Cold.

It was frosty this morning but luckily I'd covered over the succulents for the night. Although there was a lot of sun in the day it was bitterly cold so I postponed moving some plants from my garden to the zoo and stayed home in the warm.

When I got home yesterday evening Peter had already collected the chairs from our neighbour who was keen to have them out of his house. It took me ages to unwrap each chair from its copious packaging which included tightly stuck on Sellotape around the cardboard on the legs.  Having paid a lot for them I am not as ecstatic as I expected. The main reason being that although they look almost identical to the old chairs there is a very slight difference in the angle of the back so that they are not as ideal for my back. Peter on the other hand finds the opposite, he finds the new chairs more  comfortable than the old. The other difference is the way the wooden slats are attached. The old one has neat rivets that have never rusted while the new ones have fixings with screws at the back. I know they rust because yesterday I saw the same chairs outside a café in Mach with large rust stains. (There is only one brand that makes these chairs with wood rather than metal slats so there wasn't any choice.) I shall seal over the screws with varnish or lacquer to try and stop the rust. Also I will give the wood a coat of teak oil before I put the chairs outside.  And now I can keep a chair or two down in the garden as well as two on the terrace and a couple in the garage to bring out when we have guests. 

The chairs came in a large cardboard box which came in useful for cutting out two large circles for our Viking shields. I've also cut a couple of smaller circles from banana boxes brought home from the supermarket for the shields that will go on the boat. (They have very strong cardboard.) I'll bring home a couple of boxes each week and start painting them when I have enough.

After driving Peter up to the barn so he could take the camper to a garage for its yearly check and some work that needs doing I did a small amount of gardening, potting up the tomato seedlings. According to my book I should be hardening off the sweet peas which are romping away but it is too cold outside at the moment. Indoors the lettuces are appearing and I sowed some California poppies which I bought on a whim. Unfortunately they are toxic to some animals so I can't plant any at the zoo. 

I've just got home from choir and there was already frost on the roof of the car when I came out of the hall. I hope it warms up soon.