My garden in December

Like last month there’s very little actual gardening going on in my garden, but I’ve still been surprised by it, especially with the Mottisfont rose which has produced a massive flower which meant it got pride of place when I moved the pots into their more sheltered winter positions.

We’ve been able to watch this develop from the house, although it didn’t really change much throughout the month. This was as open as it got, before the weather got to it - but even so isn’t it a beauty?

Elsewhere in the garden other plants in the main border have been starting to, or hinting at flowering - and it’s been great to watch the smaller birds hop in and around the bushes.

It seems the new olive tree in the large pot has snagged itself one of the sunny spots on the patio, which really is no bad thing.

It’s coping pretty well with the windy weather, and a lot better than my Christmas wreath which I decided would be better off taking shelter in the heat pump enclosure until the worst of the winds died down. I didn’t much fancy collecting parts of it from around the garden, but I may have done it a dis-service as since it’s been on our back door it’s been fine.

And it’s still on our door looking as great as when we collected it - I’m not ready to let this one go just yet. It’s another one that’s turned from a Christmas wreath into a Winter wreath!

I’ve also gained some new plants this month, both from dad - this one, which I’m not exactly sure what it is yet and one of his rhubarb crowns. The rhubarb is in the garage ready to be planted when the weather (and ground) allows, and I hope this one picks up following the frosts we’ve had this past week or so.

It’s a quiet few months in the garden but if I’m lucky there’ll be some brighter, crisper and slightly warmer days which will give me a chance to catch up on some of those outside winter jobs, and to weed the gravel drive before the weeds there really take hold!

Overnight in Bruton

In December we kickstarted our Christmas with a few as it turned out Christmassy days in Devon stopping overnight along the way, this time choosing Bruton in Somerset. While it actually didn’t reduce the driving any, it did avoid a long and dull drive along the M5 at least in one direction. We didn’t know much about Bruton beforehand, as it turned out to be a last minute booking when the hotel we’d chosen originally was unable to open, but it turned out more than well.

We arrived shortly after sunset and the view from our top floor bedroom at Number One Bruton was almost magical. Completely by chance we’d chosen to stay here on the town’s Christmas night with the shops opening later, a street market and an abseiling Santa, like you do. It was throning, and very nice of them to put on such a show for us!

The view inside our room was equally as good - I even managed to dress to match the gorgeously tiled shower.

After snaffling the in room goodies, which included some local Westcombe Cheddar cheese and handmade shortbread we took a walk around the Christmas stalls and shops. We didn’t get far before MOH spotted a promising looking sofa in one window. We went in to investigate and fell for a vintage paisley patterned quite pink velvet sofa - which despite being in the shop’s window we were encouraged to try out. MOH has since said he pointed it out partly in jest, but after further quizzing he too likes it enough to have in our lounge, I’m not sure I’d say he’s fallen for it but he can see how it would work and be the making of the room.

Further along the street we stumbled across these ceramics, I couldn’t stop looking at the ribbed candlestick on the right and so it was got down for us to look at further. There’s something about it, I’m not sure if it’s the texture, the wonkiness, the colour or a bit of all three, but it came home with us anyway. It is also for the lounge and has the tones of the sofa we’d just seen, so it was probably meant to be.

After signing up for more info on the sofa, buying the candlestick and claiming the can of local craft beer that the candlestick selling lady insisted we have, we thought we’d better head back. Somehow along the way I took the photo above of the Christmas lights, and below which is I’m sure the same thing. I think I quite like the one below though!

The hotel itself had plenty of charm, from the original drawer unit now acting as a reception desk right through to the room key labels hanging on the back wall, and plenty more besides.

It’s been a while since we’ve been up and down circular stairs, though of course those in our previous house didn’t have an enticing view of the garden part-way up.

The courtyard garden looks a great space for warmer evenings, and I’m sure we could be back again returning on a future stop off at some point. It’s well positioned, has gorgeous decor plus the most delicious restaurant - and there’s a bar next door too, which is all part of the Number One Bruton experience. And on top of this, if that wasn’t enough, as hotel guests we were able to spend some time the next day looking around the gardens at The Newt in Somerset which was about ten minutes up the road. I’ve so much more from there to share!

So sometimes when plans change at the last minute, they do for the best. Though I was probably questioning that when we encountered ‘all the rain’ on our onward journey, but that too was an experience - just one I hope we don’t have again!

That was 2025...

Yes, it’s another of those year in review type posts, and at some point I’ll look at my Top 10 posts for the year as I usually do, but before that I’m sharing a look back at the past year which I’m hoping should be all the easier for the new series of ‘This is’ posts I started last January. Fingers crossed anyway.

