Spring flowers and our anniversary in The View from the Terrace

In my last entry on Sunday I said I had wanted to go for a drive but it was too misty, but later the mist lifted so we went out after all. We drove to a local garden centre where I bought some plants to make some spring hanging baskets and a few others for the borders. Then we went into the cafe for coffee and cake. I spent Tuesday in the garden planting them. We were still having a mini heat wave, it was more like late spring than February and lovely to spend a whole afternoon out there.

Today was our 43rd wedding anniversary and we went out for lunch. The heat wave is over and it has been raining on and off all day but the spell of sunshine has brought everything out early. The magnolias are coming into bloom and we saw several cherry blossoms already out. We were going to go to a pub our son recommended but we couldn’t find it. I have discovered since that I had mixed it up with another place with a similar name and that place closed several years ago. We ended up in a local garden centre, a different one from the one we went to on Sunday. We were quite happy, though as lunch was delicious. Hubby had cod and chips and I had an aubergine bake with salad. Hubby tried a bit of mine and said it was so good that he was going to look for a recipe and make it for Sunday lunch some time. The price of the main meals included a dessert and coffee. I don’t usually eat dessert but since it was free I had an ice cream while Hubby indulged in jam roly poly with cream.

Hubby always has a nap after lunch as the hormones he has to take for his prostate cancer leave him very tired, so he went back to the car and I spent a half hour looking around the garden centre. They had a beautiful sparkly cardigan in the shop and it was in my favourite colour, purple. I looked at the price, it was £30. The practical side of me said that it wouldn’t go with any of my evening outfits, but it was lovely and the reckless side of me said I could always buy another top to go with it! Finally the practical side won. I wandered into the garden accessory section and among the garden ornaments I saw a fox. I’ve been wanting a fox for ages, and I thought it might be rather fun to put him spying on Jemima Puddleduck from among the foxgloves just like in the Beatrix Potter book, but this one was full size and over £100 so it was out of the question. Then I spotted a small unicorn. It was so cute and only £12 so I decided that since I had been a good girl and not bought the cardi I could have this and still save £18! It will look lovely by my fairy house.

Then I wandered around the plants for a while and treated myself to another pansy. I bought a tray full on Sunday at the other garden centre but this one was so pretty and only £1.40. I went back to the car and found Hubby stretched out on the back seat fast asleep. I did wonder whether to leave him a bit longer and go back into the garden centre but maybe I had spent enough for one day.

This evening Hubby gave me a big box of chocolates. He said he hadn’t known what to get me and he hoped that was OK. I said it was great. I finished all of the chocolates I had at Christmas a week or two ago and Mother’s Day is quite late this year so they would fill the gap nicely! He had also bought a chocolate cake for tea. That and the ice cream after lunch was quite enough sweet things for one day so I will open the chocs on another evening. I gave him a pen holder with ‘John’s pens and pencils’ carved on it. He is always doing crosswords and leaves his pens everywhere so hopefully he will be able to find them now.

More rain is forecast for the weekend but I hope we get some fine weather as I still have a lot to do in the garden. I need to plant some forget me nots that a neighbour gave to Hubby because they had too many, how can you have too many forget me nots? I also need to sow some seeds for the summer, prune the roses and plant up the wooden planter that Tony gave me for Christmas, I have a little spruce that is ready for potting up which will look great in it. Early spring is a busy time for gardening but I love it out there with the daffodils, and the bird song, and the blossom just coming out. As a friend of mine said, everything is ahead of you at this time of year.

Last updated March 01, 2019