The Seasonal Order of Merlin

Are we there yet?
Is the Winter over?
Can I make like a tulip and stick my head above the blanket?
Is it safe?

I know we had nearly three weeks of glorious sun and heat in April but the last week has been back to temperatures below freezing, torrential rain, hail and sleet, howling wind and wearing every sweater I own all at the same time...and I own a LOT of ganseys let me tell you!

The daffodils had the best of it, tulips and cherry blossoms have been flattened and blown away, even the bluebells have turned white in horror:

Frightened bluebells.

I think we are having the seasons in Merlin's order (ie. reverse) this year; summer, spring (sort of) and now winter.
Right so, I'll be off for another spot of hibernation then!

P.S. I was reliably informed by a three year old today that if you wear your gumboots indoors when you are not supposed to then you should walk backwards to stop the floor getting dirty.

Useful piece of info, I thought...

Impasse...or...A Pointless Post

What does one do when one reaches an impasse with the quilt in progress?

Hmmm, does the Seminole work really go or
 do I need something different in that panel? Hmmmmmmm...

One goes out to hoke at the window boxes...

Is that really the kale seeds germinating or is it just weeds I wonder?
 

...do a spot of much needed weeding, a SPOT, I said...

Golly to goodness, better mind out for lions and tigers and bears ha ha!

...dead- head the rambling rose and discuss with the lovely climber what exactly it is...

Are you a Virginia Creeper because I've
always wanted one of those on my house, I think they're lovely:
 please be a ginny creeper?

...admire the fuchsia which is still going strong and quite a blaze of colour...

...and finally plant out the winter pansies which I bought this week in a fit of extravagance (they were on special offer so I saved €2.50 by buying three, but I could have saved €11 if I'd left them in the shop!)

Yup, those are the old grape punnets re-used! Who's a pretty pansy then?!

I know the middle one is a sunflower! I just put the pansies in next to it for when the sunflower karks it, its called multi-purposing, or maybe thinking ahead...or maybe just stingy!

And finally, several hours later when one has done all that and the solution to the quilt impasse has become clear, one realises that one has been out wearing one's clean sewing jumper and indoor shoes and is now quite filthy.

Darn.

Solve one problem, create another.

Screw it! and one brushes off the worst of the dirt, scrubs the mud out of the fingernails and returns to the quilt, much dirtier but really no wiser.