{gardening goals}

I’m not normally a fan of the new year but after the December I’ve had I am greeting 2012 like an old friend, and smothering it in kisses.

And because this blog shouldn’t be a depository for all my moaning I won’t go on about the car that cost £1,700 to fix, the boiler that broke down or a lurgy picked up at school that saw all seven of us ill with three on antibiotics.

All in the two weeks before Christmas.

But no, I’m not dwelling on that or the utter exhaustion that has shrouded these holidays. To say I am looking forward to a bit of peace tomorrow is probably understating it somewhat.

I’m also looking forward to getting a few things achieved this year. I know resolutions are sticks we use to beat ourselves over the head, but it’s hard to resist filling the blank pages of a new year with hopes and dreams.

But I’m calling mine goals. I figure they sound more achievable that way and less angst-making if they fail to leave the pages of my notebook.

In fact, there are so many things I want to get a handle on this year I am, yet again, feeling paralysed by feelings of overwhelm.

So I’ve made extensive lists, including a section entitled Gardening Goals. These are, in no particular order:

• Visit the allotment every week. Prioritise it
• Order three David Austin roses (I have until March to get the bare rooted ones in) to grow through the picket fence
• Paint the picket fence before the roses grow
• Organise and paint the potting shed – I feel this will feature in a few posts
• Plan and plant the Lotion and Potion patch
• Turn the unused bit of front garden into a cutting garden
• Transform the side bit of the house into a shady-loving plant haven
• Buy and fit a wooden gate so the above haven is a private one
• Get back to enjoying gardening.

The last one is probably the most important one. Thanks to the internet I do feel pangs of gardening inadequacy but I need to ignore what everyone else is doing. Really.

Have you any gardening goals?