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I am so loving all the blossom that's about at the moment even if it's the one thing that keeps me sneezing. I'm also loving the fact that we are set for a warm, dry Bank Holiday weekend, a rare thing in the UK.  We'll be putting all our bedding plants in this weekend, something I love to do, as it transforms the garden into a visually uplifting place that I want to spend time in.  We have some serious tree pruning still to do, well,  not me, I'm the clearer upper.

The flip flops came out for an airing and  I was a little aghast at the state of  my post winter trotters...dear gawd, when did I get 90 year old feet?  Those pasty, wrinkly digits!  Time to break out the coco butter and nail polish.  I was looking at my hands recently too and thought 'when did I get granny hands'.  Ho hum, the joys of ageing.

So, swiftly moving on..

Mr. putting together a late Christmas present (or early, depending on how you look at it).



Pearl, supervising operations

When growing veggies, the one thing we struggle with are salad crops.  We used to grow them on the allotment, but they'd bolt within a day of us not visiting.

In the garden, we grow sorrel and baby spinach, which comes up year after year and is seemingly indestructible. Rocket and lettuce is hit and miss, possible due to us using pots, which tend to dry out easily.  We want a big bed for cut and come leaves, radishes and the like.  It's the kind of crop we want to hand daily, then and there, so this little baby will be ideal.

As a treat, I baked Mr a very moreish Yorkshire tea loaf, which even I enjoyed.



 It was from Country Show Cook Off .  I love this programme, where two top chefs travel to various county shows and compete against lesser mortals for prizes in the baking tent.  Some are abject failures and egos take a battering, which is amusing (I know, I'm mean).



You have to soak the fruit in tea, brandy and rosewater, which comes through quite subtlety in the finished cake.  It didn't have the dense texture that most tea breads have, which is why I liked it and as Mr gave it a 10 out of 10,  I'll be making it again.  Sylvena Rowe, who created the recipe, did actually win first prize for it. 

Well, I'd better get to sorting out which seeds to sow straight into the trough, and get my cut and come seedlings out of the greenhouse to harden off.

Happy gardening!

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