There may be a few signs of an early spring around us: the first yellow celandines in ditches, snowdrops in our back border, but I am relieved to say that the apple trees in the lawn are still dormant. The rain water that washed up and back again from the park appears not to have damaged them and these young trees needed minimal attention in December/January. I took off one small twig that was growing at an odd angle downwards. I haven't bothered to prune the blackcurrants, or our two new blueberry bushes that have been potted up a size in the correct compost and have been placed in a warm spot by the greenhouse.
Out in our front garden the strawberries sit above the water-table on a mound formed by my husband. We go for local walks in brief sunny periods where early and amorous birds sing in the woods. I look out of my window onto sodden grass and embroider stylized fruit on a small canvas square, strawberries flowering and fruiting in cross stitch - in a world where slugs do not strike, birds do no damage, frost brings no blight and damp does not rot.
