After the storms... (well at least the snow!)

I am up at 6am and just listening to a very tentative dawn chorus, don't blame them in this very inclement weather which defiantly feels more winter than Spring. Last Fri (6 April) was a day of full sunshine and everyone seemed more cheerful and uplifted with the suns rays. Is it my imagination that when I was young the dawn chorus was so loud it wok me up. I visited a friend early March , who lives in a mountain village in Spain. In the mornings I woke up listening to a dawn chorus that reminded me of my childhood. The wonderful thing about such a holiday is I could just lie there listening to it and not think about all the reasons why I should get up and 'do' something.

I missed storm Emma in England but had the torrential rain, mud slides and fallen trees in Spain which made travel dangerous. Made me remember how dangerous it was to travel in the rains when I worked in Flores, Indonesia. We could be cut off for a month at a time. We are so used to travel in England, that a day of not being able to go anywhere seems near 'catastrophic'. When it snowed in Child Okeford our deliveries couldn't get to the farm shop but then again nor could our customers. Could we have managed for a month of no deliveries or customers? Unlikely to happen in North Dorset but an interesting thought to play around with.

My youngest son Phil came back from 6 months travelling to our 2nd cold snap of snow. His first w/e back and Stephen's last was spent zooming down Hambledon on sledges.

Just like the birds the veg aren't too sure what to do, grow or stay dormant. So very slow the outdoor stuff but the indoor Spinach, Chard, spring Onions and Lettuce have been springing (sorry about the pun) into growth and can be seen green and fresh in the farm shop. Allotment growers are boasting that they have just got their Potatoes in this past week whereas we haven't been able to do any field preparations at all. Except for opening up raised beds and loosening the soil with forks. Philip can prove it from the blisters on his hands.

Philip is replacing Stephen and helping me in the farm shop and we both look forward to meeting you and having a moan about the weather!