Woodpeckers and cuckoos

The background music of my day: the tock tock tock of the woodpecker and the persistent call of the cuckoo

I wish I could tell you I spent the day in the potager sowing more broad beans and peas, weeding and nurturing.

In fact I was nowhere near the garden. Indoor chores with a repairman for our fireplace, sorting the shelving which Bernard was attacking, and generally being stuck indoors on another beautiful sunny day.

Sigh.

And then there was a mad dash to our local town to get to the butchers and the bakers’ before they closed for lunch. I squeaked in with a few minutes to spare. And just thanked my stars I didnt’ get stuck behind a tractor or a slow tourist while I raced around our rather winding and slow going roads.

After that I had to drive down to the big smoke an hour down the valley for groceries and supplies. And all the time I was imagining myself back in the potager, swanning about, resisting the temptation to sit still and just gaze and gaze at the wonderful spring growth around me. And possibly bat Artur away as he tried to climb into my lap.

Both of us had a frustrating day. He was forced into the potting shed into his new snoozing spot (a tin pot with old compost in the bottom) and I spent too many hours in the car.

Who knows? Maybe tomorrow I will get to be a gardener again.  I did manage to prick out a dozen fennel seedlings and a tray of lettuce babies in the early evening. But it wasn’t enough. I don’t feel in tune if I’m not mucking about in the dirt.

And something tells me I need to wield a paint brush to get those glaring white doors on my new compost bins to blend a bit into the background.  It’s hardly gardening, but I can’t wait to fill these new bins with compost.