Without getting my hopes up too much, I think I can honestly say, that I think the storm surrounding us is passing (well for the time being anyway). As we head into spring, the horrendous rain that has soaked the ground repeatedly, and the winds that have destroyed things in their path are easing (well at least it is not every day). All I can say is this is definitely a winter we would like to put behind us.

And there have been numerous storms – literally. The first one – the roof leaked. The second one brought down a tree onto the neighbour’s fence to the side of us, only then to have one crash down onto our carport a few hours later, narrowly missing our chickens, and some minor damage to the guttering on the carport (the roofer is also sorting that too). The next storm resulted in a tree going through our fence at the back and landing on the neighbour’s car. The next one, took off the clearlite on our porch. With insurances sorted, roof almost repaired, and the fencing to be finished once the scaffolding is removed, I am most certainly looking forward to putting things behind us, and moving forward.

While we can dwell on what has been, I also know that we have had some lucky escapes. There have been two instances this year where we have been lucky we haven’t lost parts of our gardens – first with the drainage issue in the pipes, and the second one with the two trees going down. By pure chance, they fell in opposite directions to the gardens. By chance, no one was around at the time which would have been much worse.

In terms of the spring gardens, preparation is still slow going. I am still recovering from my cold/sinus infection, and am perhaps a week or two behind where I would like to be. But I know my limits, and for once I listened to my body (and my husband).

In the meantime, our ‘grow cage’ has come out, and my 12 year old put it together with me this morning before school. We have looked at getting a small greenhouse in the past, but strangely enough, it was weather conditions and strong winds that put us off. We have found that this cage keeps the seedlings safe, and by initially covering them with the plastic, we are able to keep them warmer promoting good growth rates. The cage is placed in our porch area which acts as a second dining room. It is fully enclosed on three sides, and while it can get extremely hot over summer, it is a perfect place for us to start our seeds off. I will be intrigued though as to whether we have any difference with our plant growth this year as our roof is now slightly tinted. 

And tomorrow's job - getting those pots out and filled with seed-raising mix (well that is the goal anyway).