Gardening...

The weather forecast for this weekend was poor but when we woke this morning they had clearly misjudged and instead of driving rain we had sunshine which was lovely.  We had nothing planned for today - not even a trip to Paps for shopping as we have done a list of contents of the freezer and are trying to get them down so there are going to be lots of meals from there over the next few days.  There is some cubed pork and pastry taken out for tomorrow which will be turned into a steak and ale pie and there are some chicken breasts which will be a curry for tonight and another night in the week.

I am feeling much much better save for the elephant which seems to have taken up residence on my chest but I do actually want to get things done now and having had a look around the garden, which has been ravaged by the winter weather, that seems as good a place to start as any.

The smallest patch is in front of the kitchen and it needs a bit of a makeover.  Two or three of the plants seem to have rotted from the excessive rain and the border of osteospurmum are now getting elderly and woody.  I decided to take out that which was rotten and cut the osteospurmum down with the hope that it will spring to life nice and green over the next few weeks.

I don't really know quite what to do with this space so this is going to be my next project.  When we moved in this was always a rough patch - very little soil and a lot of stone and building rubbish plus the rainwater pours into it from the downpipe off the guttering (this is because we don't have any soakaway drains for the rainwater).  I am going to have to do some searching on tintyweb for inspiration!!

The weeds are rampant and they seem to manage to survive on the smallest amount of dust.  There is one particularly annoying bugger which has succulent leaves and a small orange flower which, in itself is not unattractive, but I just don't want it in the garden.  I think it is called Anagallis Arvensis or Scarlet Pimpernel and this year it has decided to put on a bumper show so I spent a fair old amount of time, under the watchful eye of Fat Lad, pulling it out along with handsful of Galium Aparine which is more commonly known as Sticky Weed and which we used to throw on the backs of peoples' jumpers when we were at infant school so that it would stick and the wearer would be oblivious - that is probably deemed as bullying nowadays!

So much in the garden needs a face-lift now.  The poor shower screen in the corner needs staining and the 'modesty' material needs replacing and sadly I have lost the burgundy coloured osteospurmum that was in the corner next to it - it had the most fabulous red-brown blooms but had suffered from the wet and rotted way.  I am sure in a few weeks everything will look different.

At long last I have found a use for the fabulous old deeds box which I inherited from Mum and Dad's friends Thelma and Frank.  It can't have belonged to either of them because the name on it is not theirs but it was in amongst the things that Frank wanted rid of before he moved to the UK.  It has always seemed a shame not to use it but it is too shabby to have in the house however being a deeds box it is waterproof and so now it will be the home for my garden tolls as their current box sprang a leak over the winter and several things got wet and are now rusty.

I don't know if we have seen the last of the bad weather but it is still chilly at night and even more so if we have a bright and fine day.

The Ficus which lost all of its leaves last year and was just about to be thrown out when I saw the smallest amount of new green shoots bravely pushing through isn't looking too good but it does still have some leaves attached.  Knowing that it can recover means that I am not so worried about it and will simply remove any dead wood and allow it to come back in its own time.

Now that we are in the mood for getting things done around the house and the garden it feels like we have come out of hybernation.  In the Winter it is so easy to shut the curtains and your eyes to what is going on around you - still at least we have had nothing like the weather that people have been experiencing in the UK and still it comes which gives people no time to recover - how awful must it be to have your house flooded and then be told that there is going to be snow?  We do hope that all our friends and family are safe and relatively unaffected by it all.

Despite John's optimism earlier this week that we would not be lighting the fire again this spring he has relented, partly because it is cold in the house at night and partly because he has a load of 'guff' which he wants to burn.

I am not complaining and neither is Mr Boo who has been lying in front of it all night - so close that at times he has been complaining that he is too warm but is too stupid to move.  Have to say that I am loving my new sacrificial rug which was a whole €5.99 from Jumbos and which can be easily replaced if it gets scorched by a wayward skit from the fire.

Our Saturday was rounded off by a Sheffield United draw (which was a bit disappointing as they could have recaptured fifth place in the league and were playing Brighton which should have been a nailed on win) and a Curry Frenzy Bangladeshi Chicken Curry which is just on the limit of my and John's threshold of spiciness!!!

We are loving the new duvet cover which I brought back from the UK - John is even contemplating making room in his hand luggage to bring back a second!!