We've still been having a very mixed bag weatherwise here. Not only have the alternate showers of rain and spells of sun been good for all the wildflowers, they've also been great for the garden and my little herb wall that I planted earlier in the year has really filled in. It's actually become a bit of a herb jungle and I need to get snipping and drying some shoots. A month ago it looked like this…

 

and now it looks like this…

 

 

 

 

Fruit is doing well too. Strawberries…

 

Raspberries…

 

and apples…

 

 

…are all swelling nicely and I am looking forward to a good harvest later in the year (if I can keep the slugs at bay – there seems to be an army of them this year!)

 

Typically for a British bank holiday we've spent the long weekend dodging rain showers. Luckily there have been some dry spells that were long enough for Toby to have some bouncy time and for me to potter around the garden. I had bought some new herbs to replace those that have been in situ for a few years and gone all woody and now they're happily bedded into my little herb wall.

 

 

In between the herbs I've planted a few little violas – they were on sale and are so pretty that it would have been unkind not to give them a home. There were a few too many to fit into the wall and as the herbs will probably crowd them out, I've popped them into a pot.

 

Since the weather isn't yet good enough for us to be spending much time outside I've brought them inside so that I can appreciate their delicate prettiness all the time.

 

 

 

It's nice to have a little taste of spring inside the house, though I hope that Toby isn't tempted to literally taste them – I've not had fresh flowers in the house since the peony munching incident!