Cheese on toast weather

Sigh. It’s drizzling. Well, raining really.   But as I’m in denial I’ll just call it Irish mist.   The weather has been divine for days (while I was away) and now it’s going to be a challenge to plant the potatoes.

I didn’t actually notice at first. I went up to the potting shed to get some tools, and have a play with the seedling arrangement. I’m running out of room already. And had to move one of Artur’s sleeping boxes to make way for plants.

He actually stalked in while I was there. Furious with me for not being there to supply him with nosh for the past ten days. I love how cats loathe. He ate, sniffed, wandered round the shed, didn’t deign to even look me in the eye even though I was on my knees in front of him cooing.   And eventually stalked out.   Tail swishing, cross.   I wonder how many days it takes him to forgive me.   Cupboard love, tis very complicated.

I took the hoe, spade and fork up to the top potager where I was going to work digging potato trenches.   And was distracted by the fruit bushes up there that I need to transplant. They are a gift for Jean Daniel and Jean Lombard.   I dug up one, which I think is a jostaberry and brought it back to the shed.

And next thing I knew, I couldn’t see the village on the other side of the valley.   The mist is down, it’s drizzling rather hard and I realised I would have to do indoor tasks instead.   So frustrating on the first day when your energy level is bursting.

I have potted on eurphorbia marginata and bronze fennel.   I have potted up (or on, I never remember) 63 sage plants.   This was a real victory. I took cuttings back last month when I was cutting the sage back hard. The annual haircut to keep the herb garden from getting even more scraggly.   They went into a mix of sand, old compost and perlite.   Covered with a plastic bag (those freebie ones for fruit and veg from the London supermarkets are just the trick) and then hidden under a bench in the potting shed for a month.

I was concerned that they would dry out. I had forgotten to give them a last drink before I left early March.   But they are fine. Lots of little roots, and it all goes well, I shall have a good crop to plant out in the lee of the calabert wall.   This is a new border I am sneaking up on. I had told myself it wouldn’t be possible to start making it until the autumn, but Teo and Leslie’s gift of big established sage plants.   Plus some acanthus mollis have made me push my plans forward.

Right now it’s full of lovely cowslips which I don’t want to disturb. But I’ll get these plants in after May.