neglecting tasks

One is utterly ashamed to say that one has not been out during the brief recent sunny spell to cut the roses. I know this job needs doing - Bob has already started his - but I have been tardy to say the least.

It's not that I don't want to - I think as I get older I shy away from any sort of activity which means I have to do something akin to work, although seriously cutting roses and pruning has always been one of my favourite activities.

So,here I am, today, sitting here computing and writing up features instead of being out there pruning. I have done a little snipping here and there but nothing to shout about. Everything is still wrapped up in fleece - I know to be wary of frosts in Cumbria in March and even in April - and so I feel that the garden is still asleep despite signs of vibrant life in several quarters.

Anyway, I have been thoroughly absorbed in Chelsea preparations and hope that you will be too as the latest information and gardens are posted onto the website. But Spring is getting nearer, I can feel it, and with it a slight skip of the heart, an anticipation of things to come, glories to see and gardens to visit - I can't wait!

Alfred Hitchcock once said that "a good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it." The same applies to gardening. It's wonderful when all the roses and plants start bursting into bloom and you sit there and cast a satisfied eye over your creation - it's worth all the hard work just for that brief moment.

I'm pretending not to see the weeds and our green wheelie bin man thinks I have a terminal illness because I haven't been filling up the bin! Well now that March is here watch out! The rake and hoe will come out and hopefully I will finally get round to that pruning.