Damp.

We've had a showery morning followed by a drier afternoon. My token bit of gardening was to plant out the nasturtiums in the terracotta planter on the garden wall. Peter quite liked having to confuse the nasturtiums by turning them round each morning so that they were facing away from the light

And for the rest of the day I've been scraping paint. I think I've done as much as I need on the spindles of the upstairs section. In some places the paint can be rubbed off with a fingernail (see below) while in others it clings more stubbornly. If nothing else I've become proficient at sharpening the shave hook on the whetstone. I wonder, do people still keep a whetstone to sharpen knives and other tools? Probably not. I also recall a knife grinder calling out for customers when we first lived in Forest Gate, about 30 years ago.

The pitcher plant must be enjoying its new home on the bathroom windowsill because today I noticed a fully developed pitcher and a few others in progress.  

A Few Showers.

The day started bright and sunny but later turned grey with a few showers which resulted in my running out several times to remove and then re-hang the washing on the line. 

With today being the warmest day of the year I took a chance on not getting any more frosts and put out the trailing geraniums. Once all the work on the decking has been done I intend to make a planter from decking to sit the pots in so that it looks tidier. It certainly is nice to see another layer of green when I look out of the kitchen window.

My afternoon was mainly spent scraping paint and I finished off by ironing the washing.

Speedy was sitting in the doorway of the conservatory when his attention was caught by 2 jackdaws sitting on the roof of the big house. I'm not quite sure how he thinks he can reach them from the garden wall. An overestimation of his jumping abilities perhaps?

Sunny.

I woke this morning to cloudless blue skies and though the clouds gradually appeared it has been lovely and sunny all day long. There wasn't much breeze to start so instead of washing sheets I put all the cats' bedding in the washing machine and then put on another load of dark washing all of which has almost dried.  

I had earmarked the large ceramic planter by the front door for the tomato plants but now some big red shoots are emerging. It will be interesting to see what they are.

For a day scheduled for paint scraping I spent a lot of time outside. As a break from the never ending scraping I mowed the front lawn and part of the communal grass. While my neighbour borrowed the mower to do the bit outside her house I carefully squished down the ground beside the ruts left by the inconsiderate neighbour driving on the soft ground. Once the mowing was done we carried on chatting and after my neighbour swept up some broken glass in parking area we decided to sweep up the whole of that area which we'll do sometime next week as I wanted to get on with the paint scraping. That said we carried on chatting for a long time. I offered some gardening advice and then my neighbour invited me in to see her newly decorated kitchen. Her husband is a decorator and her house looks like something in a magazine. It was interesting to see a different version of the same room plan though their sitting room stretches right to the back of the house while we have a wall closing off the dining room. Both layouts work but I'm happy having a separate sitting room and dining room especially as we have the conservatory leading off the dining room. Eventually I got back to carefully removing the paint from the stair spindles before stopping for exercises and a bike session. It is so warm that shorts and vest were sufficient for the exercises and I haven't needed to change while the sun is streaming through my window keeping this room nice and warm.

Sunny Spells.

I woke this morning to see a rainbow  (brighter in reality), a good indicator of today's weather, bright sun and the threat of showers. It was very warm in the sun though the breeze felt cold on my arms. I took a chance and didn't wear a jacket when I went into town for some shopping. I didn't need anything from B&Q but Peter had sorted out a lot of IT bits which needed taking to the dump and I cleared the last of the shed wood which I don't think I'll be using. Peter also relinquished unprompted his deep fat fryer as he has moved to more healthier ways of cooking. The dump was very busy with all the different skips filled to overflowing. I rescued another 3 big plant pots from the plastics skip. It may seem a bit odd to be bringing things back from the dump but the cheapest pots I can find locally are £1 each and with all the plants that need repotting I need a lot. 

I called in at Lidl's for some basics but I also stopped at the Co-Op. Because they are a bit more out of the way they have better reductions and yes they had half- priced Easter eggs. I gave in and bought a small egg for 87p. I don't think chocolate eggs were around when I was young and even if they were my mother wouldn't have approved and we were too poor for such things. I got a whole lot of other things reduced to half price; olives, mushrooms, Simnel cake, cream, bread and butter puddings, fruit bread, popcorn and lean beef burgers made with puy lentils. 

With all the time spent in town it was another short session of paint scraping but the rest of the week is clear so I should get plenty done.

A few town photos from yesterday.

 The bell tower on top of the old guild Hall.

 Interesting buildings.

Dry.

