February round up

 Almost nothing spent on crafts, I am busy, but I am using what I already have, I just purchased a shaped cutter for use in needle felting. I got loads of plastic wrapped metal post and a net for use in the veg beds, and seeds, again I've just over spent, I have most everything I need now, that won't stop me spending in the garden.

Again no food waste, purchasing our fruit and veg without packaging is brilliant, we get just the amount we require, we go to our local Monday market, there are a few veg stalls, the one we use has top quality, and the produce last the whole week, which stops us walking to local shops for bits. 

Nothing big in the house it was the month for car, tax, insurance and MOT, which was in our budget, no issues with the car, phew, we did think new tyres were required, but ours will last anther six months.

I have put 4 pounds on this month, my steps have dropped, I lost 2 days when my fitbit stopped recording, and also weeks of feeling unwell, kept me inside, I'm not going to worry about such things, I can get back on track in March. I still have this hacking cough, as does hubby, both our energy levels are very low, it's a chore to do anything, February this year has been a lost month in our home, on the bright side, we spent very little this month. 

Family

 I was not sure about this book, I had read most of the fast back section, so I took a chance, AI in the police force, not robocop, think computer and hologram, it was a good book, showing how people and their faults and hunches win over fact and data. I had guessed some of the plot half way through, which did not deter from a good read. A new author to me, she has a second book in the series, which I will also read. Book 16 read this year.

I have heard loads of good things about the serial of One Day on Netflix I thought I would like to watch it, I was sure I had read the book, I could even remember the title page, when checking it was not on my reading list. I popped to the village hub, where they sell second hand books for 50p each and got a copy. It is a wonderful roller coaster of two very different lives, all revolving around one day, the 15th July (my mum's birthday), with the saddest of endings. I can now watch the series, book 17 read this year.

I love the blooms on Amaryllis, they grow tall and huge, these will last for a while, against the green walls they look good. I will enjoy every moment they give me. The other bulbs are in the greenhouse, not doing much. I also have a few tet-2-tets, the wind had knocked down a few, so I cut them and are enjoying their bright colours. 

I have not done any of my cross stitch, and I have not started putting together my bag, both these projects need more concentration than I am able to give them at this point. Reading is my go to activity, I can lose myself in words for hours, which helps as my energy levels are still so low. The fore caste for the next 7 days is rain everyday, and it's colder, so I have plenty to do inside, just wish spring would come early this year, my seeds sit and wait for me to use them. I did manage to do a bit of housework, but it all needs a good clean, I don't think I've done one since late November.

We had Will and Molly for a couple of hours on Sunday, George had been invited to a birthday party, he does not get many invites, this one was from a child mummy did not know, and when she asked nursery, they said the whole group had not been invited, just some of the children the child knew. These simple acts of inclusion makes daughter so happy, having a child who is different, is hard, the children in George's nursery group are brilliant with him, to them he is George, who at times needs a bit of help.

Having a disabled child in the family, changes everything, daughter has become a strong defender of disabilities, she works to ensure George who has Downs Syndrome, has the best life. Through her local Portsmouth DS charity, she has had support from the day he was born, he now gets extra schooling to help towards his September start, daughter now supports new parents in our local area, ensuring there is a network for any parent to call on. The charity allows grandparents at their local do's as they recognise the support is needed to the whole family, Portsmouth is one of the strongest groups in UK. 

My mum was a very strong lady, looking after a huge family, ensuring everyone was happy, well fed and looked tidy, she never stopped, I class myself as a strong woman, my life's lows taught me many lessons, and now I see my strong daughter following in our footsteps, I am so proud of her.

Colour outside

 Our new hellebore is very pretty, I love the tinge of purple on the edge of each petal, I have planted this in our red rose bed (old herb bed), it's under the Magnolia tree and can be seen from the house. I now need to watch this bed and see what regrows, for once I have no plans, it's a case of wait and see.

