Summer again?

After the rain and the "very pleasant 20 degrees" that I mentioned,  it seems that summer has returned as it has been between 25 - 28 degrees this week and this morning it was 20 when we went dog walking at 8am.

When I watered the garden this evening I noticed that the narcissus - narcissi ? - are up, they bloom in December or January but aren't normally up yet, nor are the dwarf hyacinths but they are all up too.  No buds yet, but still early.

This week we've made a start on the spring vegetables.  I found some forgotten sprouting potatoes which I've now planted,  I've dug over some vegetable beds that have been empty for a while and which are nice and soft from the rain and planted the first broad beans, peas and then edged the beds with strawberry runners.

The squash are still flowering but no more 'fruits' have appeared, the first  one has ripened and been  cut and is stored in the kitchen,  the second is ripening.....and that was it  from 2 plants.  My neighbour who gave me the 2 plants,  only had 1 squash from 3 plants so I suppose 2 from 2 isn't so bad.

The first planting of the coriander is up, it was just appearing when it rained and got a bit bashed about but has recovered  and now  I've put some more seeds in the gaps  where nothing grew.

We're picking chillis as needed and hanging the red ones up to dry in strings in the window where they catch the sun. 

Yesterday I picked a bucket full of quince,  not sure of the total weight but each batch of spicy quince chutney uses 2.5 kilos of prepared fruit and this afternoon I made 2 batches - 24 jars altogether.  They are all sealed and labelled but I've not put them onto the shelves yet, I like to keep an eye on them for a day or so just in case.  The lids have 'popped' in so I know they're ok but .....better to be sure.  I don't want one of them  to leak or something even worse.

John  meanwhile has been waterproofing the log store - when it rains the last place you need drips is on your nice dry firewood or on your head while you're fetching some indoors.  He looks a bit rosy tonight, I think he was so busy he didn't notice quite how hot it was.  Certainly won't need a hot water bottle tonight - he glows all by himself!