Temporary Post

A temporary post for my new public planting slideshow, still under construction and destined for Veg Plotting eventually. Seeing it's now got a comment, I'm keeping it here permanently ;)

Late News Just In

Regular readers over at Veg Plotting are aware of my fondness for my local newspaper, the Gazette and Herald. Its quirky way of reporting and sometimes hilarious pieces about the minutiae of life here in Wiltshire keep me amused for hours. This week it's outdone itself.

Firstly, it has a couple of good headlines from reporting on last week's bad weather:

Snow must go on as freeze hits county (Mast head headline) and

Salt peters out as weather takes toll (it looked like the county was going to run out of salt to grit the roads at one point)

But it really outdid itself with this story:

Robbie is on the way

Excitement is mounting in Compton Bassett as superstar Robbie Williams prepares to move to the village.

The previous owners of 17th Century Compton Bassett House moved out last weekend and the former Take That star has been seen strolling in the grounds with his gardener and has been out and about on the bike he was seen buying in Old Town, Swindon.

But residents say the 34-year old has not yet moved into the £7 mansion.

It should of course be £7 million! I've sent it in to the News Quiz cuttings team. BTW, until this piece appeared the only thing I new about Compton Bassett is that's where our household refuse goes into landfill.

Update: I've just found this advertisement, which has also been sent to the News Quiz:

For the best food, service and comfort, visit

The Taste of Bengal
Indian Restaurant & Takeaway

We would like to Apologise for the Reduced level of Service in January due to Staff training.

Snow Casualties

There was even more snow overnight than I showed yesterday over at Veg Plotting. This was the scene at 8am this morning and it continued to snow up until lunchtime. For the first time ever I've had to go outside and knock the snow off the trees and shrubs. The conifer's looking a bit more upright, but I'm not sure if that lower branch is permanently bent. The willow tree on the right is more upright too, but the stake which held it seems to have disappeared. I'll have to wait until Spring to see if its little winter wandering means it needs to go. It's a favourite tree, but already I'm thinking there might be other possibilities for there, such as a more topiarised version.

I used a broom to knock off the snow. There was more and it was heavier than I was expecting, no wonder everything was feeling the strain a little. I must have looked quite a sight with my broom, knocking and shaking the trees and the snow slithering off, sometimes onto my head. Thankfully NAH couldn't find his camera, so it's not recorded for posterity!

Snowy Fleurs

A touch more snow yesterday and a sharp frost overnight made driving up the hill quite exciting this morning! I'm glad I didn't meet anything to make me stop - I doubt I would have got going again. I took these photos just after lunch today - already the sun is working its magic and pulling my flowers out of their sugary winter coating. More snow is forecast for tomorrow, so the pictures may get a little bit more dramatic after then :)

Today in Pictures

Click on the image to enlarge