Tiny Growing Things.

I'm looking forward to turning over the calendar. I like the change, I've finished with January, it went ok, and I am happy that I have some nice things penciled-in for February and, moreso, March. The weather should be improving little by little now that the first month is over, don't you think? Well, we were lucky enough to see the sunshine this afternoon- I had to take off my woolly hat and gloves on the way to school to collect Pickle Missy. I do love seeing signs of Spring.

I'm no gardener, but it might be time to get out there again soon. We have a tiny courtyard, and in the winter, it has pansies and a few bits and bobs, but in the summer, it does grander things like this:

You can just see over the fence into next-door's yard- I can't take any credit for the busy lizzies! 

We loved our Little Bit of Outside last year. I can't wait for the sunflowers and the tomatoes again. The carrots were fun too, and I'm hoping to do hanging baskets of strawberries this time. This afternoon, I noticed that my garden has been doing Very Clever Things like this:

which I'm quite excited about. I wanted to share this excitement with you! The nice thing is- I'm not even sure what I planted anymore, as I buried lots of bulbs that I'd found in the garage. They'd accumulated over time, from different people, but all the ones that looked like possibilities went in, in the vague hope that something might flower. So it will be a real surprise! This little discovery today reminded me of a beautiful passage in The Secret Garden- my favourite book as a child.

"...she thought she saw something sticking out of the earth- some sharp little pale green points. She remembered what Ben Weatherstaff had said, and she knelt down to look at them. 'Yes, they are tiny growing things and they might be crocuses, or snowdrops or daffodils', she whispered."

xxx