had possibly the nicest meal I’ve had in a long time… (was so busy eating I sadly didn’t photograph it  )

and spent a lot of time in the sun, in the beautiful garden:

(Zuppy the dog posing)

(the last two self-seeded in the gravel garden… you could hardly see them they were so teeny. As our smallest would say: “how kew-te!!!”)

Gail from Shedding the Wolf, who claims to be non-crafty, but I don’t believe a word of it… I received this as part of a Pay It Forward giveaway;

(Gail was the recipient of my OWOH giveaway, and I have been following her wonderful blog since)

But, back to non-craftiness… let me just say that  I will not be cleaning my dishes with this beautifully made dishcloth, oh no, this is far too lovely to mop up the encrusted porridge pot that lives in my sink, it will be draped artfully over my “Housekeepers Box” (yes, I actually have one. That I really do use, and even the colour is perfect!)

(That is if I can keep it away from our smallest who has continued to rob it from me, even after I have robbed it back: “Why id you taken my babies blanket, mama, my babies id cold you know” Guilt. It gets you every time) 

And I also received this is the hand-beaded spoon- to feature in all my food photos!- isn’t this really beautiful?

Thank you so much Gail, you are officially in my Crafty-Girl Club!!

And so after such a great start, the day continued to be sparkling. We went for a walk to the river, and had the first paddle of the year (some of us,that is; some of us wilted at the sight of the freezing water and made excuses to go and photograph lichens on the bridge)

We walked home as the sun was setting across the fields

(this is the old stile that brought you to the water well a hundred years ago)

Today dawned, not quite as warm, but a sunny day nonetheless, perfect for spending in the garden. Peas, beans, spring onions and tomatoes all went into the ground today, and Fergal made a bunker for the boys (and girl), then built a willow frame over to give it coverage. It should be a leafy hideaway come the summer!

The ramp is for the Wee One to get in safely, and doubles up as a seat. And talking of Wee Ones/ Dishcloth Robbers: she went on a wander around the garden with Muttley today, and came back to me, in a state of angst.

“I’m a fay-wee, and I lost my wand, so now I can’t fly! And Muttley lost his wings, so now he can’t turn into a ladybird, so he’ll just have to be a fly. Oh dear, what will we do?!”

How do you respond to such a crises? Especially when they are both cheekily grinning up at you:

Imagine the excitement then, when a ladybird was found a short while after (and necessitated an anxious check to make sure that Muttley hadn’t indeed found his wings after all!!)

We spent most of the day in the garden- the sun came out again after an overcast, damp week. 

Fergal has completed the second lazy-bed for our potatoes (note his little shadow close by as always!!) I managed to squeeze in 6 little cabbages at the end of a bed. My seedlings are starting to appear! I have to resist the urge to “help” them along by doing a bit of plant midwifery…

 Our beehive is, literally, buzzing with life…

Look at these little critters!

We can stand a couple of feet from the hive and watch them flying in and out without any fear of them coming near. We might even get some honey this year, yay!

 And this is the progress of the willow fence: 

You can’t see them, but there are sugar snap peas planted at the base of the fence, so when they grow more, they will have the trellis to climb on. 

♥ ♥ ♥ Happy Mothers Day to all Mothers out there! ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s so lovely to find daffodils peeping up from the cold soil- only a few more weeks and there will be a glorious explosion of daffodil yellow everywhere!

Our little one went for a walk with her babies and the cat…

Leaves make fantastic compost (although they do take a long while to rot down to crumbly “black gold”):

Just as  the night set in, we cleared this pathway- it’s a bit odd as it goes nowhere- it was the original path from the front door when this house was built 107 years ago… I have been thinking of what I would put at the end of this path where the gate would have been- a bench? A sculptural piece?

Do you have any ideas?

And then, the warn glow from the house beckoned us in, to start dinner, baths and winding down for the night…

Daffodil bulbs peeping up

Magnolia buds well on their way

Russian Vine (I think?)