Blue Monday

Aah, the sky was blue this morning and the sun was shining - that made a welcome change. There are many fewer planes flying nowadays but the contrails were in full view this morning which shows the air was cold up there, but not so cold at ground level as it has been recently.

I was looking forward to being outside after pretty much sitting still all week inside. We drove to the allotment and were the only people on site for a while. I weeded the garlic in the raised bed.

Jamie took the covers off the broad beans and weeded that area and I dug the area behind, though I didn’t manage it all. It was nice to be outside and digging. Several of our plot neighbours arrived but we were all well socially distanced. We were pleased to hear that Ivan has had his first COVID-19 vaccination - I’m expecting mine in February if all goes to plan.

Jamie cleared the rhubarb and surrounded the huge plant with a ring of manure to give it a boost after it was left to its own devices last year. We really need to divide the plant later in the year.

The larger birds were active today mostly gulls from over the Marsh, magpies and buzzards being quite noisy overhead. We saw a couple of robins but they weren’t as busy or inquisitive as they usually are.

We left as the sunshine had gone and it started to get chilly. We’re expecting a lot of rain this week. The plot was already very wet. So the question is... do I read a book or carry on practising crochet before I embark on extending the sleeves of my beautiful cardigan..? Or maybe I’ll make some onion soup as Ivan gave us these lovely veg as we left the site. The onion is huge, it weighs 472grams!

The song is by New Order - I used to hate this song, but quite like it now. Tomorrow is known as ‘blue Monday’, but try not to feel blue - we’re moving closer to Spring and vaccination so it’s best to stay positive. Take care and stay safe x