Despite Everything, Happiness

The weather has been ghastly for the past week or so - perishingly cold with snow flurries and gale strength winds cutting right though you, the only thing I would have done at the Hill this weekend was be cold and miserable - so I didn't bother.

Instead, I've ordered two more dalek composters (and because I didn't order these at the same time as the other two, that's five quid postage and packaging down the nicker), and I had a look on line to see what gardeners around the country are up to.

The answer to that is that they are getting a move on sowing their seeds undercover ready for Spring when it finally gets here, leaving me behind; so I spent a merry evening shuffling seed packets into envelopes corresponding to the month they are to be next sown, and then hoicked a bag of compost out of the garage and spent another merry evening popping tomato, spring onion, leek and lettuce seeds into pots.

The pots went into a gravel tray in the spare bedroom, away from the cold windowsill - but not, it transpires, away from the cats, who managed to upend most of the pots onto the carpet this morning.

No-one's holding their paw up for this one, and despite forensic examination of the crime scene where the tomato pots have crashed to the floor, but not the tray that they were in, or the lettuce or leeks; and interrogation of the two suspects, nothing gives.

On the plus side, the seeds hadn't germinated and all I've lost is a few days, so the compost has been scooped up and will be used for the pots of broad beans, and I'll start again with the tomatoes.

On an even more cheery note, I had a card out of the blue from Clare in France, who I've known online for ages, who read about my lack of parsnips and has sent me saved seed from her garden last year. Totally unexpected, and wonderfully kind - thank you, Clare!

And speaking of the vagaries of the British weather - bear in mind that it is the middle of March, before now, I have planted out the potatoes in the third week of February and they cropped in late May.  With a wind chill of about minus a zillion this week, they wouldn't have had a cat's chance in my house this morning hell.

Onward and upwards!