Firstly, the answer to the question posed in my last post, is that 1284 litres of water fell on every square metre of our garden from November 2nd to February 9th, (when our garden was filmed for BBC2 Gardener’s World) in our wettest ever spell. That’s a heck of a lot of rain!
But more significantly for me, it’s now 5 years since this blog began.
I’m still seeing new things.
What has been just the last 5 minutes of my whole life hour, has passed with breakneck speed. So very few, earlier, memories from the preceding 55 minutes seem recollectable, in part since my brain seems to be bowing to the inevitable, and beginning to stutter as both hands reach skywards at an accelerating pace.
Yet what has been spied, sifted, and shoehorned into these last 300 seconds?
When I began the blog, I questioned how long my enthusiasm would survive.
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But here I am, still experiencing things in this rural backwater which I feel motivated to describe visually and verbally. 
What a wonderful world we’re fortunate to live in, to constantly inspire my thoughts.
I see from the WordPress stats, page that this is my 150th blog post. There are also now 115 separate pages on the website. And 1,866,000,000 different bytes of data, (a byte is equivalent to the 8 ‘bits’ or numbers of computer language, which code for single numbers or letters), have apparently been uploaded by me onto our website, to capture my random, synapsed and shuttered thoughts, over this period. 
That’s a scarily BIG number of numbers. And how can these 300 seconds be reduced to mere 1’s and 0’s – or whatever digits are now used in computer speak?
But isn’t that what all English speaking writers try to communicate with just 26 characters? 
At least I have a camera to help me.
But is getting just the right picture, even more demanding of time and effort than choosing the appropriate words?
Sometimes, I really think it is. 
And the great thing is, that as the memories fade, one can revisit these thoughts, ideas and images and rediscover the thrill of the initial exploration. Should one feel so inclined, and digital meltdown permitting.
So perhaps an indulgence like this blog, is indeed the perfect form of vanity, to accompany the long-term vanity project that making and tending a garden can easily become. The permissible vanity of the long distance, gardener-blogger, where the effort of a single post achieves extra merit, as being a mere ‘bit’ part of the bigger story, of the longer term struggle.
In skip reviewing these 5 years of posts for this piece, I found one from 29/05/2013, (click here for more) with some wonderful quotes about what gardening can mean and achieve – lifting one above the mundane, and sometimes even glimpsing a higher plane. These moments really do occur for us sometimes – no, even often, in this magical place.
Maybe by trying to share some of these personal glimpses, I shift mere selfish record keeping, to a more communal enjoyment?
I hope so.
Certainly from the very early stages, it has never seemed a lonely path to tread, and for that I’m very grateful to those readers who have joined me for part or all of this journey.
The above images are from the last 2 weeks, but for those who might have missed some key moments from earlier on, here are a few of my favourite highlights – very few more words for once, (phew), just some images and ideas appropriately compressed into just a few seconds. I hope you enjoy them.
Red Skies
Magic Mushrooms
White Outs
Sub Zero
Rain Bows
Spring Flowers
New Lives
Flying By
Sunny Scenes
Mist Opportunities
Citizen Science
Pond Life
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Norwegian Wood
True Colours
Brief Encounters
Around About
Welcome Visitors
Meadow Moments
Two’s Company
thegardenimpressionists 
Magic memorable moments- thank you for sharing these photo treasures and many congratulations on your 5 year brilliant blog. Can’t wait to see and read what the next 5 years bring to you and Fiona- what I do know is that it will be very interesting!
Thanks Marianne, Glad you enjoyed the pics, and thanks for your support over the years, BTW managed to get to Abermarlais a fortnight ago, and meet the lovely new owner who has just taken the site over. Amazing place!
Best wishes
Julian
Congratulations! Always a fascinating read accompanied by brilliant photos. Thank you so much.
Hello RWF, and thanks for a lovely encouraging comment,
Best wishes
Julian
Five years of fantastic photographs and an eclectic range of such interesting subjects. Why blog? I often as myself that question. I know I have learnt such a lot from following blogs which has entirely changed the way I look at gardening and life in general. Amelia
Hello Amelia,
Thanks for that, and being one of my regular commentators. I’m sure you’re right – if one only had more time to follow more blogs, in different spheres of human endeavour, I think we’d all have much more positive vines and information than one finds on much main stream media. 3 of the current non gardening blogs I follow, which you may already know about, and which I’m always pleased to see in my inbox are : http://inesemjphotography.com/2016/02/27/all-roads-lead-to-rome/
http://joshidaniel.com/2016/02/26/portrait-rajasthani-jaisalmer/
https://smackedpentax.wordpress.com/2016/02/21/a-bit-of-rain/
Worth checking out…if you have any spare time!
Best wishes
Julian
Thanks I’ve had a quick look but I could do with spending some more time on them. I have always been interested in photography but it always seems to be squeezed out by other interests.
Hi Julian, You have shared some really wonderful, interesting and creative photographs, I really enjoy the insight into your life in Wales and to your creative thoughts. I enjoy your writing too and mostly understand although occasionally you lose me with some of your more boffiny stuff! My daughter encouraged me to blog, mostly its fun, finding enough time is the trickiest part. I’ve been lucky to meet folk like you and take part in one of your events and my eyes have been opened to all sorts of diverse and inspiring blogs across the world. Happy Blogging versary!
Hello Julie,
Thanks for the really kind comment. I do think running a blog is a hugely stimulating and challenging experience, and admire anyone who can do it over any length of time, as indeed you do. It’s also more impressive done alongside a proper job, unlike my unusual situation where I have too much time on my hands. Sorry if my boffiny bits aren’t always clear enough! It’s another of my challenges in going into subjects which I only have a shallow knowledge of, and then trying to write about them in a comprehensible way…
Best wishes
Julian
I enjoy the more challenging boffiny pieces and need to stretch my mind further!
Thanks Julie!
An inspiring post and a truly fabulous collection of photographs. I only ‘found’ you relatively recently but have thoroughly enjoyed sharing your thoughts and garden with you. Happy blogging birthday and here’s to the next five years!
Thanks Noeline, I really appreciate your kind comment,
Best wishes
Julian
Brilliant post and photographs! Congratulations on Five Years in Blogging! 🙂
Thanks Inese. It’s great to have followers with their own really interesting blogs…like yours!
Best wishes
Julian
Thank you so much for your kind words, Julian!