Springy spring

The day started off misty and then cloudy (I'm told so at least by someone who was up early). By the time I rolled out of bed it was brightening up. But as penance for a lovely lie in, I painted all day instead of working in the garden. So the guest room has had its final coat of paint (bar some naughty walls that need a bit more) and Katherine's window has been painted again - taking advantage of her being off on a sleepover tonight.

There was some time for garden activities at the end of the day; so the raspberry is planted, and some more planning has been done - along with a lot of sitting in the dying sunshine watching the birds.

There are four 'flower' beds in front of the house: the ones on the right have flowers and garlic in, the ones on the left have one whole bed of potatoes, interplanted with lettuce, radish and herbs, and the other one on the left is entirely full of irises. Here they are - well here is part of the seven metres or so. They are so overgrown that there is barely a square inch of earth visible between all the rhizomes - so I think I will have to clear them out a bit this year. But between all the knife-like leaves you can see here (and yes, I do know there's grass in there too) one bulb iris has come up with a perfect trio of flowers. And today I spotted that the first of these irises are coming out. Between that, the blossom and the fresh green leaves that have burst out, it's all feeling rather spring-like.

(Though I could do without the long grass on the unused half of the terrace which is about two feet tall now.)