Last week, during daylight hours, you could almost believe that it was summer. The clear blue skies came with a downside: as the sun set, the temperature plummeted. Sudden extreme temperature fluctuations are not what is needed when trying to raise seedlings.
Ruby’s coat was very thick, so we arranged for the groomer to bring forward her visit. This was three weeks early. We determined that if the weather changed, it would be easier to keep Ruby warm than to keep her cool in higher temperatures.
The sunshine has brought on the blossom. The blackthorn in the park is beautiful.
Our pear trees are covered in flowers. An added bonus is that the later pear tree is flowering earlier, so the two trees may cross-pollinate.
The earliest of our blueberry bushes has plenty of flowers.
We hoped that it would rain before we needed to do any more planting, but that was not to be. Last week, we planted another bed of potatoes.
We planted some cauliflowers, cabbages and calabrese.
The strawberry plants in the greenhouse needed to be moved out, so we planted up our new strawberry bed.
As the soil was so dry, before planting the brassicas and strawberries, we filled up the planting holes with water. We also gave them a good watering after planting.
We’ve been watering the onions and garlic, which seems strange at this time of year. It is also strange to see the plot looking so empty when the weather is confusing us as to the season.
We weeded and cleared our final bed, accompanied by the ever-present chief pest controller. At times, we had to take care not to tread on him/her as he/she foraged around our feet.
This video shows him/her at work
Now we need a decent amount of rain so that Martyn can till the soil to break up the hard lumps.
I really empathise with farmers trying to battle against our fickle weather. At least for us, it is not our livelihood at stake.
Our afternoon out last week took us to Belton House in Lincolnshire, an hour and 45 minutes south of us. Ruby amazes us. She has never been to Belton before, but a few minutes before we arrived, she began to act as though she knew that we were close to our destination. It’s uncanny how she always does this wherever we are heading,
As it was school Easter holidays and good weather, we guessed that it would be busy, which it was. We took a packed lunch with us to avoid having to queue at the cafe and so give ourselves more time to explore.
When visiting National Trust properties, as Ruby isn’t allowed in the houses, we confine our visits to the outdoors. Belton is set in a 1,300 acre estate, so there is plenty to explore.
The garden close to the house is set out formally. Ruby had to be kept on a short lead, but she doesn’t mind when there is lots to see and sniff. I can’t understand why Nostell is the only NT property within a reasonable travelling distance from us that doesn’t allow dogs into its garden. The garden at Nostell is more naturalistic, whereas estates where gardens are formally laid out with neat lawns have no problem welcoming canine visitors. Nostell’s excuse is that they want to cater for everyone and not everyone likes dogs, but they are not catering for dog owners. I suggested that they just have certain days in the week when dogs are welcome, but no. They are missing an opportunity as other properties tell us that when the weather is poor, they rely on people with dogs visiting. Dogs need to be taken walking, whatever the weather. Mini rant over!
As you move further from the house, the gardens become less formal.
There are thousands of daffodils, and although most of the flowers were over when we visited, there were still some drifts to enjoy.
We need to visit again next year, a little earlier in the season.
As is usual with NT properties, there was a lakeside walk to enjoy.
Many NT properties have a deer park. We headed away from the gardens and walked alongside the river towards the deer park, but we ran out of time and had to head back to the car park. 
The only deer that we encountered were the cut-out images of various species. Another reason to make a return visit.
That’s all for this week, so as always, until next time, stay safe and stay well.
I’m not a dog owner, but can’t see the problem in not allowing dogs into gardens and grounds, as long as they are well behaved and kept on a lead if necessary.
It’s good to be able to start planting on the allotment. Our first early potatoes are planted in their bags and we’ll be doing the second earlies soon. It has been very dry here. Our water butts will need filling up soon from the tap if we don’t get enough rain.
We really enjoyed our visit to Belton, somewhere we’ll definitely visit again. Eleanor and Jacob had tickets for their light show at Christmas but they had to cancel as Jacob and Jack were ill. Yes, it’s very annoying when places don’t allow dogs in, as you say, they’re happy that we take our dogs to their properties so they should be a little more accommodating.