Small pots are doing well, I don't have so many as I have been planting them into the ground, a heather transplanted from hubbies front garden to a pot, has returned and is flowering, the second plant in the pot is not so big. Snowdrops in the brown pot, always looking good, last year I dug out half, but again the pot is full. My new this year planter, which hubby chose the plants are looking good, I did add hyacinths, the contents will be added to a bed once finished. 

Bigger pots are doing well, 3 pots have settled, the bottom right is full of tulips and daffs, the pot is for my tomato plant, but for now, the promise of flowers to come, again the bulbs will be planted in the ground once they go over. 

The bed at the back of the garden, with our rhubarb plant in had some space at the front, I have planted a gooseberry bush, which I don't think it will survive. To keep this front section full, I have bulbs, primroses, and soon some forget-me-not seeds. I do need to protect the ground from our cats, hopefully this area will fill out and I can remove these old greenhouse shelves. 

My side bed is full of bulbs, I am so pleased there are very few wild garlic leaves, I did manage to get rid of most of them, I also have here english bluebells, once the daffs have bloomed, I will dig and separate some for the red rose bed. I will need to add summer colour to this bed.

I do love to see these buds on the Magnolia tree, maybe a bit early, but it's the promise of better times, warm sunshine, and spring. I was awake early and heard the birds first dawn chorus, for me of the year. This tree always blooms first before the leaves, so it will soon be a wash in pink.  

I have placed my strawberry tower outside the greenhouse, it will be in full sun until mid afternoon, I'm hoping that might be enough, the heat from the glass should also help the plants on their way. I have played around with the pots in this area three times, I am feeling this might be the right layout, but as hubby says I am known for changing the location of pots. Whilst having more pots here, it does feel clearer, and much easier to get to the water-but, composter and my store of plastic pots. I also have soil in my raised bed, covered ready for sowing salad seeds next month. 

We dug out more of the old twisted willow tree stump, there is enough room to now dig a wildlife pond, I have some groundcover plants to fill the edges with pretty pebbles. I moved a hellebore from this section, it's now in the red rose bed. I dug out a winter jasmine planted in the wrong spot, it was not doing well, for now it's in a deep pot, I have yet to decide where to place it. I am moving closer to the new growing season, I have very few jobs left to do.

With all this rain, all I can do is watch everything grow, like most gardeners, the first thing I do each wet day is look out through the patio doors, on dry days I walk around our garden. I have very few plans spinning around my head, just the wildlife pond and seeds for planting. 

Real or fake

 These are the second blooms on my Albuca Sprialis, Frizzle sizzle this time, they give off a vanilla smell, not to strong, I don't have many flowering houseplants, this sits on my desk. The flower is understated, I purchased this plant for it's curly leaves, it's a bulb and I think I might now have two bulbs, once it finished flowering they start to die back so I will repot it/them.

 

My first flower from an Amaryllis bulb, I have had such a poor show this season, but happy to see a huge bloom in the sitting-room, all the other bulbs are in my greenhouse, they only produced leaves in their second year. Whilst these blooms are white, they do add so much colour to our room. 

These are my fake flowers, I use them each year in season, in a couple of months I will pack them away and find summer flowers, they never feel old and tired, I love the colours. Most cut flowers sold are not grown here in UK, so their carbon footprint is huge, plus when I added up the cost of all the cut flowers I used to purchased each year. Most of my silk flowers are years old, I chose to get quality and they are lasting. 

Another new author to me, the book was on the 2 week fast read, from our library, from the start it had me hooked, 2 different time lines, I'm not sure if it was a love story (not a soppy one) or a discovery, but I enjoyed every word,  a modern gentle story. Book 15 read this year. 

A pineapple upside down cake, I made my first ever one at senior school, it became my go to cake in the 70's, it's year since I made one, I got the ingredients a while ago, but no energy to make it. So yesterday warm with custard, we had a trip down memory lane. It's still yummy. 

