Being Home

12:24 Carly 0 Comments

Being based in Wales I've had to get used to the weather of this particular part of the world quickly and nowadays the driving rain and unusual mildness of the region bother me a lot less than usual. However, it's always Autumn when homesickness tends to settle into my belly. The weather in Wales gives a perfect climate for ferns and epiphytes, unusual migrant species and tender plants but there's no beating Middle England for the crispness of autumn mornings, sparkling hoarfrost and clear, starry skies.

I came home this weekend for mine and my mother's joint birthdays (within two days of each other) and it was the perfect break after over a month of settling into a new job and a new lifestyle. I've gone from long days spent in the library, guzzling coffee and reading scientific papers to days of kneeling in the muddy borders cutting back perennials whilst the robin cleans up invertebrates behind me, peeling back turf to plant next year's bulbs and tidying the borders to keep the garden looking crisp as it enters dormancy. Although I'd never pretend that horticulture is the place to come looking for rest and relaxation (there's a jar of tiger balm permanently on stand-by and I'm starting to feel a twinge in my knee every time I get out of my chair), it's allowed me to steady myself, recollect my thoughts after uni and centre myself enough to begin to look for that sweet spot between science and horticulture where I'd like to live eventually.

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Beginnings

12:39 Carly 0 Comments

The lake at NBGW in Summer
Let me start us off by saying that I have never thought of myself as a writer. Not an auspicious start for a blog, but at least I begin with honesty. I am definitely a reader- I don't think it's possible to exaggerate how hungry I was for books as a child, nor how hungry I still am for stories that never fully let you go- but writing was never something I came at with much dedication or discipline. So this blog is a project, a look to see whether I am a writer and whether I can do it in a way that can entertain you all.

My chosen topic? They always say that you should write what you know, but what I know best is fiction, and I've proven in the past that I am legitimately terrible at writing fiction. Honestly! So I'm writing about something I hope to know, something I'd like to become as familiar and comforting as a well-worn jumper- plants! I'm head over heels in love with plants, and I'm currently working on building myself a life with them as the backbone. I'm 21 years old, fresh out of a Biology degree and savouring every drop of wide-eyed, early-twenties optimism and hopefulness that I've got. I'm currently working on a two year apprenticeship at the National Botanic Garden of Wales with the aim of going on to pursue Botany, however this is only the baby stages and everything is liable to change at any moment, but nonetheless here I go! Like a new fawn, running forwards only knowing the general direction I'd like to go in with no idea of the destination. I can only hope it makes for a good read- join me!


Carly

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