April arrives

 Season almost over

New bulbs this year 

Still holding on

New season

And blueberries 

The garden is looking good, shame about the weather, no rain just cold and dull, my pots need watering. 

March round up

 Still no craft spending, I am enjoying knitting my scrappy blanket, garden spend was good. I did purchase two new pairs of shorts.

8 Books read in March.

Lilly had her visit to the vets, almost £100, its not cheap having pets, we had budgeted for it, no issues, she is a good weight.

I dug out 2 bags of compost from one composter this month, there were a few woody bits in there, I'm really pleased with the quality, I always need compost.

We did purchase a new steam floor cleaner and a separate handheld, I had steam mops before, this time we chose a floor cleaner, slightly sturdier, I struggle cleaning our wooden floors, my knees and back are complaining. Nothing else required, we managed to save a bit extra this month.

We are the same with food waste, we have popped the council small bin close by, for all the bits we don't compost, I had to remind hubby to still use my compost tub, he was putting bits in the council bin, I am again saving coffee grounds, I only save them in warmer months to use in our garden. 

I'm still struggling with my weight, I have put on 8 pounds over the winter months, gone up a size in trousers, I have not changed much, maybe not as active as before. 

As March fades

Easter has arrived here, I don't have too much, just enough to keep George and Molly happy, we have everything for their egg hunt, all hidden away for now, just hoping for good weather.

I had a long overdue sort out of my ceramic pots, these are for houseplants, I have no idea how I have so many pots, these have been cleaned and I have listed them on local Facebook marketplace, I don't think they will sell, so I will probably pop them to a charity shop. I still have a few left, which I like and will keep.

George has settled into calling me each evening at bedtime, they are allowed to stay up later in school holidays, we chat for 5 minutes as he settles, we chat about his day, he tells me his type of jokes, then he says goodnight and ends the video call, I look forward to a call everyday. Often all I can see is the top of his head.

Since Christmas Molly has been making me bracelets and now a necklace, she adores beads and making things, I visited a new shop in our area All over the world, which I loved, so many nice bits, we were very happy we could get her a few more tubs of beads.

Another new shop to our location is Hotel Chocolat, we both love their choice of flavours, it would be rude to visit the store and not bring anything home, these will last us ages, plus the store has a small bistro, making it a nice place to stop for refreshments.

Friday we popped to our local out of town shopping at Whitley, J9, M27, hubby needed a visit to M&S, and a stroll, it's an outside space which we do like, hubby got his new socks, I did pop into Flying Tiger but preferred the new store All over the world. Later 17 of us went for a Chinese meal, it's an all you can eat place, if you chose well you can get a decent meal, they are very popular and now have added more tables and chairs, we were at the back of the huge dining room, and it was a maze to get to the serving area. Having said that the conversation was fun, but on the whole it was very loud. 

Saturday we had a day at home, I pottered outside and in the greenhouse, I have planted 5 foxgloves and 4 aquilegia in their final places, and taken more plants out of the greenhouse to harden off. I had a coffee with our neighbour, I took a couple bolted cabbages to her chickens, later I did some knitting, we tested our brains with the 1% club on TV and remembered (well hubby did) to change the few clocks not linked to the internet. 

Sunday was dull and cloudy, shame we can't get two sunny days in a row, I still did my very quick (it's a small area) walk around the garden, with Lilly she is often beside me when outside. We did go for a small walk, the wind again was really cold.

Today I have very little planned, it's again dull with a few storms due, so a day inside, I have been a bit lazy and have loads of ends to sew in on my blanket.

It's been a boring restful weekend, daughter stayed at home with the children, she sorted Will's bedroom (it was a mess) and did some gardening, mowed the lawn, George and Molly happily played outside, they were both very tired last week at school and needed a gentler pace, we hope to see them this week.

Just looking

 Whilst I love our garden, 

I do love to see pockets of colourful joy. 

Just spots where you stop and enjoy the moment

Soon the tulips will burst into flower, 

I only grow them in pots, they rot in our heavy clay soil. 

It has been a very windy few days, our garden has not had any damage, we keep everything low and the leaves are not formed on our trees yet. The huge elderflower 'plants' next door always takes a bashing from the wind, one has gone over and now at an angle away from the fence, which gives our magnolia tree some space, makes our space feel lighter. 

I do love huge pots, where I can mix plants to allow flowers throughout the year, and use different compost to grow plants which would not grow in the ground, the pots hide bare corners, end flower beds, and soften seating areas, hubby laughs at me as I do love to dress our garden, not too much. This year I have very little to add to this space, it's just a case of waiting for the plants to return enjoying the space we have created.