Walking East Stoke's lanes: February 2025

Last month’s post ended with a greyest of grey days shot looking from the bridge on Moor Lane, what I didn’t know then was that February would continue to be grey, and then some. Though at least it’s a short month, and well there wasn’t much more to say about the month until the very end when the sun did start to show itself.

So once again there was only one venture out - we have a couple of set routes, and it all depends on whether we go left or right at the crossroads, which can often be a last minute decision, though it can also be based on footwear!

We set off early afternoon, when we were hoping that the temperatures would be at their highest - and after a round of watching Six Nations matches on the TV and ahead of watching Liverpool in the FA Cup, it was good to get out and stretch our legs. We opted for a road-based walked, heading once again down Moor Lane. Our choice was rewarded by the flowering gorse as we followed the road as it rose up over the A46.

As we walked down the other side of the A46 I paused as the area alongside the bridle path (and the path to Elston) looked different, with several of the bare, twiggy shrubs down. MOH hadn’t noticed, but I think that’s one of the things that these posts do is make me more aware of my surroundings, which I’m grateful for. Looking again it was clear that some large machinery had been amongst the still-standing shrubs.

It wasn’t until we were a little further along that it became apparent why, some work had clearly taken place to clear the ditches which run alongside the fields, as they were also looking much clearer, with much less debris - and no doubt this is part of the management of the area to catch water draining off the fields and generally manage its flow safely. And to my non-qualified eye, it looks a job well done.

But it really was grey, even the buzzing electricity pylon agreed.

But at least my photo from the bridge was slightly less grey than MOH’s photo which I ended on last month - though you can still see it’s pretty grey, and murky!

Thanks for joining me for this update, if you enjoyed this post you may also like to see all of the posts in this series. It’s less than a week into the month and I’ve already got one walk under my belt, and have booked onto a guided talk and walk for next week, so I already know there’s going to be content for next month, so I hope to see you then!

This February...

Well, for a short month I seem to have a packed a lot in, including my first visit to our gym - which is good news after a stuttering start to the year - and there’s been glimpses of sun too, which always makes things better.

In the garden the snowdrops which I planted last year started to emerge; a solitary flower to start with and then slowly more flowers arrived. I’m sure over the years the two clumps I have now will spread throughout the border as is their wont - and I can’t wait. My pots of daffodils and tulips are making good progress and hopefully it won’t be too long before they make an appearance.

Wildlife antics to make me smile

A bit of sun, the garden reawakening and it’s easy to really believe that spring is on its way, but I wasn’t the only one enjoying the sun, or our garden. The garden had a visit from a wayward pheasant, and my innate city-dweller will never fail to be amazed at the beauty of wildlife when you see it first-hand - the colours of its feathers in the sunlight were truly jewel like.

Our visitor didn’t seem the smartest though, seemingly bemused by its surroundings it ran along the wall a good few times, sat down for a rest, did a few more lengths of the garden at speed before deciding that up was a good option, and landed on the top of the wall, and straight over the other side!

As predicted last month we’ve been groaning at the contestant’s efforts on The Apprentice - every series I’m amazed that none of them appear to have seen the show before, so appear to have little idea of what’s going on, or what’s required. Which on reflection is not that much different to my garden visitor!

As well as a visit to the theatre in Newark to see Ben Elton - definitely a blast from the past - we’ve been following the tribulations of Drew Pritchard’s Georgian House Restoration though (thankfully) can only imagine having to deal with the highs and heartbreaks that come with such a project. Both the England performance in the Six Nations rugby and Liverpool’s challenge for the Premier League title have kept MOH shouting (quietly) at the TV at times.

London, Liberty and a Club Orange

My exploration this month has mostly been in London with my first solo trip - not a huge adventure really, but somehow its the first time I’ve ventured down on the train on my own. I spent the day at the Garden Press Event and I’ll be sharing some more posts from my day and discoveries over the next few weeks, but it was good to get out and see people from across the gardening sector and all being enthused by what the gardening year ahead has to offer.

Making the most of my day I headed over to Liberty on Regent Street on a mission. Part of that - to secure some Falcon Enamelware failed, but the other part - to acquire some Liberty fabric, was much more successful! It was only two half metres, and on first glance not the most interesting of purchases but the two intricately grey patterned fabrics will take pride of place for my longer-term project to extend my floral fancy quilt.

I love a wander around Liberty, which manages to combine really useful things, the most amazing haberdashery and fabrics (look out for that post next week) and the truly most bizarre things - anyone for a Club Orange handbag?

