Bird watch
It was all car, trailer and racing this weekend so no gardening - again! Still, once the trailer is finished I can get rid of a load of garden rubbish and buy some fresh topsoil.
This weekend's garden spotting included a wren and a grey wagtail, plus the usual greenfinches, blue tits, great tits, mistle thrush and blackbirds. Pleasant company in winter sunshine.
-2C to 6C today, light wind from due north, no rain.
New arrival
Up early to take daughter's best mate to work. Don't know how much good she'll be - few 17 year olds are up to much at 8am on a Saturday morning!
Spotted a male blackcap in the Rowan, not seen one before. The tree still has some berries left from last year. A big mistle thrush gets in there every morning as well and picks off the best of what's left. We also seem to have a grey wagtail living close by - sometimes when we come up the drive there's a flash of yellow as it takes off. It seems to potter around in the damp area near the tap while we're out.
The purple cherry is out properly now. Most of my best plants are in their element in winter. Summer colour is two a penny, but blossom in winter is priceless.
Small signs of change
Last night when I left work at 5.30 the sky was almost light. The heady promise of daylight after work beckons. This morning the pink tips of the ribes flowers are emerging from green buds, and giving off its unmistakable mustardy smell. Small things, but important.
Off to Haydock tomorrow for the races so the garden will have to wait till Sunday. Keeping fingers crossed for a dry day.
Prunus pissardii in flower
Nice tree, shame about the garage
Been meaning to repaint the garage for about 5 years. Funny how you don't notice some things until you see them on a photo. Great tree though...
Hellebore argutifolius (Corsican hellebore). at full flowering on a sunny February day.
One small step
Due mostly to the hail and wind and partly to my current focus on the car, all I did was put four bags of topsoil in one polytunnel border. Hardly counts as gardening.
Still - lots of stuff happening despite my lack of attention. Purple, cream and white crocuses, scented daphne, purple iris reticulata, the Corsican hellebore (looking very showy in the otherwise neglected front garden. The wood anenomes are starting and the white pulmonaria 'Sissinghust white' is just flowering. But the two best things in the garden right now are the purple cherry 'Prunus pissardii', just heading for full flower with white, plum tinged flowers on bare branches and my purple hazel, hanging with bronzy-purple catkins.
Cold and windy this weekend with long spells of sun with heavy snow/hail/rain showers. Min 2C this morning. 12mm rain.
February blues
On the bright side, the days are getting longer and every day there's some new spark of life in the garden. On the down side, it's light when I'm at work and dark when I'm get home, so there's this daily frustration at thinking about things I want to do outside, but not being able to do them except in the precious few hours of weekend daylight. (a touch of Marxist 'alienation' I think).
I must stop playing negative mind tapes, it's bad for the soul. Alcohol is an effective 'negative thought' remover, but Lent started today and apparently we're giving it up. Have to find an alternative off switch. Perhaps blogging works?
Pic of the day. Hazy sunshine, 10C, light breeze. Should be gardening, not sneaking home to glance at the crocuses.
A new life
One of my Sorbus 'Joseph Rock' seeds has sprouted. Yippee!