Thank you once again for all your comments, I am a tidy freak, I have been all my life, I grew up in a huge house in rural Somerset, with my mum and dad, an uncle (my mum's brother), and my 6 brothers and 2 sisters, I still always hear my mum's voice, 'pack it away, everything in it's place'. We probably had the cleanest house in the area, my mum was a demon at cleaning, we never were allowed out scruffy, we were never a big rowdy or dirty family, manners were everything to her, and we had to keep our own space tidy. Luckily for me hubby after years in the army is the same, he likes things packed away and jobs done, rather than walking around stuff, but in all honesty, I am far worse/better that him, I can't stand things out of place. 

It's another nothing week, raining all the time, we have not been out much at all, we did pop to town on Monday for our fruit and veg, but it was a quick visit, the rest of the time has been home, I have unpicked my big bag, and now need to cut out the new front and back and sew it together. I have started another book, and I watch the rain falling from the warmth of our home. 

On the local news this morning, our lovely pub on the beach at Lee on the Solent, we had Sunday lunch there a while ago, has burnt down, the fire was huge, the fire engines were surrounding the building, but they have been unable to save the interiors, it's going to take ages for the damage to be rebuilt, such sad news. 

Sorting

 This lovely unit has sat next to my chair for almost 20 years, it's cherished, and used most days, with 4 shallow and 1 deep drawers. It's a perfect height for my coffee cup, I do keep a basket next to this unit with my projects in, all very tidy.

The top 2 drawers have my DMC threads, each is wrapped around a small plastic card, they are stored in numerical order. I don't think I will purchase many more, with such a great selection I have almost every shade I might need. The first two sections on the left are whites, I use two different shades of white. 

I spent an afternoon sorting these cards, packing them into just the top two drawers. I have the main threads and two smaller part collections. This is years of investment, I rarely purchase kits, I get my designs, and then the fabric and threads, I always use much finer fabrics, which only needs 1 strand of thread. 

The third drawer has my tools I use in along with a few shinny threads, everything close at hand, with a place to keep my glasses, I can keep sharp scissors in here as both George and Molly know not to open my drawers. 

The 4th drawer has bits and bobs in, the last deep drawer has my needles and some cottons on a tray, with loads of aider and even-weave, all were gifts to me and a much bigger size than I use at the moment. Hubby got me this unit many years ago for a Mothering Sunday gift, it was expensive and a bit more than he would normally spend, it has earnt it's space in our home and my heart.

I keep more fabric and yarn in different spots around the house, as seen here, and as with my threads, I am now using what I have, so less stuff than shown in this post. I have also pulled out this black bag I made back in 2020, at the time I used a thin black leather for the front and back, but I've never really liked it, it always feels very flimsy, I have some black velvet upholstery fabric, so I will unpick the outer and remake and hopefully love the bag. 

I am beginning to notice things, so I must be feeling better, we walked to the library and I got 5 more books, I've done some housework, and even managed an hour outside on Monday, when it was dry. This morning again it's raining, we are on the edge of a yellow rain warning, meaning it's not so bad here, another stay inside day.

Birthday weekend

Will had his 7th birthday on Sunday, he had a lovely takeaway with mummy and daddy on Friday, and opened their gift to him, daddy had to fly to Bahrain on Saturday to prepare for the 1st F1 race of the year. Saturday he had fun with school friends, he did not want to go out, they all played at his house, with another takeaway Pizza lunch. A quick visit to Smyths toy shop in Portsmouth on Sunday morning, where they all spent Christmas money.

Sunday afternoon we popped over for some cake, it had already been cut, but that's not an issue, we had already given him his card and some money, he wanted a huge Minecraft Lego set, so mummy asked we all give him some money so he could learn how expensive these items can be, with some of his Christmas money he got his set. We also got him a couple books from a new to him set, Captain Underpants, which he loved. 

I have started my second design, it was going well, until the grey, as much as I love these tiny stitches, they are hell to unpick, I am doing a bit most days until it's all gone. 