New machines

There’s been two new machines in my craft room this month; the Sizzix die cutting machine which I promised myself after the Floral Fancy workshop. I’d looked on eBay and was tempted but decided for the small saving and peace of mind to get a new one and to make use of the Hobbycraft online offer. I also had a bit of a result as I browsed looking for similar dies that I’d used to cut out my applique shapes, finding the exact same leaf die and a similar-enough multiple sized flower die - both of these were on sale too, and so they arrived too. I’ve had a quick test and everything’s working as it should, but most of the month has been spent on my other new arrival.

And that is my new sewing machine - I’ve opted for a Bernina in a change to my previous machine, and clearly its much more modern. I’ve a couple of projects under my belt now, and they’ve helped me get comfortable using it - though there’s nothing quite so scary as when an error flashes up on its digital display, and you know you have to fix it yourself. But that’s part of the learning process, and I’m already convinced it’s a great machine. I’ll be sharing more about those ‘try out projects’ which have both already been put to use around the house.

Having a new machine did put my quilting plans back a little, as I didn’t want to muck those up (not that I think I would have, but…), but I have finished my third charity donation quilt, and made my first block for the mystery block of the month and I’m really pleased with both of them. I’ve started the test blocks for February, and they’re challenging me more than I’d like - but I’m getting there, slowly.

So hopefully there’ll be nothing to hold me back, though I’m sure as the month’s get warmer they’ll get busier and that in itself could be a whole other kind of challenge - we’ll see.

It starts with seeds...

* I was invited to the Garden Press Event, a one day show which connects garden product suppliers with garden media, therefore I’m marking my blog posts from the event as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

There’s nothing more satisfying than sowing a seed and watching it grow is there - but there’s so many seeds available, so knowing where to start can often be overwhelming. But one thing that’s clear is that the seed companies I spoke to this week at the event are going all out to entice us to buy their seeds.

So whether you want to grow vegetables, herbs or flowers why not take a look at these brands

Stocks & Green

Based in Colchester, Iben and Trevor have built Stocks & Green as a reflection of their deep-rooted passion for the world of horticulture and along with their seeds they aim to fill gardener’s lives with vibrant colour, delightful scents and fresh home grown food. And with a display like this, it was hard to resist.

Their range often features personal favourites to give the home gardener a good selection, but avoiding that overwhelm that I mentioned before. They’ve refreshed their seed pack imagery ahead of the show, and the images on their seed packets are stunning.

The back of the seed packets are equally clear and informative, and including the aftercare information is really helpful for gardeners new and old alike.

Among the new flowers for this year include the fluffy looking Papaver ‘Black Swan’ (Opium Poppy), the arching stems of pink firework like flowers of the ‘Cerise Pearls’ Persicaria, and in their vegetable range they’ve added the yellow courgette ‘Goldena’ and a favourite of mine the ‘Black Beauty’.

I left the show with two packs of seeds - a white Echinacea elegantly called ‘White Swan’ which they advise is ideal for pollinators and the young flowers look equally good in a vas, lasting over a week. I’m looking forward to sowing these (under cover between February and June) when the temperatures are more consistently warm, given that I don’t yet have a greenhouse.

The other packet of seeds is a new to me wildflower, but with a name like Fiddleneck and the bee on the front of the packet, how could I resist? The flowers attract bees, butterflies and ladybirds and the plants can also be dug into the soil as a soil improver. Growth is fast, so they can help prevent weeds, but these need to be sown where they are to grow, but can be planted between March and September, so I’ve a bit of time before I start these ones. I think I’ll grow these in an empty spot in our outside border, but probably away from the buddleia which is good at attracting butterflies to the garden.

Mr Fothergill’s

I’m sure this is a brand that you’ve heard of before, and for me it’s a tried and trusted provider of seeds, but they also have a couple of other ranges which you might not be aware of, but which I think are interesting. Each of these is aimed at a different audience as you’d expect, but each is encouraging people to get involved and grow more from seed, whatever their skill level and whatever their interest.

So if you want to grow flowers for cutting, the Johnsons range is likely to appeal to you - and their seed packs are truly stunning, looking less like a traditional seed pack would.

I love a Cosmos, and am very tempted by both the white ‘Purity’ and unusually for me, the red ‘Dazzler’ shown above.

But if it’s vegetables you want to grow, then the D.T.Brown range could be for you. This offers a smaller selection of vegetables, for example only three or four carrot varieties, but those varieties are ones that can be relied on whatever your experience. Each of these seed packets has a QR code on the back providing more information, and the recipe for the dish shown on the lower half of the seed packet, so it really is a sow - grow - eat approach.

And if you’re new to growing from seed then the Oh Sow Simple range would be a good place to start - these are varieties good for starting off, and can be grown in a container or directly where you want them to grow.

You need very little experience for growing seeds, as they are programmed to grow! Just give them warmth, water, something to grow in - as many growers will tell you watching them grow can be magical, so why not try it for yourself?

As it says on the image above - Sow - Grow - Enjoy!