A Visit to Perch Hill

On Saturday I took a trip out to Sarah Raven's Open Day with Kate. It was rather chilly and we hurried past the cutting garden to the warmth of the barn and conservatory where tea and cakes were being served. After a delicious slice of coffee cake spiked with Baileys, we pottered around the shop choosing seed packets, wondering where our houses could accommodate the beautiful candles, and handling spools of colourful string with their lovely smell of potting sheds. I bought a pack of gladioli "Plum Tart" in the sale as I've never grown glads before, and some veg seeds: Red Bor kale, Amsterdam carrots and red giant mustard leaf. It was busy in the shop and I get a bit nervous when I'm walking round somewhere with so many costly and smashable items but the Delft blue hyacinths in pewter dishes were kicking out a perfume so it was very pleasant. Ms Raven's styling is inspirational but not wholly appropriate to my lifestyle and it's a bit out of my price range, but it is a lovely place to go with a friend and the gardens were looking surprisingly colourful given the earliness of the year. I'm not quite sure why I find the orderly lines of veg and tulips so appealing as I'm hardly a neat freak in any other area of my life!

The afternoon was the Grand National, and I managed - by complete girly fluke - to back the winner! A wonderful grey horse, who won by a few pixels judging by the photo finish. Two horses had to be put down which always puts a dampener on these things, but I take a rather pragmatic view having had horses myself, and being a livestock owner is fraught with delight and disaster. Anyway, I'm going to spend my winnings on some yarn to knit a jumper - my largest [size] challenge to date.

I took the girls in to town yesterday and Amber purchased some semi-permanent hair colour as she's been whittering on about it for ages. She did have doubts as the Ribena-coloured water streamed from her hair when I showered her head over the bath, but I told her it would be fiiiiiine and to stop worrying as frankly it was too late to change her mind. It's quite an attractive plummy-chestnut although of course I prefer her dark honey-gold locks. It lasts for 24 shampoos according to the packet, which given Amber's current rate of hair-washing and general ablutions, should last her about 3 years.

Today has been chilly and breezy inbetween sunshine and 'useful' showers to borrow the term used by the forecasters. I've planted the gladioli corms and Amber put some French bean 'Purple Teepee' into pots. It's National Gardening Week so I'm focussing on horticulture in the afternoons...it's a valid reason! - I'm not just trying to find excuses to go into the garden in the name of education, honest. There is a massive shortage of horticulturalists and botanists so I like to feel I am doing my bit to make the children aware of what can be grown and when and how. I did discuss vegetable crops with them but got a bit unstuck as Tristan refused to believe that we actually imported broccoli, saying that surely nobody liked it that much. I will get them pricking out seedlings later in the week as I've got quite a few: the alkanet and woad have germinated, as well as a quarter-tray of some green and glossy seedlings which are a bit of a mystery. I'm not a great labeller.

I've almost finished a pair of fingerless gloves based on Susie's Reading Mitts, a wonderful (free) pattern on Ravelry which I've adapted to have 2x2 rib at the wrist and fingers as it's a bit easier.

Blossom is still sitting on her eggs so hopefully we will have chicks by the end of the month - I hope it warms up a bit before then. The bees have been flying when the sun comes out and I am hoping for some swarms soon to fill all the hives in my garden!