Monday 3rd May 2021 – Lots to celebrate today!!

Just a very quick IAVOM post from me today, a teeny Bretby Pottery salesman’s sample jug, with a posy of common double snowdrops, Galanthus ‘Flore Pleno’. They may be ‘common’, but that doesn’t stop them being exceedingly pretty, with their frilly white tutus and generous green markings. And if we are going to use a double domino as a prop, let’s have a double six!

Inspired by the lovely pink pussies of Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’ featured in my last Six on Saturday and a sudden glut of blooms on Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’, creating today’s vase began easily. Selecting stems of the former that wouldn’t detract from the shrub and reaching flowering stems of the latter proved a little challenging, but it was easy enough to choose additional material to complete the contents, with witch hazel H vernalis ‘Amethyst’ and foliage of Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’ providing different degrees of pinkness.

I am not quite sure where the thoughts of the Orient came from, although the witch hazel at least has oriental ancestry – it may simply be that the yellow, cream and yellow-green contents brought this little perfume bottle to mind, thus bringing thoughts of the Orient to me even if no-one else…

I spent the morning putting the guttering round the newly covered chicken run, and also fixing some of the guttering at the back of the chicken house.

Today I turned forty mumble, mumble, mumble today. A fabulous start to the day with the kids coming in early with some wonderful pressies. I got another t-shirt (garden themed of course), some unusual fruit teas which most are very difficult to get in the shops, a wonderful new note book to write down any novel idea I have (I’ve got a few notes to do on my first novel, but am thinking about what happens in the second book already), a couple of fabric head bands, The Greatest Showman Bly Ray (it’s one of those films, when I’m feeling a bit weird and not myself I’ll sit and watch. I think I’m over the top of the hill with the weird feelings, but it’s taking a long while to descend the mountain), the Sarah Pinborough novel Behind Her Eyes, if you’ve not seen the 6 part drama I suggest you give it a go. And finally some new slippers that are so cozy to put your feet inside, and the softest dressing gown I have ever felt and some money from various other people.

It’s not usual that you can plan ahead for when you’re going to have to spend a day in bed, because you never know when you’re going to be ill. But later this evening I am having my first Covid jab and knowing how it wiped out my husband for an entire day was starting to worry me a little.

Today was a day off! I know it sounds odd, but I tend to have the third Monday of the week off at the moment (I’m sure that’ll change soon), so as the weather was fabulous again I went back out into the garden to finish off those things I couldn’t get done yesterday.

When I got back from work today, I sat down for half an hour and had a lovely hot cup of tea. The sun was shining outside and so before I needed to get dinner on the go I decided to pop out into my garden to get a few bits done.

Thank you everyone for all your kind words regarding my latest migraine, I found out many new things, one being that bananas can bring on attacks. I love bananas, they’re my favourite all year round fruit. I’ve decided to stop eating them for a month to see what happens, and if I don’t get a migraine at all in that time then I’ll have to find another favourite fruit that isn’t too expensive.

Apart from the odd bit of snow about the rest has all gone, and the world is green again! I only worked a morning today, so this afternoon I was able to get out into the greenhouse and sow a load of seeds. The temperature in the greenhouse is about 15 degrees so that’s a good temperature for seeds to germinate. I’ve got a lot to go through, so if you’re ready and sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin.

Today I was only supposed to be working from 9am-1pm and was planning on being in my garden when I got home. But first thing this morning the heavens opened and it was going to be one of those on and off heavy rain shower days again. So having spoken to the client I was supposed to be visiting that day, we both decided that it would be better to take the morning off. It was good that I did, because it did exactly what it said on the tin.

Well it’s here!! It rained all night and strong winds as Storm Darcy battered out bedroom windows upstairs. But as we were eating our breakfast the rain began turning to snow. Because the ground was very wet I wasn’t expecting it to settle, but as the morning went on it became heavy snow and very large flakes, so it started to cover the ground. It was sub zero, but apparently felt like -8 with the wind chill. And it felt like that when I went to give the chickens their breakfast this morning.