Well it’s still bloody freezing, but at least I can see a deep blue sky through my window and clouds are notably absent. Frost on the roofs suggests that it’s not exactly tropical out there, but at least the sun lifts the spirits.
A quick glance at my diary suggests I have no excuse not to go work on my allotment this week. Am busy building a ’structure’ to support our berries, including a blackberry bush which I’ve grown from a cutting given to me by a client. Hopefully it will bear fruit this year, along with the raspberries planted last year. Even more hopefully I might be able to stop the whole crop being consumed by marauding birds, which was the fate of last year’s entire gooseberry crop. One of my regs asked me the other day if I find the plot therapeutic. The answer would be yes, but it’s also a source of stress when everything needs doing at once or when you’ve been there all day and it’s almost dark and you forget to put the nets back on the fruit, only to discover the next day that birds, foxes or slugs have eaten your entire crop. Nature isn’t very forgiving! But I like being outside and pottering about and of course it’s fantastic to eat stuff you’ve grown yourself. I brought 5 huge, plump juicy leeks home yesterday, which have survived the coldest of winters. Now I have around 400 leek plantlets to find space for that I propagated on the windowsills at home.. stress! Am sure some men imagine am sitting around in my corset, stockings and sussies when they they ring, when in fact am often leaning on a spade in my work boots, soil under my nails, hair tied up with a plant tie, digging over the brassica bed or turning the compost..
Anyway, I’m in the process of organising my tours for the next few months. I’m very bad at this I know, but domestic responsibilities have a habit of getting in the way of my plans. Or I decide on dates for a tour only to discover every hotel room at my destination is booked up due to some sporting or other event. Of course I also have to organise things around Liverpool matches, so all in all it gets a bit complicated. However, I’ve got some London dates in my diary and will shortly be adding Birmingham, the East Midlands (for the first time) and Dublin, as well as sorting out my Antwerp date, so don’t give up on me! My spectacular chest will be heading your way sometime soon, and with any luck the rest of me might even be attached! Enjoy the sunshine…