March 11th

As we are basking in glorious sunshine our friends and family in the UK have Baltic conditions.  This is a photograph from John's mum looking out onto her back garden - well I think it is her back garden - it is quite difficult to tell.  So not only is she contending with increased heating costs now she is coping with some pretty inclement weather in March.  We have had similar photographs from other parts of the country.  This is not confined to Oooop North.

We have glorious sunshine but increasingly high winds - this is because El Hossoom an 8 day equinox gale is upon us - it is one of the regular Coptic Storms and they arrive pretty much on cue give or take a week.  Next week's weather forecast shows storms, rain and gales.  We usually get to this time of the year and are desperate to shrug off the vestiges of Winter so make rash decisions about removing covers or unlashing furniture only to rue the decision after El Hossoom, El Shams El Kabira, Hama and Khamseen Winds which are the last remaining coptic storms before we have a respite from May to September.

John was out with the lads on their bikes this morning.  He was worried about the wind but they managed to pick a period when there was a lull.

I had a day of being at home doing 'domestic stuff'.  I am not a domestic goddess so I have to be in the mood.  I had noticed that everything in the garden was exceptionally dry.  I needed to water in March!  Well I needed to water in March if my pots are to survive and thrive.  There is quite a bit flowering at the moment including some lovely anemones which appear like little punctuation marks of vivid colour.  This one is in the garden by the kitchen window - the green in the background is not weed it is the seedlings of Californian poppy and/or Nigella which I will allow to flower and add more colour before removing it all.

Mum is coming for lunch tomorrow - this is going to be a really big day for her as she will relinquish the car on Monday.  We want to make it special so we have decided to have slow cooked lamb shank.  Gail had given me some leeks so I found a recipe where you cooked them with leek, carrot, rosemary and orange.  Hopefully she will enjoy it.  She has put in a request for a traditional rice pudding so I will do that as well.

It was lovely in the garden.  It all still looks a bit messy but hopefully I will soon be able to see for sure what has and what has not survived.  Every year I think I have got it cracked and try and make hanging baskets and pots that will survive the summer conditions and then the winter conditions and come back and put on a show the following year and then we get too much rain or too cold conditions or too dry conditions and it is back to the drawing board!  Still I am retired so what else do I have to do with my time!!!

My domestic goddessry (if there is a such a word) stretched as far as beginning to tackle John's clothes drawers.  We had purchased some tidying accoutrements in Jumbos which included a sort of Heath Robinson stacking system for T Shirts which I think John will cope with for a week or so and then resort to just having them one on top of the other - the idea is that you are supposed to be able to see them easier and flick through the stack to find the one you want.  I am not so sure.  

If you ask John what he wants for Christmas or Birthday he always says socks - apparently you can never have too many socks - what does he know because when I tipped out his sock drawer there must have been over 50 pairs in varying states of wearableness and a load of orphans and some that he would never wear in a million years.  He returned from cycling just in time to help me sort them out.  He is ecstatic about me wanting to get him tidy and organised - he is so easily pleased!!!