We had Molly and George on Saturday, they are both very good, but we were exhausted afterwards, to us it's important Will has some time for his things, the younger two take up so much of daughters time, normally it would not be an issue to have them, George was in a very cuddly mood, some days he can be quite sad, and is unable to tell us why.

I'm bored, I sit and shuffle my seed packets like a gambler shuffling his deck of cards, checking all the time, just in case the sowing date has changed on the packets, my greenhouse is lovely and warm and the desire is to start them off is huge, but as we all know we are having our false spring, March is always a cold month here along the south coast, so I don't want lovely seedlings struggling because I could not wait, having said that I will start tomatoes and cucumbers.

Whilst I am feeling a bit better, I still have the awful cough, and therefore a headache, it was so bad on Saturday, I burst a blood vessel in my right eye, by mid afternoon I am shattered, but I'm not sleeping well, I have had a word with myself and this week I am trying to get out and do more, I need to rid myself of these bloody bugs. 

Just books

This book had a very confusing start, two different investigations, which should not be a problem, but everyone is friends with everyone, so the lines got a bit blurred, once the plot got going it was easier, set again in Scotland, I did guess almost correct on one case, close but not totally right. I did enjoy the plots. Book 11 read this year.

Another slow start book, the main character is rich, smooth and good at everything, not a start I like, but I decided to keep going as his first book I read was brilliant. The plot was good, the character not so, the plot kept me to the end, but if Win is in another book, I will pass on it. Book 12 read this year. 

I enjoyed this book, the plot was a bit different and with a modern twist, the author does love a well informed, connected hero, with enough wrong directions to twist the plot. Book 13 read this year

I have loved every book by this author, he has such a wide platform of ideas, the family next door are murdered, could it be the gunman went to the wrong house, the plot unfolds, set in Promise falls, which a few of his books are located, and a few people are back in the plot, it would also read as a good stand alone plot. Book 14 read this year. 

We are both still feeling unwell, I am truly fed up with coughing, headaches, sniffing and feeling wiped out, this is the third week for me, I spoke to my doctor on Thursday, there is nothing much he can suggest to help, we are already doing what he would advise. I can manage an hour long task in the morning and then I need to rest, I am reading because I can't concentrate on my sewing, I missed Pilates again this week, sorry about the moan, but I really have had enough. 

We had one quick trip to a nice garden centre we both love, it's more than a nursery, but still has brilliant quality plants at a good price, we did not stop for coffee, to much coughing to be able to sit and enjoy a drink, without emptying the café. Hubby helped choose 2 hellebores, different colours to what we already have, and I got some more of the green edging for the old herb bed. 

I managed to do some housework, it does take me longer, having to stop and catch my breath, we did get a visit from my SIL, his new uniform for work arrived and as always the trousers are far too long, for me it's a simple quick job, he was worried because I was unwell, but it's done and we are both happy. 

February garden

For many years our garden was bare in all the cooler months, these days I have some colour, I adore hellebores, these bloom first in the garden, I have added to them, my daughter has given me two for birthday gifts (my birthday is in November). I now have 5 plants in different colours. I hope to get a few more, most of these are at the back end, which is now my veg section.

I again adore snowdrops, but the bulbs rot in our heavy clay, over the 15 years we have lived here, I have added loads to the soil to break it down, so the bulbs now survive, I grow them in the ground and in pots, once the flowing pots finish, I intend to put them in the ground and get more bulbs later in the year. 

My seed potatoes are starting to slowly sprout, I'm not thinking about them going into the grow bags until March is here, so slow and sure is the route for me. It's a very itchy time of year, I want things to grow, I know it's to early to sow or plant, but the desire is there. 

We did pop to The Range, hoping to get a replacement Tony tortoise, he was a gift and through the winter his head broke off, sadly none in stock, but these came home with us, I have been looking for red pompom dahlias for a while, I hope there is one in the mixed bag, hubby chose the single colour one. All these packs for just £10.

