Half Past March

 The car went for it's annual service and MOT on Monday and I didn't even have to take it the 3 miles because Ashley,one of mechanics, now lives in the next village so left his car here and picked up mine as he passed by on his way to work. Later in the morning Tom, the boss, rang up to warn me that out of the four tyres, one would be a MOT fail, one was on the cusp and the two front ones, which were only replaced by them 3 years ago were not going to last much longer either! I resigned myself to a large bill ((sigh)) At least I now have a car with 4 good tyres which should last longer than 3 years as they are a better quality than the make they'd been using............... until they had so many problems.

 Good job I know and trust them or I'd think they were ripping off a helpless old woman!

They managed to order the tyres in ,service the car, and get the  MOT done all in one day and Ashley swapped cars again on his way home. The bill was huge...........

The Council Tax statement thing for the year arrived, I eventually managed to get through to the District Council to change it to direct debit so that I'll get the £150 "gift" from the government without having to claim it. My bungalow here is Band D, Clay Cottage was Band F - a saving of £60 a month - thank goodness!

 

Growing Food..................If only germination was always like this....................

 

 

Do I need 8 Aubergine plants? No, but I sowed 8 seeds, just in case, and all 8 have germinated.

Do I need 4 Pointy Red Peppers? No, but I sowed 4 seeds, just in case, and all 4 have germinated.

There are also 5 out of 6 Orange block peppers beginning to pop up. Fingers crossed they stay alive until big enough to be transplanted!

I've being growing my own food for 40 years but every spring I  still get scared of a total failure !

On Wednesday  late evening there was a storm here with rain and  gusts of wind and this is what greeted me on Thursday morning. I'd only moved it from out of the corner where it had stood sheltered all winter just the day before. What a mess.

The stand itself is OK but the clay saucers have either cracked or broken. The wet and windy weather also carried in lots of Saharan sand so the windows, car and everything else are splattered. This happens at least once a year, more usually in Summer and always gets mentioned on the news as if it's never happened before. The sand is just a fine dust so doesn't do any damage, it gets carried here high in the atmosphere then lands on Suffolk and Norfolk.

 The buds on the Magnolias are all beginning to open. Still think it's a bit odd to have two Magnolia trees side by side in one small garden but they will stay as they're both a good size.

What gorgeous weather we had here in Suffolk after the Wednesday storm. Lovely sunshine, although a chilly wind in places..........it is only March after all............but I took a chair into the greenhouse and soaked up some sun. The weatherman said yesterday that it might be dry for the rest of the month that sounds very good.

This week I have been grateful for

• Living in a safe country
  
• Sunshine
• Car service and MOT sorted.
• Seeds germinating

Guess where I'll be this morning - and with better weather there might be more people selling than on previous Saturdays.

 Have a good weekend, I shall return, with or without treasures, on Monday.

Sue