Today I have taken my blogging inspiration from the Radio Times - or to use its own self-aggrandising terminology - 'the legendary Christmas Radio Times'. Flicking through you will notice it basically comprises three things - the classic Christmas episodes, 'Review of the Year' type shows and an awful lot of stuff starring David Tennant. Quite frankly I'm a little surprised the departing Doctor Who hasn't turned up in a bonnet on Cranford, kicked off an argument on Albert Square or given us his best Cha Cha Cha on Strictly Come Dancing.
Anyway, it seems a little late for Christmas-themed nonsense, and I've yet to crack time travel, so instead I thought I'd look back at the most memorable bits of my gardening year with the kids...
Best garden we visited - without doubt, Hampton Court Gardens in Herefordshire - I mean a maze with an underground tunnel leading to a sunken garden - does garden exploration get more exciting for those under 10 (or over 35)?
Best thing we planted - bulbs, cress and even strawberry plants can't compare to the excitement of the children creating their own gardens this year. Well, I say 'created', but this is very much in the manner the Pharaohs 'created' the pyramids - the kids sent down orders from on high whilst I played the part of Egyptian slave.
Best things we made - I would probably choose either the insect hotel or our mini-scarecrow despite the fact the latter looks disturbingly like ET and has eyes which follow you round the garden in a manner reminiscent of those ancestral portraits in Scooby Doo.
Biggest disappointment - obviously, this has to be our failure to win the school sunflower competition. Still, I am not deterred. If it took Doris Lessing five decades to win the Nobel Prize for literature, I'm sure I can wait another year for my triumph.
As an aside, I had hoped this would be a guest post written by my daughter, but she's too busy - apparently she wants to watch David Tennant reading the bedtime story on Cbeebies...