Lurching Into Spring

There are things which are meant for one purpose but aren't always going to get used immediately for what they were intended. I treated myself to a berry basket from the lovely Hen as I trust that I shall be able to go foraging this autumn, for the first time in ages, and why wait till autumn when you can have a beautiful basket now? My basket arrived on Friday, but the postie wasn't patient enough for me to reach the door in time, so Kim collected it on Saturday. How lovely to open a parcel and find something that was a perfect fit! My berry basket will do the job very nicely, as it is light, fits over the arm perfectly and is just the right size. Only, when you get something so nice, you really don't want to have to wait until months later to try it out, do you? Happily, I found a perfect use for my not-berry basket until there are berries to pick. As I have to use both hands to help climb the stairs (anything to take pressure off the collapsed hip), it makes it difficult to carry things upstairs. I either have to hold bits of paper between two fingers while using the heel of my hand on the bannister or, less elegantly but more effectively, grab them in my teeth. It's not a good look - face contorted with pain and a sheaf of papers hanging from my mouth, I can tell you! Now, however, the not-berry basket fits perfectly over my forearm, leaving my hands free to climb the stairs and my face looking less like a bulldog that's licked a nettle. By autumn, my not-berry basket will revert to its original purpose, but for now, it is doing sterling work as a transporter of small items up and down stairs. There's a part of me that feels tempted to commission a transport basket like the large baskets that are used to haul good up and down the sheer cliff walls of some Greek monasteries, if for no other reason that poor Kim's heart won't take much more of me throwing things off the top balcony to the bottom of the stairs as I can't manage to carry them, and me, down. Bundles of laundry don't make too much noise, but when I start flinging plastic bottles and the like overboard, it gets a bit much for the poor man.

The weekend has felt full of the promise of warmth and long days with the bright blue skies we have had. Our weekend was punctuated with the sound of strimmers revving, lawnmowers being kicked into life and people taking their trowels to beds all over the village. We rather stole a march as I got our local gardener/handyman to clear up the side of the property where it meets the lane at the side. Until now it has been an untidy heap of grass, any number of weeds and lumpiness that meant you were unsure of where the road ended and the verge started. Last week, Andrew went at the pile of stones and rubble like a train and replaced it with half rails of treated timber, some compost and pretty bedding plants. What a delight to see passers by admiring our new flower bed! Of course, that has only made me want to tidy up and improve more things, which is a bit frustrating at the moment, as I can't do it myself. Never mind, having found someone so hard working and also hugely particular about doing things right and neatly, I don't doubt I shall be getting Andrew over here again to tidy up a few more bits and bobs.

What I did manage to do successfully, albeit with considerable help, was to sort out some of my garden pots. They have become very scruffy and weed infested and it was such a pity to see them looking so forlorn over the past months. On Saturday, Kim set me up on the garden bench with a big, thick cushion so my hip didn't hurt too much, his work-make in front of me, the potting compost at one side, and some of my pots to weed or take apart and rescue from the tangled horrors. What a delight - it has been such a long time since I got dirt under my finger nails and it's just about the best therapy I know. I went from being near suicidal about all the delays and problems with the hospital and the sheer frustration of barely being able to get up and down my own front doorstep, to feeling calm and centred. I had promised myself I would do something to thank Nerthus for a gift she had granted to a friend, and in doing so, I gained more than I gave... which means that I need to get out there and do it all over again, because that's what suits would call a "win-win situation"!

All I need now is to see some of my tomato seed and sweetpeas germinating and I shall be a very happy bunny. I have a baby oregano plant, to supplement the big oregano triffid, and some thyme to put in my herb bed and some gaudy summer colour plants to put out, but with the very cold nights this week, they can keep my seed trays company in the kitchen. I do love Spring.