Serious rain at last

Today’s guest picture of her allotment was sent to me by our daughter Annie, and shows that she takes after her mother…and then some.  She did get some help.

The day started with lovely sunshine and steadily got greyer until it was raining in Edinburgh  when we got there.   We were not complaining as the rain is needed.

I took the car up to the garage to get one of those annoying warning lights that appear on the dashboard checked out and went to get it back after lunch.  There was nothing wrong with it.  Grr.

In between, I did a lot of pottering about the garden.

The strawberries which we moved yesterday, seemed to be quite cheerful about the transplant..

…and Mrs Tootlepedal has begun to construct a new cage to keep the birds off them.

The rain overnight had been light and the soil was generally quite dry again though it was possible to see that it had rained.

Mrs Tootlepedal has got her potatoes in, most of them in the new bed which has got the greenhouse foundations under it.

She planted some acorns a couple of years ago and the resultant small oaks have grown to a stage where they need to be planted out,  She and our neighbour Liz are going to find a spot for them.

There are white bluebells in the back border…

…white drumstick primulas…

…and beautiful white pear blossom too…

…but in general, we are not short of colour.

The day of the daffodil is done and we are in the time of tulips now.

Mrs Tootlepedal has some really ‘pinging’ examples about, like these…

…and this…

…and there are more to come.

In the pond, as well as tadpoles and pond skaters, there was a lot of tension.

Our neighbour Liz dropped in for coffee and biscuits and while a rook looked on from the plum tree….

…we had a very lively but very good natured airing of our different views on the political situation of the day.  There is nothing I like more than a thoroughly good argument and as we rose from the table, we were still arguing but agreeing to differ so it was disappointing to find a partridge outside insisting on sitting on the fence.

I watched the birds later in the morning and saw more action in three minutes than I see in the whole day sometimes.

The partridge came off the fence but didn’t linger and soon walked away.

After lunch, we went to Edinburgh to visit Matilda.  She is now five and was busy writing thank you cards for birthday presents.

We were able to admire the many presents she had received and after much conversation and another delightful meal, we made our way home again.

The rain as we drove home was alarmingly heavy at times, severely affecting visibility, but only in short bursts which was a relief.

The forecast is for some typical April showers to come over the next couple of days..

The flying bird of the day is a questing redpoll.