29.12. Gingerbread photos

Christmas Day was a mild 14 degrees here in London, in sharp contrast to last year when we had snow and minus degrees for weeks. The mild weather has continued the last few days and today it was 12 degrees in my garden, not that different to some of the days we had in July! I had a stroll in my garden today, but with the grey, muggy weather we had today it was not a day for taking photographs. I will wait until we get a nice sunny day, and then I will share with you how far my crocuses has come :-)

Did you make a gingerbread house for this Christmas? It is many years since I last made one, but I keep updating my gingerbread section on my web-site, and my visitors still send me photos of their creations. I always find it amazing when I see other people’s gingerbread houses which they have made from my pattern and recipe, and I truly appreciate all the photos I am being sent. Here are two contributors from December this year, both of whom have used my gingerbread mansion pattern to make their house. Look how different they are, and still how similar. You will find more photos and details about each of these two on my website, here is the link to the visitor page on THE GINGER BREAD HOUSES SECTION on my website, with all the visitor photos sent me so far.

If you have made a gingerbread house and want your photo on my website, please email me, especially if you used my pattern, but you can send me photos even if you made it in a different style. The gingerbread house section on my website is the most visited part of my website, something that is a bit surprising to me, but also a great boost to me and keeps me going when I wonder if I should just shut down that part of my website.

My blog is mainly a gardening blog, and I must admit I am itching to get out and do some gardening these days! I can’t wait for the weather to be a bit better and the soil to warm up so everything speeds up a bit. This time of year the days are so short I hardly get out of bed before it is dark again, but I know it’s just a matter of weeks before I will be able to spend hours outside most days. Can’t wait! I’ve got so many plans for my newly redesigned garden and I got a loooong list of plants I would like to buy. Although buying ready plants will have to be a more long term plan, I would have liked to get them as free cuttings from someone and grow them myself, much cheaper! Anyone in the neighbourhood who has got a Berberis thunbergii ‘Helmond Pillar’, a Mahonia ‘Cabaret’, a Sarcococca 'Purple Stem', a Hypericum ‘Orange Flair’, a Dwarf Forsythia ‘Mini Gold’, a Dahlia ‘Arabian Night’, an Echinacea 'Fatal Attraction', or a Monarda Cambridge Scarlet?? Oh…and I have a Lily ‘Miss Feya’ on my list too – 2m tall when mature!! I know exactly where they should go, the spaces are there just waiting for them all :-) As I just said, I am itching to get started!

That’s it for tonight, it’s going to rain tomorrow too – and probably most of the week-end, but next week looks better. I hope to have some garden photos for you next week, until next time, take care :-)