So that's how you do it ...

At the allotment first thing this morning and then off to Chiltern Open Air Museum for a walk with Archie and Angel before it got too hot. It was Viking weekend there and we found a Vikingess who wove her own lovely willow baskets. She had a whole load more with her, ready to use ... and so I learned that the lengths of willow that I didn't use earlier in the year after cutting it, and which has been propped in a bundle awaiting its fate is still usable ... simply soak it first to restore its pliability. A day per foot of length apparently.
So now you know too!

Vikings camping out

All set for willow weaving

The long and the short of it ...

Another brief post this week - but you'll probably know the feeling! Everything seems to be happening at once - flowers bursting into bloom everywhere: as the dazzling yellow of the forsythia begins to fade, the ceanothus just below it is poised on the brink of exploding into its usual show-stopping intense blue display. The bees love it and happily hum busily all over it ... in my Mum's border the daffs may be fading, but the aubretia is spilling in red and lilac swathes over the edges, the wallflowers are in full fig and the violas planted in a container last autumn are getting their second wind ... Weeds are also popping up everywhere and I'm making the most of the current sunny weather to keep dug beds on the allotment well hoed ... the grass has been growing fast too. Of all the jobs in the garden, mowing is my least favourite: I've already given the back lawn three trims, and the allotment has had one and a half. The half because I ran out of petrol before I'd finished - so there's another job for tomorrow. Archie and Angel have been enjoying spending more time out in the sun:
mowing the lawn is also their least favourite chore because I shut them indoors while getting on with for the safety of all concerned. Weeding might be tedious but they get to be outside with me while I'm getting on with it and are always happy to divert me if things look like getting too boring!

Archie checks out the obelisk I made from willow prunings