There are leaves from bulbs everywhere, the long side bed going to the garage is full of daffodils, later there will be bluebells, the new bed is full as well, I will have to check back on photo's as to what I planted, or maybe just wait and enjoy. The old herb bed is not so full, I will transplant more from the side bed after they have flowered. The Magnolia tree has a couple of pink buds as well. 

The amount of rain we are again having keeps me inside, most afternoons we read, in one way it's good, it stops me doing things, as does these bloody stick around bugs. Hubby is still unwell,  neither of us have any energy, we are planning a garden centre visit one morning soon.

Whilst waiting for the days to pass so I can start my seeds, I have been thinking about my strawberry tower, it's needs it's permanent place, somewhere it can sit and not be in the way, whilst being in the sunshine, I do have an idea forming using the space outside my greenhouse. I do like to think things over because you can always be sure to move one thing in our small garden, starts a chain reaction, where other pots need to move, and repurposed.

I'm not eating much, hubby did make simple pancakes for tea last night, I am craving sugar, so I had mine with part of a chocolate covered icecream Magnumn, and some fresh raspberries. Valentines day will pass quietly in our house, we have cards, which are in their 3rd year of use, we just wrote another message inside with 2024 beside, no gifts or flowers, at our ages we don't need wasteful stuff to prove our affections for each other. 

Much the same

I have sat for ages this past week, the bugs have stopped me doing much, but it did give me more stitching time, so the heart is complete, I added the yellow and pink at the bottom, I wanted the two extra colours to tie in with my next design which has 8 colours, I will use the same colours again.

Maggie asked for the stitch details, not 1 stitch over 2 holes, which many people do with such high DPI, I stitch into every hole on the even weave, I always use DMC silks (floss), which are 6 strands wound into 1, I separate the strands and only use 1 of the 6 with a tiny needle, making my work very fine. I love my finished projects, they are not bulky, with tiny stitches, using only 1 strand there is no visible twist in the threads, keeping it neat. 

Another great book, even though the author is well known, this is the first novel of his I have read. I enjoyed the main character, he is serving time in jail for murdering his 3 year old son, which he does not remember doing, but he is lost at the thought of life without him, his SIL visits him after 5 years in jail, and starts a chain reaction. I will look for more titles, always great to be at the start of a new reading journey. Book 9 read this year.

Another new to me author, I was not sure at the beginning, but kept going, it's about a doctor, nurse and police officer, their lives become intertwined, an interesting plot with twists. I enjoyed reading it, book 10 read this year. 

I purchased this candle locally, it's a Christmas decoration, I've not packed it away, I am burning it so I can use the pot, not sure what for, something will come to mind by December. I paid £5 in the sales for it, the original cost was £19.99, not sure it was worth that price tag, it is very pretty. 

This chest infection I've had is lingering, I've not left the house for days, earlier on I was not feeling well enough to go out, the past couple of days have been non stop rain, I'm not complaining as I know many of you have had snow. Friday I did walk to our village, we had a spell in the middle of the day, where the rain stopped. Hubby has started coughing, not as bad as I have, but he is much stronger than me. 

Hubby has been very preoccupied with worry for his brother, whose insurance has covered the cost of the hospital stay but would not cover the cost of his journey home, which was complicated, more so with the language differences, the British consulate was very helpful and eventually he got his flight home. It has been a worry for everyone, BIL is 80, one of the group he travelled with stated they had been drinking all evening and the insurance company played that up, but there was little alcohol in his blood test, but the statement had been made.  

Today we are being taken out for lunch with daughter, SIL and 3 little ones, to a place we love, it's right on the beach, so space to run around, early enough so we can go home and rest.

15 years

 I started my blogging journey on February 9th, 2009, it was a cold day, much like today, my eldest daughter had been blogging for a few months and helped me set up this blog, I let her do it thinking, I won't bother, but I caught the bug and I'm still here chatting about life local to me.

