February: A quieter than anticipated few weeks

Another seasonal minor inundation from the nearby River Dee across the meadow / orchard at the weekend.
Although the level wasn't too extreme
Unfortunately a dead brown badger on the main road near by.
Lots of water-fowl on the surrounding flood-plain fields.

Managed a brief stroll around to check for debris and damage and to check the mature trees. This week has seen a few days with sunshine and no rain, but I've been unable to take advantage, being laid up with a particularly aggressive turn in the Crohn's Disease I got diagnosed a few years back (hence my enthusiasm for decent, natural local food and produce).

Only really managed a bit of seed and cutting preparation at home with respect to plans for 2013.
In between planned and unplanned visits to hospital and writhing around in agony, I've been browsing through Twitter at what other like minded folk are up to around now and what their ground conditions are like (surely things will dry up a bit one day)?

Quite looking forward to getting a few native seeds in the patched up bits of hedge, including some extra hops (a few growing wild). It'll be interesting to see how well the meadowsweet has proliferated after deliberately leaving the flowers to seed (I'm suspicious I might have missed opportunity with moist ground conditions to run a cambridge roll over to see if that helps germination of extra patches).

Considering I spend 2 weeks of time away with my proper job, I'd underestimated how much of an outdoorsy type I am when stuck inside with no choice...

January

January came and went, partly uneventful at the field due to more winter flooding from the River Dee.
A few things pottered about with at home:
Owl boxes, plants for transplanting into the field when ground conditions are better and greenhouse preparations. A few more heritage variety apple pips germinated in a propagator, giving the slight chance of a credible hybrid variety or more likely some mildly interesting crab apples.
A few more interesting books acquired and read, or partly read with respect to the vast tome of J.C. Louden's Encyclopaedia of plants from the mid 1800s.

Hopefully the weather for February and the months ahead will be more conducive to horticultural activities, grassland management, tree-planting and wildflower and wildlife proliferation...