April

A misty morning with a heavy dew. But, oh, its been a wonderful day. We sat out in deckchairs in the sun!

 

Favourites

 Two of my favourite flower species come into bloom at this time of year. If the weather is kind I get a wonderful display of camellias. However, the weather has NOT been kind at all, very strong, biting winds and heavy gusts of hailstones that hammer against the windows. The petals of the camellias are frosted and many heavy heads have been snapped off. I've picked a few of the survivors to enjoy in the house.

 

No such trouble with the auriculas, they are tucked up in the greenhouse. All that I have to worry about with them are those pesky vine weevil grubs!

 

 

 

 

 

 There is stiff competition for space in the greenhouse as I've got trays of peas, beans  and squash waiting to be planted outside.

 

Plenty of blossom on the plum and pear trees. Mmm, gardeners are always looking forward!

British Summer Time. Brrr

 

We've had some beautiful weather lately. Unfortunately I missed it, succumbing, after two years of being VERY careful, to Covid. Horrid. No fun for a gardener to be stuck in bed when the sun is shining! Now I'm on the mend and the temperature outside is positively arctic, it's not even comfortable to be pottering in the greenhouse. I've just been in there to take a look at my emerging seedlings Something is eating the  corn shoots. Curses.

It's crammed with stuff in the greenhouse. I'm waiting for the auriculas to flower and have potted on a good number of plants from the delphinium seed that I sowed last autumn. No space to do anything else until I'm able to put some things outside. I've got trays of beans, peas and mangetout all waiting for warmer weather.

The garden is full of colour now.

I've brought some of the wind blown daffodils into the house.

 

 

 

 

Sunday stroll

 Although the temperature was 3 degrees and there was a fierce wind, the promise of some sunshine on Sunday was enough to tempt us out for a walk on the beach.  Lots of other people had the same idea.

The sand was blowing and we bowled along happily with the wind behind us.

The noise of the surf was loud. I was glad to be well wrapped up.

We were walking on the Sandbanks stretch of Bournemouth where  it is interesting to gaup at the ostentatious houses overlooking the sea, built for millionaires. (Some Russians, maybe? Their places might be up for sale soon!) In between the big, showy structures just a few of the old houses, like this one, remain. They are far more appealing to me. I hope that they will never be pulled down and replaced by another monstrosity. The old houses are a reminder of how Bournemouth used to be.

It was lovely to feel the sun on our faces. I feel very starved of sunshine at this time of year .

The family were about to turn around and head back into the wind.

Just a bit longer to soak up the sun, said Himself.

Half trerm

 Half term was cold. We took the bike to the beach where it is usually possible to ride unhindered for miles. But the storms had tossed the sand up onto the road making progress impossible. 

 A hole in the sand provided alternative interest for quite a while. But I, for one, was pleased to get back to the warmth of the kitchen for  some painting, cutting out, sticking, rolling and baking. Phew! 

The newly bought  dinosaur biscuit cutters were a great success.

Fair weather?

 The storms have gone and, although there is a bitter wind, the sun shines and spring is promised. Only two trees came down in the village as the various storms raged, along with a great deal of brash - good kindling for everyone! The snowdrops are up, seemingly impervious to anything that the weather brings. 

 I picked my first camellia flower of the season, 'Lavinia Maggee' and wandered round the garden to see what other blossom I could find.

The small pear tree is covered in moss, a sure indication of how much rain we have received this winter.
I've looked out my seed packets ready to swing into action. It's a promising time of year.

Birthday month

January is a birthday month in our family and  in normal times it means a continuation of  Christmas and New Year festivities with presents to open and good food to enjoy. There were two big '0's  to celebrate this year, half a century and my old bloke becoming eighty. Crickey! Among his presents were a tweed cap and a new waxed jacket, just the thing for a Yorkshire man, even if he is living down south.  Illness, however, kept our celebrations simple, a daughter with Covid and Himself with a number of hospital visits where he had bits cut off, bits patched up, laser treatment and more pills to add to his ever growing collection. There has been a lot of too-ing and fro-ing and anxious phone calls. Younger daughter, who works in the NHS, gave me good advice. "Mum, just pull on your big girl pants." A more invasive biopsy was cancelled. I phoned her to say it was good and added, "I'm taking off my big girl pants."

Could Grandad blow out all his candles in one go? Yes he could!

 

 

 We were all together for Peter's birthday and had lunch at the Olive Tree in Bath, the only restaurant in the city that has a Michelin star. Was the food good? Yes, it looked very attractive on the plate and tasted delicious.

My starter was tortellini, venison bolognaise, mooli and parmesan. 

 

 

 

 Others had a vegetarian option.

 

 

For my main course I ate Cornish lemon sole with poached mussels, courgette, sea herbs and a white wine sauce.

My choice for dessert was so delicious that I ate it before remembering to take a photograph! Islands chocolate with brown butter, hazelnut and yuzu.

Our boy had fish and chips and was perfectly happy to have some sauce to dunk his chips into. Fine dining doesn't mean much when you are four!

We are just a small family and it was wonderful to all be together.