NOT at my best

 I have - unsurprisingly - acquired the cold that Gabby had on holiday.  Not a bad one - a bit of a sore throat, a bit of a sniffle - until yesterday when I came back from my walk and suddenly felt chilled.  I retired to the sofa with a hotty botty and a woollen blanket, but that wasn't enough and I had to turn the central heating on for a while.  I even put my electric blanket on before I went to bed AND took up a hotty botty.  I woke in the night from a nightmare where I was struggling to breath, to find out that yes, I was struggling to breath and think this may be the start of a chest infection.  

A bank of Violets.  I have lots in my garden too - they were just in the lawn but are now in the gravel stretch beside the lawn too.

I shall rest up today, and be glad that I made the most of yestrerday's sunshine.  We are back to overcast and chilly this morning. I pottered around yesterday but managed to achieve this: 

1.  Cleared kitchen table.  Books put away, pile of paperwork sorted.

2.  Started sorting out proper compost heap.  Took outer printed skin off ancient banana boxes put out to recycle, and tore up inner card for compost. Added contents of sewing room bin.  Added more water.

3.  Topped up planters with soil from planter than the roofers managed to drop something on and smashed the edge, and planted a pack of mixed colour Nasturtiums.  Did some weeding around roses in the front.

4.  Did a load of washing.

5.  Sorted out a box of old stock in stables and checked through two others.  Need to further sort out and put some stuff for charity shop. Put all china cats in same box.

6.  Emptied a Tamzin Box from attic, some stuff for her, some to chuck, and repurposed it for sewing things in the craft room.

7. Went for a walk.

I was going to bake Norwegian Apple Cake from one of the Library Books, but ran out of energy so will do that after breakfast today.  I may make some cookies too, as the lovely Debbie from deepest Pembrokeshire, sent me some Betty Crocker Cookie magazines.  Bless you Debbie.

My wonderful Copper Beech just coming into leaf.

Not sure quite what to make of the latest (and last) season of Outlander.  Claire and Jamie both seem to be more irritable, or perhaps I mean less tolerant.  I was NOT expecting what happened to Fergus as it departed totally from the book.  Does anyone else follow it?  I have all her novels, and most of them on Audible too, though I find some of the details hard to cope with since Keith's death, as elements bring it all back and I am driving along crying.  I have to say as a love story, and historically accurate series, it is brilliant.  Is anyone else a fan and been following every word?

I shall have a sofa morning and carry on reading Elly Griffiths The Night Hawks which I got from the Charity Shelf in Tesco's.  It bears re-reading. I read Marram by Leonie Charlton, whilst I was away on holiday.  It was a birthday present (along with two others).  It tells of an ambitious ride on Highland ponies the length of the Outer Hebrides.  Well worth reading.  I am debating about starting The Dovekeepers next.

I have never noticed this before - Dog's Mercury after pollination.