim, which I'd booked some time ago; the sun was warm, and the pool was not too crowded as they are still limiting numbers for Covid reasons. It was wonderful.

The main image is the doorway to a set of apartments - the building next door to our house on the downhill side (we live on a steep, hilly street). The building was originally one end of a large primary school; it was sold off for residential development some years ago, while the rest of the school stayed intact.  The extra is a close-up of the box on the gates.

I've been admiring these window boxes for weeks. The apartments have no gardens, of course, and this ground floor one is the home of a woman who has never gardened before, but found the urge this year, soon after she moved in. She's been growing herbs, tomatoes and flowers; she has also done some 'guerrilla gardening' on the verge opposite the flats, a space overshadowed by trees that initially looked very unpromising. But her raised bed over there looks good. It's been unmolested by passing dogs and squirrels, which is fairly miraculous, given the volume of traffic.

On related themes, I'm just finishing a lovely read: 'The Well-Gardened Mind: Rediscovering Nature in the Modern World', by Sue Stuart-Smith. It's a long set of reflections on the relationship between gardening/nature and mental well-being. She manages to weave together the results from scientific studies with her own clinical observations and material drawn from history too (e.g. some of the work done with traumatised soldiers from World War One and subsequently).  Highly recommended, for anyone interested in all this.