pink surprise

There were no hills to be seen at all this morning as I took the dogs out for their walk on the moor, there was only the merest suggestion of darker cloud where the hills should have been! I decided to have a look at the larch tree I blipped the other day, to see how the new growth was coming on and I got such a surprise. The tiny green whorls which I had expected to turn into the characteristic green needles of the larch had turned into the most gorgeous pink fruit. Pre-blip I had never studied the larch in spring before but now suspect that these pink beauties are in fact the precursors of this year's cones, so I will be watching their development with great interest.

After the walk I had a quick lunch then was joined by one of my friends who had bravely offered to help me with the daunting task of clearing out my shed so that I could at least get into it! It was a task I had attempted to sort last year but had failed dismally! I'm not very tidy but I have two very tidy friends and in times like this they are like gold dust!

We spent nearly five hours first emptying the shed, then cleaning it and deciding which items to bin and which deserved a place in their new tidy home before we were able to start the task of putting things back. As this hadn't really been my domain until 2 years ago there were many items lurking amongst the cobwebs at the back which I didn't even know were there. We found wonderful old gardening tools which were in dire need of a clean and sharpen, heavy mallets for stone and wooden posts and two ancient steel pins.... at least that's what I think they are. It was fascinating and with two of us working, with the help of Cara and Bruce of course, it was good fun. My friend said that she had really enjoyed herself too, adding " I do like a challenge!". Tomorrow we will continue and hopefully finish the job.