Yabba Dibber Do

This weekend the sun shone, and there was a lovely summer breeze

There was a wood turning workshop for the Prof, and a happy couple of hours writing and reading in the sunshine for me

There was a frugal shopping trip to Aldi and then spending what we saved on dinner out for two, with a glass of Pinot Grigio and dessert

There was a Sunday morning lie in, then a breakfast of pain de campagne with strawberry jam and coffee with cream

There was Sunday afternoon in my parents' garden catching up with Mum, Dad and my brother, with talk of moving house, new girlfriends and women with freakishly long arms (who,me?)  

There was much mowing and strimming by the Prof, and at 10pm tonight there was me planting sweet peas using the dibber that he made yesterday, with which I am mighty pleased. Yes, those are Cath Kidston gardening gloves. I am so chic. 

tight in the bud

I am having trouble getting into 2012, somehow. It seems as if fun and laughter, joy and happiness have been packed away with the baubles and the tinsel.  Those warm cosy days that we enjoyed between Christmas and the New Year Year have dwindled away and here we are, left with exhaustion and sick husbands and sons, and this endless English gloom of grey skies and chilly winds.  At least the bulbs are coming up in their pots in my little garden, I planted daffodils and hyacinths in the autumn and it's cheery to see the little green shoots starting to make their way out of the earth. The little rose on the back doorstep has been in bud for several weeks – two little buds have remained tightly furled for so long, I guess they will stay that way until we get a warm sunny day, whenever that may be. Maybe I will too. 

from the upstairs window: pyracantha