The kindness of strangers

Every now and again something happens that puts my faith back into the human race.  This is one of those occasions:  a few weeks ago I took our puppy for a walk in the park and got chatting to a couple who were sitting on a bench, enjoying the view.  We talked for a bit, they took a couple of photos of the dog and off we went our separate ways.  Well, a couple of days ago I was on one of my dog walks again when by chance I bumped into the same couple.  They gave me prints of the photos which they had brought along in the hope they might see us again.  I thought that was just such a lovely thing to do, so thank you to my kind strangers!

October storms in April

To say it has been breezy here over the last couple of days would be an understatement - it feels as if it should be October with these storms, rain and cold!  I was very sad to see that one of the large old trees in the park toppled over yesterday but luckily, no one got hurt.  Still, it was such a shame to see such a magnificent giant brought to its knees. :-( 

What a nightmare this weather also is for the organisers of our local park festival that is due to start tomorrow for the month of May - they have to check all the trees to make sure it is safe to walk around, tidy up any fallen branches etc.

Our big old hawthorn in the garden seems to be holding up remarkably well - long may it continue!  I am just glad I did all my gardening on Saturday as it really hasn't been the weather to be outdoors.  Try telling the dog that as he still insisted on his two walks per day.  It is supposed to get brighter and calmer out there as of tomorrow, so fingers crossed...

I have planted another lot of potatoes in a large bag and am trying to protect my broad beans from the slugs - hopefully, the measures taken will be successful (nematodes, netting, plastic bottles...).  Indoors, I have now potted on all my tomato (9) and pumpkin (3) plants - the peppers are still too small and delicate to handle, so they'll have to wait for their move into a bigger "home".