A wonderful world: Back from a long break... into the gardening season

Finally, the sky re-opens...

I have not logged on for months, party because of my hectic schedule in the past few months, partly because I was feeling a bit lazy & unmotivated... Now, I am ready start blogging again in a different style: shorter, more frequent with more info about what is going on esp. in London.

Finally the long and rather grim winter has left us, I am not even sure how we managed to get through the past winter with all the snow and depressingly cold, wet weather. It just reminded me of the gloomy days I spent in Moscow... Although Richmond Park looked amazing in the snow, it was a nightmare driving back without winter tyres nor grits, the last thing we wanted was to skid into the icy Thames water!

Winter wonderland in Richmond Park, January

I didn't travel out of the country for the first few months of 2010, so a day trip out to Hampton Court on a sunnny day in March was pleasant and much needed! Although it was sunny, the cold breeze was still quite harsh, but at least we managed to avoid crowds of tourists... The grounds are beautiful and very well-maintained but I was slightly disappointed with the maze! I thought it would be much larger but we were out of it after only 10 mins!!

Hampton Court, March

Hill Garden and Pergola in Hampstead, one of my favourite spots in London

This year, I am determined to do more gardening and re-create my mini garden... First of all, I signed up again for the gardening retreat and revisited the little climber, wisteria, that I planted last autumn. I guess the harsh winter has had an effect on the plant, it's not looking great but hopefully some sun and care will revitalise it!

I have always been a city person, but as I get older, I just love the countryside and nature more. Once out of London, I realised how much I missed the countryside esp. country walks. With the beautiful sunny weather, no sound of cars nor planes (I guess some of us benefited from the no-fly ban!), I did some Mindful walking which was calming and peaceful. It was hard to go back to London after such a wonderful weekend, but luckily, I managed to find more gardeining related events and activities back in London to satisfy my hunger for nature (to be continued in my next entry)...