I to get a perverse pleasure in hand selecting my seed potatoes at my local garden centre. my old dad used to say, pick them the size of a good chicken egg. Wished I had listened to him a bit more, such knowledge.

Well believe it or not here my rosemary is flowering, primroses too, i have ripe tomatoes on one surviving plant in the uheated lean-to-greenhouse,the others died off because i didn't have time for watering them, the rhubarb is showing and - i couldn't believe my eyes, i noticed one shoot of asparagus showing when planting some parsley, amazing! the garden is currently in a mess, mum's needs took priority and she was highly dependent, she is now in long term respite care, hopefully i should have time to catch up with the garden soon, a bit busy at the moment still liasing with the nursing home and all the other people involved in her care, phone going non stop, couldn't even eat my lunch in peace but the phone rang, wish i could be here more, love to you All

Dear Nature's Babe, hope all goes well with you Mums care.
You have done a wonderful job so far and your Mum has been very lucky to have you there.

1c this morning but it felt colder.

We had a bit of everything yesterday evening. Strong wind, pouring rain, hail, snow, thunder and lightning and a brief power cut. Wintry showers today but not sticking here at 600' but a bit white just above us.

Frosty out there this morning. And looks set for a few more days of more wintry weather. But it's better than our perpetual rain or drizzle which has turned everything to slime and mud

From the allotment this morning (thick crust of frost on the surface), we had a lovely view of a snow-covered Pendle Hill in Lancashire, 12 miles away, looking very wintry.

Beautiful, warm, sunny morning here this morning, the birds are singing and there is plenty of wildlife about.

Well that's what i'm hoping for when it gets light....

Dream on dear optimist!

Your forecast seems to prefer cloud and temperatures creeping up to 3 or 4.

So wrap up warm

[edit]In case you think I'm gloating, on the menu for us today: persistent heavy rain preceded by snow [/edit]

Morning Alan, gloating is a word that i never really use, and i certainly would never think of you gloating at all.

Gloating? More like floating with all this rain

Very cold, not freezing, but lots of fog.

I've got a County U20s rugby match to assist with, so either rushing round inside where its warm, or, standing around outside where its cold.

Lovely Rosy dawn and everything frozen. Friday's snow has gone, but the pond is frozen over and all the grass is crisp and white. It is clouding up now, so thawing a bit. Too frozen to do the pruning I'd planned, but have had half an hour on the rowing machine and cycle to Thin Lizzy, to keep things moving!

Might sow a few peas for pea shoots from the spare saved seeds.

While at the allotment today, getting on with a few jobs.... Minding my own business,

A guy at the top, came down to have a chat , to see how I was getting on. He was there digging up his last parsnips... And then asked if I would like one as he was going home to freeze them

Is it allotment correctness to accept these offerings, or do you offend someone by declining ?

Accept, but ensure he's first to get an offer of some produce from you later.