I’ve definitely got springtime vibes have you? This weekend we have been basking in glorious sunshine, ok well perhaps that’s a teeny bit of an over exaggeration but credit where credit’s due – in Surrey it has been a lovely couple of days weather-wise. So have we taken advantage of the mild (and more importantly dry) weather we are having? Oh yes indeedy!

Yesterday we spent a good deal of time in the jungle that during the summer resembles a half decent garden. I may not have mentioned this before but back in the autumn our next door neighbours dropped in conversation that our bamboo was shooting up roots all over their garden. If I’m honest I was absolutely mortified, not being the type of person who regularly looks over the fence into either of my neighbours’ gardens I genuinely had no idea. When I peeped over the fence though there were gigantic invasive spikes sticking up in various places plus patches of bare earth dotted around as a consequence of them trying to banish the pesky infiltrating roots (picture a field that has been invaded by an army of moles.) Now here we are not talking dainty little tufts like dandelions, we are talking vicious blades that wouldn’t look out of place in a tricky level of a game of Tomb Raider, think those perpetual blades that won’t stop spinning and you have to try and run through them to get to the next part. I’m showing my age here but who else loves Tomb Raider? When I was single I went through a stage of being completely obsessed with it and would often stay up until the early hours trying to complete a level. Anyhow back to the bamboo… by the time our neighbours spoke to us about it, the ground was quite hard so I made the best effort to chop down what I could to discourage growth, with the intention of trying to dig the beast up in early spring.

Fast forward to early spring… well yesterday to be precise, with a hint of spring sunshine and a little bit of warm weather – hurrah- we seized the day and made a concerted effort to dig up what we could and replant it in a large pot, it’s actually a really pretty variety of bamboo and I’m sure this beautiful plant, should it survive, will happily grace another area of the garden. We cut down the rest of what we could, particularly the shoots that were encroaching on next door’s garden and unfortunately we have realised that will have to destroy the roots that are left. It’s a real shame and I don’t like killing plants but I also don’t want to kill the relationship I have with our neighbours. I anticipate that the plant we planted in a pot will flourish with some tender loving care and make a lovely feature elsewhere in the garden. Can I also add that wrestling with a bamboo plant, that is on the rather large side, is not the easiest thing to do in the world, hopefully this time the roots will remain contained in the pot that has the job of being it’s new home.

Other tasks in the garden yesterday included moving an evergreen shrub, that had been engulfed by a salvia plant (Salvia Hot Lips if you are asking) to a more amenable position; we also moved a rose that did not seem happy in her current situation to a pretty pot so we can eventually find her happy place, she was on the edge of the path near the back door which may not have helped; we fixed a fence as well, cleaned out the chickens and just did a general potter around. Side note: Is there anyone with a garden that doesn’t just love a ‘potter’?

This morning, Sunday 21st February, I was the first one up, I actually love getting up early in the morning, obviously the fact that it was dry and looked like it was going to turn into a beautiful day helped a huge amount. Once the hens, dogs and cat were fed and watered I enjoyed a quiet moment in the garden with my early morning cup of tea. For a while as the sun tentatively dared to shyly appear it was eerily silent. For a few wonderful moments all I could hear were the calming sounds of my hens gently clucking, a song thrush, singing full throttle, in the tall willow tree, a skein of Canada geese flying in the distance and the gentle swishing and swaying of some grasses in the breeze. It was honestly absolute bliss. In moments like this it is easy to forget all that is going on in the world and just appreciate the wonder of nature. I love the sounds of nature, do you? When we go out walking I really try and be mindful and focus on the sounds that I hear as well as the sights that we see, it seems almost humbling, like life is stripped right back, does that makes sense?

I really feel a sense of optimism with the world at the moment. I am certain that we are in good stead to beat this pandemic that has had a hold over us all for the last year or so. As of 16th February 2021 over 16 million people in the UK have had the Covid vaccination. Isn’t that incredible? If plans run smoothly I will have my vaccination by the spring as I am in the 50 and over category. It’s pretty blooming amazing isn’t it. Will we get back to life as normal once everyone has had their vaccination? I’m not 100% sure but I am really hoping so, or at least as back to normal as possible, providing it doesn’t pose a risk to everyone. I know this has been such a tough year for everyone, but the end is in sight so we can’t give up now. If we have to stay in lockdown for a longer stretch or even a period of restrictions, then surely it is worth it for the bigger picture. I know that some things will take time, I expect we will probably have to wear masks for a while in public places such as supermarkets, hospitals and other indoor areas, but on the whole I feel that we should be optimistic. We owe such gratitude to all the NHS workers, supermarket workers and other frontline workers who, let’s be honest, have put their lives on the line while they are dealing with all this shiz that’s been going on.

So now it’s Sunday evening, I spent a while this afternoon giving my blog a little update, please do take a look at my blog header and the colour scheme that I have chosen – I’ve changed the header hugely and given my colour scheme a little tweak, what do you think? I’ve also updated my images on my Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram account to tie it all in together.

All in all it feels like it’s been a lovely weekend. Springtime vibes are definitely in the air. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, will be making an announcement tomorrow, Monday 22nd February so let’s hope that he has weighed everything up before announcing the next stage of how we deal with this coronavirus and what our next steps need to be. I just hope that is message is clear so we understand exactly what we are allowed to do. When we are given instructions with blurry edges it makes it difficult and people interpret what the rules are in different ways.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you have all had a lovely weekend too.