Showers, Downpours, Cold - and finally some sunshine

So, after days and days and days and days and days and DAYS of rain, Sunday dawned lovely and sunny and bright - but still remarkably chilly for the time of year. But at least it allowed us to get out and do some useful things in the garden, which is in real need of a proper, post-winter tidy up.

Looking from our bedroom window on Sunday morning - I had even got the washing out and it came in several hours later dry!

I am quite pleased with the flower beds, although they need the grass pulling out and a gentle tidy up

The pond is still quite full, but there is now no cause for concern that the fish will run away

Looking up towards Churchside, on the way to Hasland

The herb garden around the pond is absolutely full of cowslips, bullslips and primroses this spring

Bullslips making a pretty edge around a paving stone

One single red and yellow tulip. All the rest are purple!

Happy and cheerful forget-me-nots

I really must get in and sort out all the dead weeds on the patio!

The carrots and tomatoes in the greenhouse never did come to anything.  There are TWO carrots growing out of the seeds I planted in the box!  I have left them safe, scarified the soil in the box and planted a new packet of purple haze carrots.  Three tomato seeds have germinated. Alas, they have lost their labels, so I don't know which variety it was that came to life :-S  In the meantime I have bought seedlings of tumbling cherries, ordinary standards and a couple of heritage varieties. If the Weather Dogs ever get their act together, I'll plant them all up into hanging baskets and greenhouses this coming weekend.  I've also bought seedlings of cucumber, butternut squash and sweet red capsicum which I'll also sort out this coming weekend. At the moment they're all adorning the shelves in the porch by the kitchen, where I can keep a closer eye on them.

The chickens are still not laying and we don't really know why or quite what to do.  So last night, after they had put themselves to bed, The Under Gardener went down and shut up their run.  We don't think they are laying out - if they are we have signally failed to find where they're laying. But we were a bit puzzled, when I put egg bombs made of hot mustard, tabasco sauce and hot chilli sauce in the next box, that they simply vanished. We can't think that they chickens could have moved them away and hidden them, so started to suspect the intervention of a creature with paws, maybe a squirrel,  or possibly a very large beak (there is a crows' nest not far from our garden, and there are lots of magpies about).  We figure if we keep the chickens shut in for a few mornings and see if any eggs are produced, we might have a better idea of what's going on. They can come out to play in the afternoons.

The Under Gardener has been busy up on the allotment, digging, planting and mowing - and in the process earning himself libations of Old Speckled Hen ale. He's also been digging over the veg beds in the kitchen garden when he can't get to the allotment.  All we need now is some warm, sunny weather to get started planting!!!

Progress on the allotment, up to today when rain stopped play. Again!