Tidying the shed

The forecast is for rain all week so I foolishly headed for the allotment this afternoon during a brief sunny spell. It didn't last long! Betty and I soon headed for cover in the shed and starting tidying up the accumulated debris of the last 20 months. It's a job that is long overdue and there never seems to be time to fit it in. First of all there were some tagetes plants waiting for their seeds to be shaken into paper bags. Then there were lots of things which needed hanging up such as stools, bags of plastic pots, reels of wire etc. Luckily there was a hammer and some nails to help with the task. Lots of the rubbish on the floor was collected and other things tucked away underneath our old dressing table which serves as a useful storage space. My friend Brenda had given me a useful vegetable planner, so with that hung on the wall along with the Gardener's World calendar and a butterfly identification sheet, it looks positively cosy!!

By the time we'd finished the rain had eased somewhat so we ventured outside. I managed to hoe the little border at the front of the plot, and turn over the soil along the edge of the grapevine before the weather became unpleasant again. The ground is really much too wet to dig at the moment and I think it will be a few days yet before it dries out.

The picture shows a very wet Betty in the rain.

I noticed the first of the blossom showing on the apricot tree at home this week. It's usually beginning to show on my birthday, so it's at least 10 days late this year.