Saturday

 Good morning, everyone.  Pinch and punch and white rabbits to you all!  May the first and we have another slight frost!

The walk yesterday morning, with Jackie and Emma, was absolutely lovely.  We went to a nearby village, Great Waltham; in all the years I have lived here, I may have gone through Gt Waltham once or twice but it is very much off the beaten track so it's most unlikely to need to go through.  However, I have missed a treat.  It is a really delightful village with interesting old homes, a church that looks well worth a visit once things are open again and a coffee shop that we really, really want to back to for lunch at some point.  It even has a hall and park (Langleys); I believe the hall belongs to Suzi Quatro but am not sure if she still lives there.
Stupidly, I forgot my camera so I will just HAVE to go back another fine, sunny day, to take some photos.

I did manage one photo on my mobile but I'm never too comfortable taking mobile photo.  I'm just old fashioned, I guess.
See how lovely and blue the sky was.  

It is quite possible that we will meet there again at the beginning of June for a longer walk followed by lunch.  Jackie can't make the first two Fridays in May and I can't make the second two so it will have to be June by which time the ambient temperature should be less chilly and there's a good chance of sunshine.

The Hello Fresh box turned up before I needed to leave, which was good timing.  I shoved anything that needed to remain chilled in the fridge and sorted it all out when I got home while lunch as cooking.
I'll be reviewing the meals, etc, over in my food blog and here's a link, if you're interested.

Frugal(ish) on Slimming World

When the cleaner turned up, it was just one rather than the usual two so she was going to take two hours.  Two hours in my bedroom (still playing it safe) didn't appeal so I went down to the allotment, watered, weeded and took some photos.  The two apple trees are just starting to flower, the broad beans are coming on slowly and pretty much everything that's there is doing OK.

The redlove apple is further on than the other.  It looks so very attractive at this time of year with it's dark leaves and deep pink flowers.

The other (I think it's a laxton but am not totally sure) is just starting.  it will look really pretty in a few weeks.

Last year was a great apple harvest so we're not expecting miracles this year but there should be enough to go round and plenty to spare.

I'm not going to bother staggering the broad bean planting next year.  The ones planted later are further on that the earlier ones and the ones I planted at home drooped and are now growing up from the tip and also sending out new growth from the buried bit.

You live and learn and maybe, just possibly, we will get around to some late autumn sowing this year.

The strawberries are new plants mostly, but they're coming on OK despite the cold.  Better than the ones at home, if truth be told, even though they are from the same batch.

The pansies are picking up a bit now and add a touch of colour.

And here's the obligatory full view.  Still not much to see but just wait a month or so!!

You can see the manky old wheelbarrow that, in the best allotment make do and use spirit, we are recycling as a planter.  I still have to work out how to punch holes in the bottom.  There's plenty of holes in the side but that's no good for drainage, is it?

Try to imagine it massed with summer flowers and lobelia trailing over the sides (hiding the rust!).  We might put some lettuce in it as well.

There was still some time to use before returning home so I braved the rush hour to go back to HomeSense, the idea being to get a couple more of those smaller plates.  Well, that was silly of me, I'd left it far too long and there were none left.  However, I got a couple of high sided single portion pyrex-style dishes with clip on lids which can be used in the freezer, the oven, the microwave - good all rounders, in fact.  They're a perfect size for single portion pot pies, lasagna, cannelloni, etc, and weren't all that expensive so it was worth the trip.  As I turned into my road, the cleaner was driving out so great timing!

Today I aim to focus on my garden.  There's quite a lot of little things that need doing - some clearing out of corners, some replenishing soil in planters, quite a lot of potting on and all that sort of stuff as well as the usual weeding, dead heading and, quite important, digging out those invasive white bells while they are flowering and I can see where the remaining ones are.  I had a good blitz last year but you never get them all, do you? 
Nothing major and nothing too heavy, just happy little things really.  Nice.

The sun's shining so I really must get some washing, drying and ironing done too.

So that's my day - what does yours look like?  Have a lovely start to May, whether or not you dance around the Maypole!  xx