Saturday 13th May - dare I belive that Spring has arrived?

I might wait a day or two before I commit to Spring. I cast clouts as the day went on; after yesterday when I got very cold working outside I had gonecback to three layers; shirt, jumper and fleece. By the afternoon it was warm enough to potter about in the garden without fleece or jumper.

So what was I doing all day?

Well, as usual, one small task led to another...

I checked on my little baby plants and they all looked OK. Himself added the side supports to the lid of the cold frame so I don't need to use a couple of bricks to keep the lid closed - job done!

I started preparing some tubs to plant potatoes, and then had a think; and changed my mind. I was sure there were some growing sacks for potatoes in my little shed... yup, but to getto them I had to clear out and tidy the shed, including sorting out the bird food and refilling the feeders. That left the area around the shed in a bit of a state, so I needed to s9rt out the jumble of pots, tubs, chicken wire etc...

Now, the veg patch

and the adjoining 'yard'

are looking pretty good. You might have spotted a garden chair in the first picture.  It is my delight to sit there in the sun and just admire the broad beans. I can't wait until they are flowering. It is such a peaceful spot, but only if it is all organised and tidy.

The next question was where to grow my potatoes? 

There's just space at the side of the house, the area I call the nursery. More shuffling of pots, and also unzipping the left hand greenhouse to let some of the heat escape.

I found some forgotten potatoes in the hall, four of them sprouting enthusiastically.  I've used two, and ordered 2 more sacks to plant the rest of them. More pot moving first; but I'm hoping that the salvias will all settled into the flower bed soon.

The temperature is dropping and I've just been out to close the greenhouse and the cold frame.

I have earned 2000 steps just walking here and there, up and down, with frequent pauses to consider my next move or catch my breath. Well worth the effort!

'Mrs Miniver' continues to make me chuckle. And in my Audible night-time listening, currently 'The Little Princess', poor little Sarah Crewe has just had her life turned upside down. Children were treated appalling in times gone past; I know that Sarah Crewe's trials are a work of fiction,  but the idea that you would take, or send your young children to live with strangers and not see them again for several years... and one of the other girls in Miss Minchin's most select seminary is only 4 years old... 

I remember one of Rudyard Kipling's short stories - was it called 'Black Sheep'? was about his own experience of this happening to him.

On the whole things are better nowadays.