Sunny Morning.

It was a little bit of a shock to the system to be woken up in the dark this morning. But once I had drunk my tea I was able to sleep for an hour and wake up to sunshine. The first job of the day was to go out and pressure wash more paving. Then I loaded up the car with all the bags of junk I had cleared from the outbuilding. Then it was on to the fun stuff, driving through the muddy back lanes to meet up with friends for coffee and a chat.

The back lanes are very pretty at this time of year with primroses flowering in the hedgerows and lambs in the fields. I found a good place to stop and take some pictures of cute lambs. Check out this local farmer's story

There were lots of tempting flowers at the garden centre but the prices are rather steep. As ever it was great to catch up with my friends. There were only 4 of us today plus children but we are all meeting up in a bigger group this evening for a meal (and more laughter) in town.

At the garden centre I finally gave in and bought myself a pair of smart wellies in the correct size. My previous pair were half the price but they only seem to make ladies' wellies up to size 8 and every time I wear them I end up with a blister on my little toe. For outdoor work I wear steel toe-cap work wellies but the smarter ones are for walks on the beach and I keep them in the car in case I get stuck in a flood. (I have stranded my car twice in flooded roads over the years.)

After lots of chatting and laughing I went off and unloaded all the rubbish at the dump. Then I drove around the dump (sorry - recycling centre) and pulled up by the skip for wood. There I re-cycled some of the thrown away wood into my car as we are a bit short of kindling. I got some off-cuts of pine planking and some chunky pieces of 4x4" beams that will burn nicely. Then I went to BJ's where I got some trailing lobelia seeds and some piping bags for my baking attempts. I have been shown how to make piping bags from grease-proof paper but they never worked. Then to Lidl's and finally Tesco's. There I met someone whom I haven't seen for years so we had a long natter at the top of the escalator. I didn't get back home until after 4 when I had one more go at the slabs, a cup of tea and now it's time to get ready for tonight. (It's raining once more.)