A Sunday potter

I keep checking my tomatoes but they haven't germinated yet. Went to the garden centre today and finally bought myself a garden fork. It's a traditional-looking one, with a wooden a y-handle as they were well-reviewed in a magazine recently. At £20 from Wyevale, I thought it was a good deal. Unfortunately, I managed to hit my foot with it when I was forking the garden this afternoon. One of the tines pierced my walking boot and grazed my big toe, but luckily no harm done. Will just have to be more careful in future. At least I've managed to turn over the compost in my bin, which has needed doing for weeks.

Bought some suet feed and so have a variety of sunflower seed, peanuts, suet and fat balls out to attract some birds. I've struggled to get birds to visit the garden in the past, even though the Norwood area is full of birds, due to the woodland that still remains from the Great North Wood. More info on Norwood wildlife can be found here and there is also a list of local bird sightings. I'm sure the fact that we have two cats doesn't help, but I am trying and will report back here.

Anyway, I've marked out the flower borders round my veg plots and have put some border edging in. I was visiting the garden centre by myself so only bought two bags of compost. Will need to go back next week and get the rest. Once that's finished, I just need to get my gravel paths done and I'm ready for planting. Hoping to finish all that next Saturday. We have friends coming to Christine's birthday tea next Sunday, so hoping to get the garden looking tip-top by then.

I also bought one of those cheap mini greenhouses with the plastic covers, which was on special offer. I'm planning on using that for hardening off my plants and growing some of the varieties that prefer to be under cover. It doesn't take up much room in the garden, but looks like it will hold quite a few plants.

I've really enjoyed spending some time in the garden today. The weather is cold but it has been bright with some sun. I felt very at one with the world and relaxed. Looking forward to spending lots more time in the garden in the weeks and months to come.