I have printed each year into a book, just putting each post with photo's, at first the system did it for me, these days I have to do more work, I could change providers, but I love to see my books all matching. I am working on 2022, and hope to get it finished with 2023 in November, when the publisher has their very best discounts. These are just for me, not cheap, but it's a luxury I enjoy, I often flick through a book if I am looking for something to refer back to, I can spend an afternoon reading one, just for the pure joy of reading it.

Loads of things have changed in my life, I'm retired, we have more grandsons and a granddaughter, we moved to our forever home, we have lost friends along the way, made some new ones, I record the highlights of my life here and a few lows. I am amazed how many people follow, read and comment on my post, and I'm grateful to everyone of you, I have always wrote for myself, recording my life such as it is, gardening, crafting, reading, preferring a much simpler life. 

I have never blogged everyday, I just don't have that much to say, averaging about 180 post each year, I keep it local and try not to bring in what is happening in our world, at the top of my page is the comment 'My little bit of this big world'. At one point I had 3 blogs, one for my dolls house and another for photography, they are both still there, but I have not used either for years. 

I do try and balance each post I write and swap the topics about, I am seasonal, gardening when the weather allows, crafting throughout the year, but more so as it get's closer to Christmas, if I am making gifts. I knit and crochet more in the cooler months, I not good trying to knit on hot days. I read alot, but last year I decided to cut back on my reading and do things instead, again I read more in the cooler months. I like to have photo's and I think 4 are enough, I do post more if it's a garden post.

I love my mornings, I spent an hour reading your posts, I love to see what everyone is doing, we are all so different, I feel this section of the internet is just what I require, whilst not ignoring everything going on around the world, it's nice to have a corner where harmony and sensible thoughts are shared. 

So I will keep on with my bit of blogland, with hope you all keep your bit going, we may never meet each other in person, we can enjoy each others company, at home with your preferred hot drink (mine's a coffee) and enjoy our moment together. 

New starts

I have made a great start to my new project, I am so happy to be stitching again, no problems with the small linen, the colours have all been picked from my stash, I will pop them in a bag and reuse them through this project. My last project was my final 28dpi, so this should be my final, final 28dpi, but I will keep the same title, and this is my final, unless, I purchase more even-weave.

Finally I have an Amaryllis bud, all of the 5 bulbs grown last year produced leaves but no buds, they are all in the greenhouse to see what happens next. This bulb was a cheap one from a supermarket, I think it's a white flower, but I'm not sure, I've thrown the box away. 

Seeds, I love them, but not quite ready for sowing yet, I will soon start 4 different tomatoes and  a cucumber, I aim to wait a few more weeks. I don't want leggy seedlings and I want to be able to have the ground warm enough to put them out. I am watching the long range fore caste in hope we don't have another cold spell coming.

Another great book, I do enjoy this author and Inspector Banks, I have read all the previous stories, this can be a stand alone plot, old bones have been found, who, how and why are being chased, following how they piece together the crime from very few clues.

I've not done much since I came home, I picked up bugs, whilst feeling a bit sniffy over the weekend, the bugs have now fully come out to give me as much discomfort as they can. I don't think the children gave it to me this time, I feel so yuck I have taken a Covid test, we know it's loose in our area, as numbers testing positive are rising here, mine was negative. 

We popped to town on Monday for our fruit and veg, sadly most of our favourite shops are gone from our high street, the shopping centre has loads of empty units, the local council has now purchased the shopping centre and say they have plans to bring it back to life, we have everything crossed they are successful. 

There have been a couple of accidents in the big road works, which shut down the main route, totally drivers fault, so they have changed the layout to ensure drivers behave, no one is happy, but it seams there is nothing anyone can do, our local councillors understand, but the decisions are made at county level.  

We have no plans for this week, it's very windy and threating rain, grey days, we have everything crossed the cold spell and snow stays north of us, we are quiet stocked up if the weather does do it's worse. 

Should I

We went out for tea Saturday, at a local to my daughters house, out of town shopping centre, it's very family friendly, safe for the children, with loads of things for them to climb on. This bear has been a firm favourite for years, 3 happy children, who enjoyed ice cream with their tea, daughter and I happy, no cooking.

