A slight hiccup with getting my garden report in, so the weather of the remaining days of the week here at Roseisle should be pleasantly mild, light cloud, breezy and possibly a shower or two on Friday.

We certainly have had a winter to talk about, with little gardening, only picking up small branches and twigs after the gales. But now with the warmer weather with us I can not hold back any longer. There is plenty to do, sowing of our chosen vegetable seeds is well under way, the Sweetcorn ‘Lark’ had a bad germination, 2 out of 6 seeds so we have bought another packet today so hopefully the variety Swift is more successful.

I have managed to get to do the weeding in two areas in our garden that usually always seem to slip through my fingers, but not this time! Next on my mental list is the pruning of the roses and tidying up the leaves round the pond before we remove all the netting. That is tomorrow’s task. Then comes the big tidy up of the two perennial borders, cutting back the old stems and weeding in between the plants. This should keep me out of mischief for at least a week!

The Snowdrops have been so lovely but are now looking a bit tired. The Hellebores are flowering well and will do so for weeks to come. Then come the Tulips which hopefully will be a show to look forward to.

We have started  to work-in the well-rotted horse manure in the potato bed and will finish that tomorrow. Then David will continue to construct the new drystone snail-like seating area, all I can say is good luck to him!

When working in the garden it is lovely to hear the birds singing and watching them get busy with nesting. We still feed them with birdseed, fat balls, niger seeds and apples halved for the Black birds and of course water which drys out remarkably quickly in this windy, dry spell we have had.

Although the season has started later than in the last years I am sure it will all come together in its own time. That is the beauty of nature looking after itself and for us to enjoy!