Could that have been the first day of Spring. The first day of March and from early morning the sky has been blue and the sun out. By mid-morning it was beating down on the South facing front door and there was a real warmth to it.

We had been up early to pick up some of the teenage pieces from the night before and drop the son off in Chester. I came back on Chester Old Road and stopped at Edge’s the Butchers. I had wanted to get a couple of lamb shanks for tomorrow’s late lunch but they didn’t have any. I bought a small rack of beef ribs instead. I’m not sure how I will cook them. Some recipes suggest braising them. I may just roast it in a hot oven on a bed of onions and smeared with some English mustard.

The morning’s other excitement was the arrival of almost all of my seeds. The only thing missing was a pack of orange beetroot seeds. I will plant those out tomorrow.

In the garden I was clearing up dog shit, building up defences against the culprit and burning wet leaves. It has been dry the last couple of days but the leaves were still really too wet to burn. However I managed to get some of them away. As white smoke billowed across the garden and I bent my head down to stop from choking on it a small brown mouse crept from under the disturbed pile of leaves. It sniffed the air and then looked up me and then turned to go back into its hole. It was well down from the main body of the fire so it should be okay in there.