I have finished the felted daisy, it's big, but I wanted it a good size, so it would show when I wear it on my coat, I did not make the petals to dense, I like the softer look. The orange I used for the centre looks great, and brings all the shades together. I was really pleased this time, I did not prick my fingers once and I did not break a needle, so that's a positive win.

I have printed off this design, I've had it saved for ages in my Pintrest files, I am looking to start another cross stitch, I have one pack of Evenweave 28 count in antique white, which a stitching size of 350sts x 450sts, small cushion size. I don't have a finished design to make, just another idea forming around shapes and patterns, and this heart is my first choice, I will again be using from my huge stash of silks (floss). 

Another good book from a new to me author, a slow start, but good enough to keep me reading, a very different location and story, set in a 'village' in Scotland, the main narrator was amusing. I am getting my books again from our library, using their popular fast back section, you loan the book for just two weeks, they always have a great selection. Book 7 read this year.

 I started to read Apple Never Falls by Liane Moriarty, but gave up, it's one of her off books in my view.

My title 'Should I' be starting a big project, well at this time of year it's a perfect time, I want to be growing in the garden, sowing seeds, but it's too early, so now is a good time to keep my hands busy. I have already done some stitching, I will show photo's soon, when you can see the design. I have also been looking at the second shape, a circle, not yet finally decided on which design. 

My weekend has been truly lovely, I arrived after George and Molly were in bed on Friday night, so they would settle, had some time with Will, sat and chatted with daughter, sharing a glass of wine. Saturday as predicted was an early start, both Molly and George were excited to see me, we had a morning at home, daughter decided not to go out on Saturday night, so a second evening in together. It is great to have our time, rather then the children being front and centre. 

With regards to my friends, the lady with the broken ankle is starting to walk again, the lady with a broken leg had to wait until Friday for her operation, their schedules are ridiculous, all these strikes are killing our NHS, hubby's brother is still in Spain, hopefully he will be home soon, daughter's FIL now has Covid, he is on the mend, just slowly. Getting older is no fun at all. 

Flowers

We popped to a different garden centre yesterday, I got a pack of 6 primroses for the back section of the garden, I plan to pop them in the front of the bed with the rhubarb in. For now we can have instant colour, they can stay in this dish for a few weeks.  I also got 3 packs of seeds, all were half price, a low spend visit. 

My pot is looking good, some of the bulbs are starting to show, should be nice for weeks to come. There are no drainage holes in this pot, so regularly I am tipping out water.

My repotted plants are doing well, as are my alpine cuttings I took ages ago, still tiny, each plants had a nice root, so they should all take. My greenhouse is ready for seeds once I can start them, they are sorted into sowing months.

Daughter popped in with George and Molly on Tuesday, it was nice enough to play outside, both got their Pepper Pig balls out and played football, it's so pleasing to see them run around with out any different levels to trip them up. Loads of laughter and lots of sad faces when mummy said it was time to pick up Will from school. 

I walked to our library to return some books, I did not get any more as I have a few to read, I prefer to pop in often to see if they have anything new, they generally pop them out on Mondays. We  have not been to the village much, what few bit's of shopping required we got from the local Co-op, which is the opposite direction, often ensuring it's on the final section of our daily walk, hubby has now used his voucher. 

I have done more on my 2022 book, I am half way through the year, I am trying to have one morning a week sorting it, I would like to catch up this year. I have also been looking on my Pintrest page at cross stitch designs, the plan is forming, all I need to do is pick up my needle and get going. 

Tonight I am sleeping over at daughters for a couple nights, she has an appointment early tomorrow morning and is going out on Saturday evening, sadly daddy has been called into work for the weekend, so I am on nanna duties, which I love. I am looking forward to an evening together with daughter tonight, I will take a bottle of wine, won't be a late night as Molly is an early riser, and all Saturday together, I don't see so much of Will now he's at school.