Careless talk costs lives! That was the serious message during WW2. A much less serious consequence of careless greenhouse practice was leaving a tray of seedlings to hydrate water overnight. Lives were lost, as I despondently viewed them headless the next day. I needed someone to share my disappointment and showed them to my husband. Being rather deaf, he didn’t hear if I’d said I was pleased or cross about them. Trying to make the right response as he observed the row of stalks, he said, “Is it grass!” knowing I’d been waiting for grass seedlings to germinate - but they’d been a disappointment too – nothing!

Meanwhile, the nightly slug hunt continues. It is good practice to move all the pots around because there will be several slugs tucked under trays and modules, and the odd snail under the rim of a pot! However, help was at hand: I found a toad snuggled in a damp corner, so I was mightily cheered.

Some of the very pretty bluebells, which the bees enjoy, invade my borders and veg garden but are not native. They are rooted deeply and digging out rarely brings the bulbs to light. The concern is that Spanish bluebells will be cross-pollinated with the native and we will loose the purity of our own bluebell. Our native bluebell has bells on one side only, whilst the Spanish variety has bells all round the stem.

I couldn’t keep the runner beans sufficiently watered last year, so I’ve filled trench with compost, peelings and newspaper to hold more moisture. The dog thoroughly approves of this idea, as it makes easier browsing than climbing in the compost bin, she can root around for broccoli or cauliflower stems which she particularly likes. Setting a good example to the grandchildren - no, not rooting about in the trench, but eating their greens!

The apple were full of blossom and not frosted. The Timothy Grass a metre tall above the other grasses. The volume of buzzing of bees on the Cotoneaster shrub was suddenly increased by a deeper and slower tone which alerted me to three hornets who’d come to feed on those tiny flowers.

The old saying goes “If the Oak is out before the Ash, we shall surely have a splash. If the Ash is out before the Oak, we shall surely have a soak”. Well, our Oak was out before the Ash, so lets see if the folklore is proved right!

H.W