Friday 9 April 2010

Spring is unstoppable now....

Yesterday's weather was lovely.  Sunny, warm in the sun but still a bit chilly in the shade.  Didn't stop the empty-headed teenagers round my way from wandering around in the teeniest strappy tops they could find, enviably flat midriffs on display, while I walked to my friend's house in a sensible coat, to deliver some birthday orchids to her.

I was very pleased to see that her 15-year old daughter was bundled up in jogging trousers and hoody (with the hood up, no less). At least she was actually outside (not festering in a darkened cave of a bedroom),  sitting on the sun lounger, texting all and sundry and grunting at her younger sister.  No inappropriately early lobster-coloured skin for her.  Actually, bearing in mind that she's one-quarter Indian (albeit with blonde hair and English rose complexion), sunburn is not a problem for her and her siblings, they go from white to brown almost overnight, bypassing red completely.

 But today is even nicer, the temperature is reckoned to get to 18, maybe even 20 degrees centigrade (that's mid-60s in Fahrenheit).  I got so hot this morning that I've had to change into a short sleeved t-shirt for the first time this year.  Yay!

I've been waiting for a day of unbridled sunshine so I could take photos of my newest piece of window jewellery/suncatcher to put in my Etsy shop.  It's a five-pointed star, of a more traditional shape and size than the other one I've got in there.



And, of course, while I was out there with the camera, I just had to take some other shots of what's going on in the garden.

We have a resident pair of doves who have nested for the last two seasons in the tree that grows in front of our house, but this year they fancied a change of venue.  I'd noticed them scoping out a large conifer in our back garden, which has very dense foliage and is practically next door to the food source I provide in the garden.  From the kitchen window I've watched Mr Dove flying backwards and forwards fetching twigs to build their, frankly rubbish, nest.  Last year they raised two fledglings so I'm hoping they're as successful this year.

Not sure if you can make her out - Mrs Dove sitting on the nest, right in the middle of the picture.

Here's a closeup of her, keeping an eye on me.

Seeds that I've planted for the allotment are starting to come up.  I start all my vegetables off in my two little plastic greenhouses and then transplant them to the allotment because, when I started the allotment 3 years ago now, I couldn't tell the difference between tiny seedlings and weeds.  At least this way I know what's what and I can keep an eye on them.

3 different kinds of lettuce, spring onions and other stuff.

Kale, broccoli and sunflowers.

Beetroot and Sprouts.

There will be many, many more pots in there eventually.

The purple violas I bought as tiny plug plants several weeks ago are now doing their thing most satisfyingly:


The honeysuckle that I trained through the bannister rails of the bridge have started putting out leaves in a great tangle of green:

And Sylvester is on his rightful place, on the bridge, in the sunshine.  All's well with the world.

7 comments:

Kella said...

We had a glorious day of pretty hot sunshine down our way too. Today is bit cooler but we'll be outdoors at the lotty like yeterday again.

Mrs Jones said...

Kella - I've still got to put my spuds in but I've put my neck out so have had to ask TLH if he'll come dig for me! I've not been down to the allotment for prob a coupla weeks now, but everything's covered in weed suppressant fabric so it's not a problem. I don't really get going down there until I've got seedlings big enough to transfer which, as you can see, isn't yet. But I may pop down there tomorrow just to see if everything's okay and take pics to update the other blog!

Anonymous said...

Teenagers are funny aren't they; Attila has been wearing shorts with tights all winter. The second the sun came out she suddenly opts for jeans.

Your seedlings are looking good; I been potting mine up today and loving the sunshine.

I had a look back through some of your older posts the other day and and was puzzled about mentions of the bridge, then I found the one about the rebuilding of the bridge. I am deeply envious. Your very own personal bridge, it looks wonderful and I am not at all suprised Sylvester loves it.

Mrs Jones said...

Alienne - I don't remember being typically teenagery like that, so it's quite odd to be confronted with such a stereotype. Seedlings are doing well, I meant to sow more today but didn't get round to it as I was too busy making bread, blackberry vodka and finding out a friend of mine had died. Am glad you now know of The Bridge - 'tis a thing of beauty and makes all the difference in the summer. Now the weather's (hopefully) getting better, Sylvester will be lounging on it from sun-up to sun-down.

Kella said...

I got my spuds in yesterday and direct sown some seeds today, so feel very please with myself.

Sorry to hear you've hurt your neck, hope it sorts itself out soon.

Anonymous said...

I wish we'd get some of your warm weather here! This morning it was 4 degrees Celsius, and although it's a sunny afternoon, it's still only 10. That's quite low for April here. Still, my spring flowers seem to be lasting a lot longer than usual because of the lower temps, so that's something positive!

Anonymous said...

Oh cool - finally spring and able to grow stuff. We like to grow a lot and am hoping to have a bit of a garden again soon.