Hello from Glasgow! We’ve only been here for two weeks but the craziness of January, what with packing up our house and lives in Melbourne and saying goodbye to so many loved ones, already seems like months ago- I think we are still recovering! We came with work leads but no real plans or commitments and so have been able to take the time to settle in gently. We’ve been spending most of our time wandering the streets and doing a bit of sightseeing too, so the city (or parts of it) is starting to feel like home…

Looking over at Park Circus, the swanky part of town!

University of Glasgow

Wonderful windows at the University of Glasgow

Stained glass

Although we’ve tried to just take it easy, we’re also very keen to start putting down roots and so have been looking at loads of tenement flats and have our fingers crossed that we’ll be accepted for one in particular- so, so lovely! Scotto is in discussions with several acupuncture clinics and I’ve already got some work teaching knitting (more on that tomorrow) and am exploring how to run workshops in natural dyeing too. I’ve also been in contact with coordinators at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens to see how I can get involved there. So there are good plans in the works! Now I’m just looking forward to making some friends here and building a community and routine for myself- after being so busy recently, it’s so strange to have so little in place!

Greenhouse and cold frames for starting seedlings in the cold climate, Glasgow Botanic Gardens

Tender plants under glass

Children’s gardens

The River Kelvin

This part of the Kelvin was frozen over when we arrived and much of the vegetation was beautiful shades of brown and grey but, over the past week, the ice has disappeared, birds are more active and there are bulbs and buds appearing everywhere. To me, it feels like spring is around the corner. Or perhaps not? We don’t know the weather patterns yet!

Hornbeam (Carpinus spp.)

Flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica) is a winter flowerer in Melbourne but is appearing now in very early spring here

Viburnum spp.

Spirea

Snowdrops (Galanthus spp)

Snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum)

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)

Crocus spp.

Chubby, chirpy robin

Chunky squirrel!

I’ll be back with more very soon but, for now, we send our love to all our family and friends! xx