2025 was a year that we saw way too much of hospitals, and I’d appreciate it if 2026 could be much better behaved in that respect please. Both MOH and I made various visits to hospitals here in Newark and further afield in Mansfield and our parents also had ambulances and A&E visits, though thankfully that’s been left in 2025.

It was also the year that I learnt that my HRT was the ‘wrong sort’ and had been for a while, despite me asking questions, but anyway it’s sorted now and I’m grateful that it was eventually discovered and corrected.

Health and fitness was a big theme this year, and I’m sure it will continue to be too. We have our gym in the garage, which I’m a much more frequent visitor in warmer weather, and I’ve been going to regular Yoga sessions in the hall in the village next to us. In October we both started Reformer Pilates, and wow - it’s been a learning curve for us both. We’ve stuck at it though and we are both benefitting from the classes, even if we don’t manage to do everything quite how we should all of the time!

And as I look back over my monthly posts as always there’s things I remember clearly, and things that make me smile - such as remembering the pheasant in our garden in the February sun - and things that jog my memory too.

In January I was inspired by many quilts at the Newark Quilt Show, and spent a Saturday at a workshop starting my Floral Fancy panel, which I haven’t yet progressed any further - oops! I wondered ahead of the workshop if I had the skills required, and over the year I’ve realised that I do and also that the more sewing I do, the more I can do, though I think having the confidence with and in my new machine helps.

In February as well as the running pheasant the snowdrops we’d planted in the garden started to flower, there was a day trip to London where I snuck in a visit and small purchase at Liberty, and we had the most amazing meal out at Sabor, which had long been on our list to visit but we never got to while we were living in London!

Spring started to spring in March and brought with it much more traffic through our tiny village thanks to the roadworks on the nearby A46. We sorted out better wine storage, replaced a failing light on our landing and spent a small fortune on a large piece of art for the stairwell.

There were cute lambs in the village in April and many mornings we woke to their bleating, which given how cute they were never becoming annoying. We went along to the Newark Garden Show leaving with an ornament for the garden, which has stayed in the garage ever since. We needed to source another light for our landing after sending a damaged light back and being expected to wait until June for its replacement - I really don’t think so, so we didn’t.

In May I was back in London at the preview of Unearthed at the British Library, and it was a fantastic exhibition which part of it is now touring the country, or at least it was. We tied this in with a visit to Grand Designs at the Excel and was surprised to see how much reduced the show was, though that didn’t stop me buying a very large pot for the patio, oh and Palace won the FA Cup, which was totally amazing.

We spent two and a bit weeks in June travelling between Chicago, Seattle and Vancouver and this was more amazing that Palace’s FA Cup win. I’ve still not edited the photos, and I really should as I want to share its awesomeness. And as soon as we were back we were off to Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham again.

In July we finally went shopping for the sofa we were aiming for earlier in the year - hooray! Though our garden sofa which up until now had been an indoor sofa probably wasn’t as pleased as that was to be kicked out when the new one came! We got the high level sockets moved down to a level that suited us and covered the hole temporarily with a piece of A4 paper. We are resourceful if nothing else, as proven by using a liquidiser for our Pimms.

In August I continued to be wowed by quilts, this time at my first visit to the Festival of Quilts, the new kitchen sofa arrived - and it’s only in the last week or so that I’ve cut the safety label off it (it was right at the front so it had to go), and we finally made great strides in sorting out the garage, with new racks arriving too. That’s just as well as it wouldn’t be that long before the garden furniture would be moved in there for the winter.

We had a lesson in how to weekend in September, and it was a refreshing and timely reminder, plus there was new garden furniture delivered which we’ve not been able to use yet - but it’ll be new for this summer, and it was a bargain too.

There was even more progress in the garage in October when we actually made use of the racks we’d bought, but the real highlight of the month was the foraging and preserving. We had some chestnuts and walnuts from a neighbours garden, and picked up some more walnuts from the tree around the corner, and I made some chilli jelly using many of the tiny crab apples from our garden.

November saw a day trip to Harrogate for yet another quilt show (and I’m still not bored of them yet!), and I spent a joyous morning block printing some more patterns to embroider. Plus there was the annual Christmas pudding making and boiling, which always means Christmas is on its way.

And so it was, our Christmas was kickstarted after an early December weekend in Devon where we spent most of a day wandering around the gardens at The Newt, drove through plenty of water and then collected our own Christmas wreath when we were home. I got all of the sheep in Christmas jumpers embroidered that I wanted to, and we had a great Christmas seeing all of our family. Not withstanding a few domestic hiccups with the dishwasher and the heating, it was a great end to the year.

I’m only just starting to think about what 2026 may bring and what it will bring for my blog, and it may take a while for those intentional posts to surface - I’m always amazed at the number of people that already know when January 1 rolls round. I’ll get there, and most likely in a more relaxed way, which suits me just fine.

Here’s to a really great 2026 for each and every one of us.