spring!

- all the usual signs, sunshine, lambs (will take some pictures tomorrow), muck-spreading in the fields, mud on the roads.

And now its dusk, the wood burning stove is lit and there is not a single cat in the house. When the weather gets better and the evenings longer and later, its the moggys' playtime!  In winter you can't get near the stove for cats. Nearly time to take off the cat-proof covers from the sofas and store them away for the summer.

Its also time to sow seeds again. I just love it when they poke their green tips up through the soil.

This is my seed germinator system. The glass panes were from the Salford University science labs that were being stripped out when we left the Uni. (from whence we also got all the lovely teak for our kitchen work surfaces). These glass sheets were for cutting-up specimens (doesn't bear thought) and I managed to salvage three from the skip. Without them our various moggies would happily sleep on the comfortable bed of germinating seeds, in the sunshine, throughout the day - bless them.

I have taken to using squares of bubble-wrap to cover the seed pots before they germinate, to keep in the moisture without blocking the light, but also to keep the soil temperature up at night, when the front porch gets quite chilly still. We shall see how it works.

I have taken advantage of the recent flurry of tree cutting and pruning to have a go at making a wooden spoon. This is my first attempt, and is for getting jam out of pots! Here in Brittany, one doesn't use a knife to scoop up your jam, but a teaspoon. This has a longer handle and bigger bowl...

 It's made of white poplar, and will need some finishing once it has dried a bit - it's practically still growing. I have just ordered a pair of knives for making spoons and small bowls - it is going to be a compulsive hobby, methinks, with the amount of wood we cut down each year to keep the place tidy.