Windy Island Handmade: Springing Up

The first day of the first weekend of the first term of the new year bought the first day of Spring. Well not really; it is still only January, but it sure did feel like Spring! Pea and I were willing to fall in with Nature as she fooled us with her warm(ish) sunshine, blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Hardly a breath of breeze ruffled the still bare branches of the trees and after weeks of gales and heavy rain, we were eager for a taste of things to come. After a quick trip into town where we purchased a blueberry bush that we named Brian, after Brian Cox the Physicist and several bulbs of Stargazer lillies and dahlias, we spent the rest of the day outside.

I had planned to do an enormous amount of washing and take advantage of such a perfect drying day, but what happened? I washed all the school uniform and some other items of clothing that I tripped over while picking up bits of uniform off the floor, and hung them out on the line. Then we went to buy plants, then we went for a really long walk and then we had dinner. By that time the sun was slowly sinking into the earth once more and the air was decidedly fresh. Too late to get anything else dry and the uniform was getting damp. Half a task completed is better than not bothering in the first place I suppose, so I had to content myself with that.

But to miss this would have been a crime, so I'm very glad we made the most of it. The dogs had a brilliant time sniffing new places and really enjoyed a long walk. Poor H1 missed it as he came home on Friday feeling poorly. He spent most of the weekend in bed and hardly ate a thing, which is a real cause for concern. H2 came with us but lagged behind and had a face like someone being dragged to the gallows instead of on a lovely country walk. Misery. The promise of a bacon and egg sandwich for lunch helped to put a spring in his step and he was home before we were.

Pea was bouncing about with excitement most of the day and would have had me buy everything Wilkos had to offer in the bulb and seed line, but I managed to restrain her and remind her (and myself) that it is still Winter and therefore too early to be planting seeds just yet. Purchasing her blueberry twig (far too small to be called a bush) contented her for a while, until she saw the bulbs and corms. I was having my usual amount of trouble deciding what to buy and indeed if I should buy anything at all this early. I casually picked up a pack of dahlia corms and noticed that there was a tiny, green shoot growing inside the pack. Pea saw my weak spot before I even realised I was displaying such behaviour and pounced like a jaguar on a shrew. 'You have to buy it,' she said. 'No I don't', I replied, carefully replacing the pack from whence it came. 'Look, it's growing!' she insisted, 'It's trying to live, it needs love and help. Buy it!' For crying out loud, she could persuade Eskimos to buy ice. She is relentless (in a nice way) and won't give up until her victim has conceded her point and does her bidding. Yes, I bought the struggling dahlias. I was always going to, I just needed permission to blithely spend the money. All £2.50 of it. Oh the guilt!

Anyway, they are awaiting slightly warmer days before I can plant them in tubs and place them next to the bench in a sunny spot in the garden, where they will look pretty and the lilly will scent the entire garden with it's heady perfume.

It is a good job we took full advantage of Nature's gift as Sunday was a horrid day. Cold, windy and wet. We didn't mind too much as there were things to do indoors, like homework, hoovering and cooking Sunday dinner. I made a toad-in-the-hole with thick pork and leek sausages and quartered apples and onions. We had mashed potatoes and roasted parsnips with it, which may have been a mistake as we could barely move afterwards. The steamed syrup sponge I made for pudding had to wait until mid afternoon before we could manage it. It was lovely with a cup of tea after a brisk walk with the dogs. H1 was still feeling poorly but managed some lunch then fell asleep in the lounge while watching Red Dwarf. He always watches that when he doesn't feel well or is tired. It's his comfort food. This morning he woke feeling worse, so I took him to the doctor. We sat in the waiting room for an hour before we were called in. There was one doctor on duty and about 20 people had come and gone in the waiting room. Finally the doctor came out and called our name. She had a good look at H1 and said he has an ear infection and gave him some tablets. Then we went home. Thank goodness for that, it felt like we'd been away for days. At least we know what it is and he can just rest and let the medicine do it's thing. True to form, MAL is sleeping on the ill person's legs offering love and care and Puppy is pretending it's nothing to do with him.

The rain is still falling and the wind is blowing with intent and it feels cold. No wonder the dogs are snuggled up. I made some ginger biscuits on Friday night and drizzled melted dark chocolate over them. As the last piece of Christmas cake has been eaten, (by me I must admit) I have nothing to nibble with my afternoon panad. I wonder if there are any ginger biscuits left? I must be mad, of course there aren't. I doubt they even got to the end of Saturday.