Spring....or an early summer!

Our village is surrounded by farmland. At the moment, the oilseed-rape is in bloom, so the countryside is yellow. This also marks the start of the hayfever season, of course, and I get it, and so do my children, so we will soon be walking around with toilet rolls stuffed under our arms and slitty red eyes. Not to mention noses. Medication??? Of course. But does it work? Not really. It just looks really lovely though.

I walked to the edge of the village, which is 3 mins away, (around the corner) and took these photos, and on the way, I walked past this tree covered in blossom. It is huge, and so magnificent, isn't it!

It has been really hot today. In fact, I can't remember when last we had any rain. The doors and windows are open, and people are out in their gardens enjoying the sun.

This is a photo which combines the blossom and the oilseed-rape, and now you can see what our corner of the world looks like. Pink and white blossom on the trees, lambs in the fields along the road. All the other trees are in leaf now, and the clematis is flowering too. My lilac has also started to flower.

I have no idea why these photos are all on the side. I distinctly remember selecting "centre" when I uploaded them. Oh well. It really does not matter!

14 of us had the BIG ALLOTMENT dig this morning, and for 3 and a half hours, we dug. And raked, and lopped, and planted and watered and constructed the wigwam thingys for the beans. Geoff's allotment has sprung to life again, and I have some photos on the other computer, so will post them later.

You know what I mean when I say we were dripping???? Absolutely drenched in sweat. No "glow" here. We were reduced to wiping our faces with the Tshirts we were actually wearing. Leaving soil marks on faces, and shirts. Elegant? I don't think so. But we were working. And laughing, and having a great time. Potatoes, onions, courgettes, beetroot, butternut, lettuce, and more. All in. I am feeling saintly. I can also hardly move. I was seen at one stage, treating the spade as a pogo stick. It was not a pretty sight. The ground was unbelievably hard, but the areas we covered with carpetting last autumn were wonderful when we uncovered them. Damp soil, and no weeds. We have covered the other half of the allotment with the carpets now, and hopefully in a couple of weeks, the weeds will have died down, and it might have rained, so we can dig up that section too. I have great plans. Free food. Sounds good to me.

Here are the photos of the finished dig. Please note a great use for unwanted free CDs. They make a perfect bird-scarer-away-thingy. A new word I have just invented.
Note the carpets in the background. All we need now is a couch or two.