Back to Spithandle

A year on from our COVID-shadowed visit to Spithandle Nursery, we were back there yesterday for our annual Christmas visit. Things felt a little more normal again. There was a fun letter trail to distract the children for a while, as we scouted the plantation for a suitable tree.

It was interesting to see a real tree nursery (below). It takes, apparently, eight years to grow them to a couple of meters high. So it's likely that the tree we pick will be a very similar age to our youngest (as we tend to go for slightly shorter trees). After a bit of a hunt, in surprisingly mild weather, we found what some to be an ideal tree for us.

It was lovely to have the girls helping out with digging up the tree. I'm not quite sure why we persist with this. Every year, we take home a rooted tree, and try to keep it alive. And every year, we fail. I suspect the salty air of the beach, and the poor quality of the soil atop the shingle doesn't make ideal conditions for these sorts of trees. Still, maybe this year will go better…

The Spithandle Nursery Barn

The barn, where they net your tree, was particular interesting this year. Lots of tempting add-on purchases, some made by the children of the extended family that own and run the place. And some information about West Sussex County Council's adults' services, which was interesting. A big thing to do, but I suspect we're too busy with the girls to be able to help out.

No pony rides this year — another victim of COVID, I suppose. And soon the girls will have grown past them. But never mind! They still loved interacting with the ponies.

And just time for some snacks and hot drinks from the kitchen window, before heading for home and the tree decorating.