I can't believe it is over 2 weeks since I last wrote a blog post. I didn't feel I had that much to share with you. Nothing apart from the usual cleaning and cooking happened and the weather was a bit miserable. Earlier this week though, Spring really made herself known. We have had three beautiful warm, sunny days and everything in the garden and the countryside has burst into life with full force. I sat in the garden on Wednesday lunch time and it really felt hot in my sheltered spot. The birds were singing with every ounce of their beings; owls were hooting to each other in the woods in the middle of the day and the four cockerels that live on farms around us spent an entire day cock-a-doodle-doo-ing! Love it.
The weather was quite nice last Sunday, so Pea and I set about pulling the weed suppressing membrane from under the soil in the soon to be kitchen garden. It turned out that it wasn't as difficult as I feared it would be. It was in four long strips, about six inches under the surface. Once we had found one end and dug some of the soil away, it was just a case of summoning all our strength to pull until we got to the other end, then we cut it off. Revealed underneath was a mass of roots from the hedge, running like veins along the length of the bed. Under all that was clay. H2 was delighted and dug himself a hole to stand in (not sure why) and then pulled out lumps of clay to make things with. I warned him that he couldn't leave the hole there as this was meant to be my veggie plot, but to compensate I found another area in the garden where there was clay and he dug a hole there instead.
So that is another task out of the way. I didn't do any gardening this week and made use of the sunshine by just sitting and enjoying the sounds of nature instead. At long last the days of seed sowing have begun! Yesterday saw the first seeds going in cell trays in our poly tunnel. It was so lovely to spend a quiet hour in the unique atmosphere that only a greenhouse or poly tunnel can give. The smell of damp earth warming up in the Spring sunshine is so comforting to me and reminds me of years of happy growing. I love sowing seeds and the anticipation of flowers and vegetables to come. Even though I know what they will look like from the picture on the seed packet, it still fills me with excitement to imagine what they will look like when they are growing in my garden. What other plants shall I grow them with? What colours would look good together? What about the position and surroundings? How good will they look at different times of the day in different light? See? So exciting!
We ended up with 18 pots of Sweet Pea seeds of two different, both highly scented, varieties and a tray full of borage to attract bees, half a tray of sweet peppers and lots of poached egg plant (Limnanthes) to edge the beds and to attract beneficial insects. Lots more seeds to sow over the next few months, but it is so gratifying to have actually made a start.
My sister-in-law gave me this beautiful Cath Kidston glass for Christmas. I haven't used it as I'm so afraid of crashing it on the taps when I wash up, so it has been sitting on the dresser all this time. I have decided to use it as a mini vase and I think it looks really pretty with these tiny daffodils in. Very Spring like and very cheerful. I love it!
As a treat for having had a week of feeling pretty down in the dumps and then a week of being rushed off my feet and worn out (in a good way, though), I bought myself lots of chocolate to enjoy over this weekend. I started off with a bag of man sized chocolate buttons. Man size? You must be joking. I don't know
any man that size...
I was hoping to follow that up with a Toblerone and a packet of small chocolate bars. But even after a day of shopping, gardening and dog walking, I couldn't manage it all. I have no stamina. I sat curled up in the chair last night, chocolate to one side of me, fire going, late blackbirds singing in the garden, the children reading and watching telly. It all served to make me very sleepy indeed. I love the feeling of my muscles tightening after a day in the garden, the fresh air making my head spin and the warmth of the fire closing my eyes. I am a grown woman, not too old, and I couldn't wait for nine o'clock so I could go to bed! Needless to say, I was almost too tired and kept waking up all night having had very strange dreams. So annoying. Will try not to do too much today; although I do have to get a load of washing out on the line, cook dinner, make a pudding of some sort, take the dogs for a walk....But hopefully that is it and I can rest a little this afternoon.
What is the point of a life if we don't take time to smell the roses? Or the primroses, or the forget-me-nots...?
Take time to relax today and thank you for reading. xxx
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