Must be Spring..?

Certainly today looked lovely, from the sun rising at 7.30am all the way through to the late afternoon, though as I shut the front door just now I realised that a biting easterly wind had sprung up; I wasn't aware of it earlier. I was actually awake far too early - before 6am - which is unusual for me; it was still properly dark, so it can't have been the light which woke me. I'm beginning to wonder if it was a dream that left me feeling so anxious and disturbed, though I can only vaguely remember that there was dreaming ...

Pilates this morning was very challenging, partly because we were only six today and tended to chat mid-position, so that we were, for example, sitting on the point of our backsides with our feet off the floor and our bent knees holding the position - all the while conducting a conversation until we suddenly realised we were all getting the trembles ... I'm beginning to ache in strange places now.

Then it was home to do my Italian before lunch. I'd not made any bread, but I had restored and revived the sourdough starter which I'd abandoned in the fridge many months ago so that the liquid on top was black and the smell very powerful and acrid. Having got rid of most of the black liquid, I added fresh flour and water in a clean jar and got it bubbling again before returning it to the fridge, so today I had some lovely fragrant starter to make into crêpes, which we spread thickly with hummus and topped with sliced tomatoes before folding them over ... very yummy.

The Spring bit happened after that. The roses have been sprouting, in particular the rosa rugosa that rampage cheerfully where I let them, so as it was sunny and slightly warm I decided this was pruning day. I did them all, some more savagely than others, and tidied up the pots, removing dead stems and so on, and put it all in the collapsing bin in the shed until Himself has a moment to visit the dump. I'm beginning to feel strange pains in my wrists and hands now - fear I may have overdone it. Anyway, that's my photo for today, showing the big drum filled with prunings, along with three sets of secateurs and my gardening gloves. Despite wearing them, my hands are beginning to ache.

We were home in time for a relatively early dinner. I won't be early for supper, but I can head bed wards before midnight and avoid falling asleep over the keyboard ...