It's the second week of March and the days are longer and brighter now, but still a bit too chilly for my liking.

Yesterday I cut Front Court for the second time this year - the first cut was over a month ago, in early February, between two periods of snow! It's a good colour and the stripes are looking crisp and sharp. We just need a little more warmth to really get things moving now. http://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/about/virtual/webcam/ 

Under glass, enjoying the heat of the greenhouse, we have some Kaffir Lilies in pots. One plant is in flower, another is about to join in and show off its bright orange trumpet-like flowers. Elsewhere in the gardens, Crocus, Snowdrops, Aconites and Hellebores look lovely in the borders, and hundreds of daffodils are filling the lawn meadows, ready to burst into flower.

(Emmanuel College – Kaffir Lily – Garden Department greenhouse)

Question of the Week:
Dining Hall queue-jumper, ”Would you mind asking for a bowl of chips for me?” No verbal reply, but a look as powerful as a Zinedine Zidane headbutt. (That's me told then...)

Starter of the Week:
Onion Bhajee. Don’t even ask about the prawn salad follow-up... (mentioning no names, Adam)

Tearoom Topics: Adam’s ponytail, Roobarb (the 70’s cartoon series), Guitars, and ‘Ken, please don’t keep playing that Whitney Houston song.’ Did I mention Adam's ponytail? What d'you mean, I'm one to talk?

Sun trying to peep through the clouds and very cold today. Fourth coat of Hammerite applied – rust repairs almost complete. I’m gasping for a cuppa. Anyone wanna to join me?

It's beginning to feel as if the seasons are changing (almost) - different colours are starting to appear in the college gardens.

The pure white landscape of ice and snow is a fading memory, although an unexpected covering one morning last weekend was a brief, (the snow melted by mid afternoon), reminder of what we had enjoyed during December and January. The forecast is for colder weather next week...

Some of our earliest plants to flower are bulbs. There are snowdrops in Chapmans & Fellows' Gardens and winter aconites are dotted about underneath many of the trees (Paddock, Fellows). The clumps of small yellow ‘buttercup' flowers have been popping into view and give us lovely ground colour for several weeks.

(Emmanuel College - Winter Aconite - view across the top meadow towards Old Court) 

Question of the Week:
8 year-old boy, "What's that howling?" (Wednesday, walking past the chapel, 7 pm choir practice).

Darts:
The Tomalin Cup was a great success. Well it was for the winner; Typhoon cementing his No.1 status. A very enjoyable tournament. Emotions ran high and the occasion got to Big Bird - erratic scoring and missed doubles. However, Blogger checked out on 76, Barndoor didn't disappoint and Squirrel surprised everyone. Already looking forward to a re-match.

Tearoom Topics:
New York, ‘Is this gravy or custard?' and the infamous South Court incident.

Damp and soggy today. Risk Assessments to review - time for a quick brew first? Oh, alright then...

We've been pollarding the Limes in the Fellows' Garden this week. The young wood cuts easily with secateurs and it's nice to handle; smooth, soft stems and colourful bark. It's a satisfying job to do, and to see the end result - the striking, vertical main trunks stand as tall as the high boundary wall and are topped with branches stretching out like arms on either side ending in knobbly spurs. We're stacking the debris on site for now as there is small back-log of leaves heaped under the Plane tree to deal with first.

(Emmanuel College - Oriental Plane)

The photo shows more of the wonderful twisty branches.

Reply of the Week:

Flip-Flop Girl, "No, not brave. I've run out of socks!" (Tuesday, walking along central path, minus 2 degrees).

Darts:

Looking foward to a tournament on Friday. It's Big Bird's farewell. He's odds-on favourite to win, of course.

Tearoom Topics:
Bulgarian cuisine, pyjamas, Rob's locker and 'What's that funny smell in here?'

Text of the Week:
Sent by Adam (Weds 11.02 am), "Disastr. Robs pinball machine hs jammd in lockr dor. Cn u come nd help?" 

Bright but cold today. Green bins out ready for Friday collection, nearly 11 o'clock - I fancy a cuppa...

The Oriental Plane in the Fellows' Garden is a wonderful tree. It is fascinating to look at in every season. In winter we can see through the vast canopy that spreads over twenty metres in each direction from the main trunk. In summer you feel like you are inside a huge 'living' room as you walk beneath the leafy branches.

The cold spell has been good for the garden, and we haven't suffered too badly ourselves, (hot chocolate has helped!)
Last year, here in Cambridge, a week of heavy snow and frosts in February defined the change of seasons and we then enjoyed a year of wonderful spring flowers and tree blossoms that developed into attractive and interesting fruits. We hope that our daily routine of clearing snow and ice from the college paths is over, at least for a while. We've now started our winter tree pruning.

(Emmanuel College - coppiced Hazel logs)

Autumn winds and recent snow helped with some dead-wooding, as they brought down dead twigs and branches, and we have been cutting and removing other dead wood.

Last week we worked on the pleached Hornbeams in The Slips at the front of the college, cutting and training branches back to a framework to form a vertical woven screen.

Today we are coppicing the Hazels in Chapmans, Paddock and Fellows' Gardens, cutting selected stems to ground level to allow space for others to grow.

Darts:

The inaugural round-robin machine-shed darts tournament saw Barndoor and Squirrel knocked out in the first round. In a tense, competitive, high-scoring final, Typhoon clinched a famous victory over Blogger.

Tearoom Topics:

Darts player look-a-likes, favourite puddings and 12-string guitars.

Text of the Week:

Sent by Rob (Weds 4.45 pm), "Hs anyone seen my bike?" 

Oh... as I look out of the window, it has just started to snow. I think it's time for a brew...

We started back at work this week and the freezing temperatures and forecast of more snow mean that we can't stop talking about the weather. On the run up to Christmas, the first fresh snowfall had transformed the college gardens in an instant into a fairytale landscape, but paths soon turned to sheets of ice and we spent our last working days of 2009 clearing them each day.

(Emmanuel College - view across the frozen pond towards the Hostel)

This morning (5th January) there is no further snowfall yet, but many plants in college are feeling the cold and look a bit sorry for themselves (and some of the staff too!) A hard, night frost has left leaves and stems rather lifeless. However, the wonder of nature means that they will quickly recover as they thaw out - though that may not be for several days...

Inside the glasshouse I have been starting some bulbs off in window boxes. Hidden below the surface for two months, shoots are now peeping through.
When I visited Corpus (just down the road from Emmanuel), their bulb boxes were more advanced than ours. Is it a few degrees warmer there, or do they talk to them more? Perhaps I'd better have a quiet ‘Tete-a-tete' with ours...

Tearoom Topics:
The weather, Ray Mears, Bear Grylls and, curiously, Piers Morgan.

Text of the Week:
Sent by Will (Monday 1.45 pm), "Jst woken up. Any idea wht day I am due bck at wrk?"

I think it's time to put the kettle on. More garden news next time, including an update on the 'machine-shed darts league'. Happy New Year.