A cold and wet front swept over the North West during the night and into the morning.
It was a dank and dismal start to the Sabbath. And then the late morning into afternoon was showery. And then the afternoon brightened. The clouds parted and the sun shone warmly on us. At 8:45pm, it has just set in the West among salmon fronded clouds.
That's pretty much been the tenor of Ross's and my day too.
There was a strained, emotional and tearful start to the day. But, once we had put that behind us, we have had a quietly delightful time together.
We've been busy planting, potting and sowing more plants in out garden. And suddenly, it's beginning to feel just that - a garden.
In among the Azaleas which are about to bloom but which go to twigs in the winter, we've placed an evergreen Euonymus with green and gold variegated leaves to give more body to the central bed. Down at the bottom end, the daffodils are finally dying off as the bluebells take over. There, either side of the hydrangea, we've put two types of Euphorbia to give height and to vary the texture and colour. The Euphorbia griffithii bears flame coloured bracts whilst the Euphorbia martinii has bluish green leaves and small yellowy/green flowers with a delicate maroon centre. To further enliven the bed, we've stuck in a ruby red Ranunculus for more height and sky blue Lithodora for ground cover.
Variously, in pots and hanging baskets, we planted out scarlet and pink geraniums, silver and gold Helichrysum, dark blue trailing Lobelia and white, pink and purple Alyssum. We've also put some of the Lobelia and Alyssum in the front garden along with a spread of pansies.
Finally, Ross has sown out some Clary and Lavatera seeds in the side border behind the remainder of the geraniums.
We spent a pleasant afternoon in the sun, reading, listening to Classic FM, looking at our handiwork and being together.