Bloomin marvellous

Where do I start? It’s almost time for bed but I still have a smile on my face.  I’ve only been back a few hours and I’m still delighted with everything I have seen.

And I know I have to record it as tomorrow is going to be a huge day of fantastic jobs which will replace my first impressions.

A road! A neat and orderly and tarmac(k)ed road.

And not a ghastly black surface. Our tarmac has been covered with a fine layer of grey grit. With time it will sink into the sticky tarmac below. It does rely on cars driving back and forth to get the surface properly firmed in. But it’s handsome and blends in with the surroundings.

And the particular backdrop this week – cherries. Flowering still and looking luminous in the dusk (I didn’t come in from watering until 830pm).

I was worried they would all be over by the time I returned. They were just starting to flower ten days ago but they are still sparkling.

We’ve had no storms or much rain in the interim.  So they are just flowering and keeping all the bees busy and hopefully I can take more shots early tomorrow morning so they can be shown in better light.

It’s funny that most of the narcissus are already over. They usually come out at the same time.  But we’ve had dry sunny settled weather for weeks. And things are coming along early.

I spent a scant minute in the house (plugging in the modem and internet and phones) and then raced up to the potting shed to see if the seedlings had survived.

Oh the relief of seeing those little seedlings up and sprouting.  Elodie must have done some very careful watering of these delicate babies.

I have lost a few of the cabbage seedlings, but the rest look thrilling and full of promise.

I was itching to get stuck in. But I resisted. I had to do a few hours of watering first.

The potager (which I forgot to photograph) is just coming into life.  The peas that Alice sowed two weeks ago are just sticking their shoots above the ground.  But not much sign of the carrots and parsnips and beetroot.  Yet.

I gave everything a good watering – and munched on rocket, spinach and parsley as I went.

It was hardly a meal, but I knew where I could find one good crop this early in the season.  The asparagus bed gave me a big handful of spears which I wolfed down for dinner tonight. So juicy and flavoursome.

The grass is lush everywhere. I can’t wait to crank the mower into life tomorrow morning and tame the terraces.  I need the mulch for the beds as well, so it will be a multi tasking job.

And just the thought of a day in the sun doing something positive and getting great excercise at the same time is making me salivate.

Everywhere I look is a picture.  The iris are just starting to come into flower in the barn garden.  And even that unremarkable apple tree is throwing up so much blossom this year.

Last year, I rememeber, it rained and rained until the end of May.

We had very few cherries, no black cherries, and no quinces.  This year is so much more promising.

I must stop gushing or you will roll your eyes and tell me to calm down.  But spring does that to us gardeners.  We get over excited and don’t even mind the huge numbers of chores that lie ahead. I’m off to bed to dream of crops. And blossom.