More growing

The recent rain has really brought on the outdoor plants, who despite being watered regularly have loved the deep drenching that a few hours of steady rainfall provides.

These recent mornings have meant early starts for me. I may be a bit bleary-eyed at five thirty but the sun is up and the croft is still and peaceful.

It’s just me, the cats and the birds, all singing their hearts out. Well, the cats don’t sing, obviously – they just yawn and demand first breakfast.

Husband manages to go back to sleep until a more civilised hour.

Blackbird, willow warbler, blue tit, chaffinch, wren, cuckoo, dove, siskin, robin, meadow pipit, raven, all serenading the morning. The Merlin bird app has been so useful, identifying birds from their song when you can’t see them in the froth of spring foliage of the trees.

I bake with the patio doors thrown open to allow the cool morning air in whilst the oven is on.

And our first strawberries of the summer! So sweet and fresh.

This is a good time of the year on the Croft. A golden few weeks of sun and rain, long, light mornings and rosy evenings late into the night before the midges start…