Yesterday’s lunchtime visitors brought me a belated birthday present. Fair to say that most of my birthday gifts this year involved gin, and this was no exception – a monthly ‘subscription’ of different gins to try! I’m looking forward to future deliveries…
We had friends here today for a leisurely lunch, so I decided to make bread to accompany the meal. These aren’t the neatest bread rolls, but they tasted pretty good, even though I say it myself. 
These beautiful plants in our garden are Muscari – also known (not surprisingly) as Grape Hyacinths, although they are not actually hyacinths at all. Planted a couple of years ago as bulbs, they have naturalised and spread, and make a colourful display through the spring. 
The fields around our house are home to around 700 Freisian dairy cattle. Their main diet is grass, but as well as maize, the farmer also grows ‘winter beet’, and the cows get to eat it through the spring until there is enough grass for them to graze. Whenever I wander up the garden, they always take an interest…
In season I reckon these beach huts at Sandbanks, Poole, will be pretty busy, but today not one was in use. Beach huts, most of which can’t be stayed in overnight and typically don’t have toilet facilities, can sell for upwards of £100k in some areas. I’m sure that if I could afford one, I’d be using it all the time!
We are not expert gardeners by any means, but as well as growing a few summer flowers 💐 we try to grow some vegetables as well. One crop that does well in our garden is onions, so we always plant a few. Experience has taught me that planting them directly outside will see us lose quite a few to birds as they come through, so nowadays I start them in the greenhouse and plant them out when they are a decent size. These will be planted out in another week or so, and will hopefully survive and flourish…
It’s been somewhat of a ‘bake in’ day today. A request to help cater an ‘afternoon tea’ birthday party for a 10 year old saw us baking scones, fairy cakes and chocolate brownies. Makes a change from buying ready-made cakes…
6.20am today. Came down for my morning cuppa and saw a patch of colour in an otherwise grey sky. Pulled some shoes on, grabbed my phone and popped outside – this spot is just a few yards from home. It lasted just long enough for a photo before it clouded over completely and all the colour was gone. 
I hate the fact that the garden is usually so dreary during the winter months, with all the herbaceous plants dying back, and few shrubs keeping their leaves. So this year I planted up some pots and containers with plants and bulbs to show colour all through the winter. I’ve arranged these such that they can then be replanted for the summer… What’s not to like!
It may still be a little chilly in the mornings (just 5°C this morning), and the wind is ‘fresh’ to say the least, but Spring is definitely on the way. Daffodils everywhere, and lots of white and pink blossom on the trees. Beautiful…
Daffodils at home – iPhone XR
One Day At A Time... 