New Year, new project. My father put his name down for an allotment a year or two back and a few weeks before Christmas the council got in touch to say a plot had become available. I've suggested a division of labour whereby he does all the digging and I'll lounge in a deckchair reading the paper.
 He seems to think otherwise so we made a start after Boxing Day and I got things underway by digging a bed over. It looks like no-one has worked it for a while because it's overgrown with coarse grasses, though there are some fruit bushes which have buds on already which is a bonus.
 We were intrigued that the contract states that the size of the allotment is "5 poles or thereabouts". We did some research and it seems that a pole (sometimes called a rod or a perch) is a measurement originating in Anglo-Saxon times. It is generally understood to be a linear measurement of 5 and a 1/2 yards. In the case of an allotment it is a square pole so to speak.
 Allotments became widespread during the 19th. century as masses of people moved from the countryside to towns and cities with the advent of industrialisation creating food shortages. It was reckoned that the standard size allotment of 10 poles was sufficient to feed a family so in effect my father's is half of an allotment.
 I wonder if there is any other system of measurement so archaic that is still used to this day?

 Postscript. And in answer to that question: a furlong. This suggestion was made to me in a pub, that forum where so many important matters are discussed.
 Having looked it up I can confirm that a furlong is equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 poles or 10 chains. The "Composition of Yards and Perches" is the first legal statute in England on such matters dating back to the late 13th. or early 14th. century. The furlong originally derived from an Anglo-Saxon measurement of the length of a plowed furrow.
 Many of our units of measurement have ancient roots then but the pole/rod/perch seems to have fallen into disuse apart from defining the size of allotments!           

 Some photographic reminders of the year that's gone. And at the same time they can herald the re-birth that will follow in the year to come...
 Beginning with this early bee on the Snowdrops. Posted 7th. February 2017.

 Narcissus Thalia translucent in the morning sun. Posted 28th. March.

 Wood Anemones, one of the flowers of the forest. Posted 12th. April.

 One of the greatest sights in all England: Snake's-Head Fritillary grows in thousands in the water meadows of Magdalen College, Oxford. Posted 17th. April.

 Summer Snowflakes -sometimes called Loddon Lilies- growing on the banks of the River Loddon in Berkshire. Posted 18th. April.

 The English Iris (except it originates in the Pyrenees!). Posted 20th. April.

 Sweet Rocket also known as Dame's Violet. Posted 22nd. May.

 The fronds of a fern unfurl. Posted 30th. May.

 Bumblebees love Purple Toadflax. Posted 4th. June.

 Field Scabious on the Hackney Marshes, London. Posted 11th. June.

 Field Scabious, Betony and Greater Knapweed growing in the Kingcombe Meadows, Dorset. Posted 13th. June.

 Meadow Cranesbill growing among grasses in the chalk hills overlooking the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire. Posted 26th. June.

 Rock Penstemon on the rim of the Crater Lake caldera, USA. Posted 5th. August.

 Sea Lavender on the salt marshes of the North Norfolk coast. Posted 15th. August.

 Sunlight illuminates the papery seed heads of Honesty. Posted 13th. September.

 The fruits of Autumn. What could be nicer than a handful of Blackberries or perhaps a Bramble and Apple Pie? Posted 7th. September.

 The Stinking Hellebores (Hellebore foetidus) were the first plants to flower in the garden this year and the subject of the first entry in this diary on January 21st.
 To my surprise they are also the last plant of the year to flower! H. foetidus flowers in late winter but I wasn't expecting them to flower again this side of Christmas. I thought it might be due to favourable conditions in this particular garden but I've noticed a large patch of them in full flower by the railway line just north of Stevenage.
 I purchased mine from a garden centre but they are a native wildflower in parts of the country. Their natural habitat is calcium rich chalky soil in woods and scrub. I have spotted them quite often by railway lines in and around London- I wonder if this is because the gravel used to lay track contains lime chippings?
 Even now in December I saw a bumblebee in the garden feasting on the lime-green flowers. As I mentioned in a recent entry (concerning Mahonia species) bumblebees are furry creatures that may well have originated in the Himilayas so they are able function in cool weather if need be.    

 Hertfordshire got more snow than London. I've walked over the brow of this hill many times yet the snow makes a familiar view feel so different.
 I'm one of those people who welcomes a long, cold winter (well, longish). Perhaps it's because my body copes better with very cold temperatures than very high ones.
 It's good for plants too. Most species that are native or naturalised in the UK not only tolerate cold temperatures but thrive on them. For example apple trees need a period of cold to set blossom and fruit well (the industry thinks of this in terms of 'chill requirement' and 'chill units' I believe). 
 Similarly the seeds of numerous plants need wintry conditions to germinate. Freezing and thawing breaks the dormancy of seeds in readiness for spring.
 Plunging temperatures do cull many creepy crawlies but that too is part of nature's checks and balances in a Northern climate. And again this is part of the life cycle for bugs Britannia. I would go so far as to say that I find a cold, damp winter reassuring though opinions do differ on that one...    

 The many moods of a garden. This was the sight that greeted me as I stepped out the back door at 8am this morning.
 Actually I love the variation in seasons so bring it on- let it snow. Then again I might have a browse through some of the entries I posted over summer, remind myself what warm and sunny feels like...

 Here's a wee beastie that's being spotted in the UK more often in recent years; it will help to click on the photo to enlarge it. In the middle of the image this intriguing critter is hovering over the foliage and flowers of Red Valerian- hairy body, two antennae, a blur of fast flapping wings and a very long tongue (like a length of black thread) poking into the flower head
 This photograph was taken in the back garden a couple of summers ago but I was reminded of it by an article about the species on the BBC website recently. This visitor comes to our shores from Africa and Europe carried by the winds (and a lot of of flapping no doubt). Apparently this has long been the case but lately it's becoming more common and widespread. I would concur: I'd never seen any until the past few summers but the clump of Red Valerian attracts them in May/June.  
 When I first saw one I noted that it seemed to be a moth that hovered like a hummingbird. I did some research and guess what- it's called a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth!