Spring!

You can tell spring's finally arrived - I've managed to ditch my opaque black tights!  I was beginning to feel surgically attached to them.  Look - legs!  Pasty white ones, admittedly.

 And the garden has taken off.  Everything's burgeoning (isn't that a lovely word?).  I wish I could take a more close-up picture of this London Pride, because the little spotty design on the individual petals is beautifully intricate.

A cluster of purple alliums around my pink ceanothus bush.  That's going to flower later in the year, but it's nice to see the alliums getting some room.  Ignore the compost bin and the incinerator behind them - I didn't even register them when I took the picture.  That area of the garden needs some serious attention this year.

Gorgeous yellow poppies!  They self-seed.  Well, with a little help.  I scatter the seeds when the seed head ripens, and they just get on with it on their own.  My favourite kind of gardening!

The pulmonarias are in full flower right now too.  They've also seeded themselves, so we might need to consider taking some out before they take over.  Pretty lilac pink flowers - they open as a clear blue and fade to pink.  Lovely leaf patterns too.

Our Japanese Acers.  They don't seem to be at all concerned about their confinement in pots.  They just flourish year after year.  We've had them ten years or so now, and when we see similar trees in garden centres, they cost an absolute fortune!  Maybe Acers are a good investment?

Himself dug a new border yesterday.  He says he can't mow up to the fence and round the little trees.  Fair enough - I told him that when he put the trees in to start with.  Now, though, it's his idea, so it needs sorting out.  (Is not cynical at all).  He's done a nice job, and there are some pretty plants in there - bluebells, marigolds and some I don't know.  It'll be interesting to see what happens there, because it gets baked in summer and freezes in shadow in winter.

A visitor.  Not one of ours - he lives down the road, but pays us frequent visits.  He's a happy cat.

So is this one.  She is one of ours - Hattie.  She has a talent for finding the most inconvenient place to sleep. This is where the lawnmower should have gone back.

And our greenhouse.  It's probably not that visible here until you click for a bigger view, but I've got a bit artistic with the shading on the back wall.  I was taking last year's shading off, but got a bit bored by the time I reached the back, so I started drawing...

And a quick bag update - it's taking shape!  The crochet panels are sewn together and they're getting a border around the top to neaten it.  The lining is all cut out and I'm in the process of sewing in the pocket.  I chickened out and sewed in the zip by hand, but it looks neat.  Pictures soon!