On my way into town this morning I contributed towards the latest children's craze in Pilton for painted rocks and stones. These are painted by children and adults and left 'hidden' in Pilton usually Pilton Park or Rotary Gardens. When a stone is found a photo is taken of the children with the stones which they then hide for another child to find. It is a great way to encourage the children's creativity and excitement at being outdoors. I often see photos of children I used to teach and as I have a box of paints I thought I would paint a little hedgehog. I left it sitting on a low garden wall at the bottom of Pilton Street and by the time I returned it had been found. 

I was on my way to town to have coffee with two friends. This time we met at the Old School Coffee House which 350 years ago was a school for girls. It was very atmospheric with low ceilings and wood panelled walls. Listening to school tales from one of my friends who is still teaching left me feeling so grateful that I have left that world behind. 

As usual I strolled round some of the many charity shops. In one I bought this top as concert wear for when conditions are warmer. I also stood looking for a while at some half-price Easter eggs. I was very tempted but then I worked out that I could buy four times the weight of very good chocolate in Lidl's for the same price so I walked away. Straight over to Primark where I bought a reduced pair of fluffy pink and white pyjamas for almost the same price as the eggs had been. 

I was looking out of the sitting room window when a fat (pregnant?) black cat walked confidently up to the window. Just to see what would happen I opened the front door, the black cat retreated down the path waving its tail and Speedy crouched in the doorway poised for attack. Patch looked out of the door for a while before walking back into the sitting room while Speedy remained on high alert. I would quite like to discourage other cats from visiting the garden so I didn't interfere. Eventually the strange cat moved down the path and 10 mins later they were still having a face off. I didn't see what happened in the end but heard no signs of a cat fight before Speedy returned home. There was still time left for me to do a bit more paint scraping. Every bit I do today is that much less to do tomorrow is my motto.

I thought I might try growing some tomatoes outside in containers this year. I heard somebody on the radio suggesting using seeds straight from  tomatoes so I bought a small handful of M&S tasty cherry tomatoes to give that a go. I also bought a packet of seeds from Wilko who sell very reasonably priced seeds starting at 50p unlike some of the big brands which are £3-£4 a packet. These have been sown and have joined the grass seedlings on the bedroom window sill.

April Showers.

It has been a day of sunshine and showers with a lot more in the way of showers than sun. Right now the setting sun is shining through the clouds sending great sunbeams down to the earth.

When I looked out of the window this morning my first flowering daffodil was drooping sadly. Going out to investigate not only did I find a hole in the trumpet but the perpetrator, a nasty slug, was sitting in there. I may not use poisons but that slug got the chop - literally. There's not a lot happening with the shrubs in my garden so for now I have to be content admiring flowering shrubs in other people's gardens.

I carried on with my paint scraping and got the whole of the upstairs bannister rail done. It's not round, just a thick plank with a rounded top which is a shame. It was fairly easy to do, it's the narrow fiddly bits that take the longest, which was why I started with it. While I did that Peter went out to get some shopping. Having persuaded him that of course chocolate tastes better when it is egg shaped (everyone knows that), he found nothing but empty spaces on the shelves in Lidl's. However he did come home with some chocolate treats so I can still indulge.

Speedy has just pushed open my study door and is sitting on my window sill waving his tail wildly (imagine an angry cobra). It's probably because he would like me to go down and feed him. Because Patch has to have several meals a day to keep the weight on him I have to restrict Speedy's intake or he turns into a fat pudding.

Easter Greetings.

It was lovely to hear the church bells ringing out early this morning on this most special day.

While the skies have remained grey all day the rain held off until later in the afternoon. As I did not intend to be doing any DIY instead I treated myself to some gardening time. That is I pulled up a lot of the tiny and not so tiny seedlings growing in the front garden flower bed. The most prolific weed is round-leaved speedwell some of which was already flowering. Above the hum of the traffic and occasional siren I could hear all sorts of wildlife. Loudest was the buzz of a white tailed bumble bee visiting the many yellow celandines brightening up the garden. A couple of seagulls were squawking away sometimes making a noise like a cat, woodpigeons were cooing, a blackbird was trilling and some small birds were singing too. It's all there if you take time to listen. 

Only one daffodil flowering so far. Some of the smaller narcissi came up earlier but the flowers were eaten by slugs. Grrrrr! I tried to persuade my neighbour not to sprinkle copious amounts of slug pellets around her garden by telling her how they also poison the birds and hedgehogs by my words fell on deaf ears.  

This made me smile when I came across it. I'm not sure what most people here are celebrating, pagan chocolate day I think.