Patience

We’ve been planting in our garden throughout Spring and Summer this year. Some plants have thrived, some looked unhappy and needed moving, and others have perished. Later this year, our back garden will be landscaped, and we are already talking about the plants and seating we will choose. Our neighbour and his dad will be here creating our new garden area, and we are looking forward to having them around. They work so well together and take their time to make sure the foundations are sound.

As with any project, we have a plan, and we know that it’s a work in progress for the next few years. It will take its time and evolve in its own sweet way. Step by step, it will be created. All it will need is nurture, love, patience and the ability to pivot and try other things in the spots that aren’t working.

In our society, there are many messages about how quickly things can be done. Many people are making a living out of dispensing this kind of advice. ‘Mend this, fix that, sort this, build that’ in seconds, minutes and hours. Quick answers and quick fixes, and I doubt many are sustainable. Back in the day, we used to call them snake oil salesmen.

The Welsh have a name for microwaves, ‘Popty-ping’, which tickles our sense of humour and reminds us why we chose to live in Wales. Microwaves may be great to warm things through, defrost an item we forgot to take out of the freezer, but they are principally used to heat ready-made meals. Not the best things to feed ourselves.

I am wary of anything instant and fall back into keeping the big picture in mind on any project we are tackling. Time has proven that ‘step by step’ works, and trying to rush or force anything only ends in a mess.

Tim has long adopted the practice of spending at least fifteen minutes on a project every day. It may take a while sometimes, but he always gets the job done. Working full-time involves wise prioritising and juggling. Tim learned how to do this from the late steeplejack, Fred Dibnah. Fred took over twenty-five years to build his steamroller, Betsy. Fred worked hard, and he had patience. As Fred used to say, ‘Steam engines aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they are what made Britain great.’ Fred Dibnah's first national TV appearance was in the BBC documentary "Fred Dibnah: Steeplejack", broadcast on Thursday, September 6, 1979, on BBC Two England. Forty-six years ago tomorrow, Tim and his Dad, Richard, watched it together.

Our front and side rockery gardens patiently waited for us to get the balance right for all the plants, our beautiful Maple tree and front hedge that is a playground and haven for many small birds. 💚