I love that expression, don’t you? I love the concept that the dead are spending their days making the lives of the living a bit more special. Well, special that is, if you consider daisies to be among the finest examples of nature at its best. Tiny, unassuming, yet with that little flash of flamboyance that a casual glance doesn’t reveal, in their tiny pink tipped petals. Daisies are, in my view, nature’s finest hour. So, please, if you’re under there, do carry on pushing them up even if it’s only for me.

This weekend, despite being the traditional start of the gardening calendar, is quiet for me. I’ve not yet cut my lawns this year. There are unfinished jobs all over the garden, including a pond, dug, lined and full of water (and a teeny bit of frogspawn) but not yet finished off. There are bits of chopped off tree and shrub all over the place where I needed to get them done before the sap started to rise but I didn’t have time to finish the job and deal with the cuttings.

However, I HAVE planted my potatoes, onions and shallots. I have also got loads of exotic chillis, tomatoes, cabbages, chard, sweet peppers and herbs in the greenhouse. So, I’m not too far behind.

Today though, along with yesterday, my sole activities have been washing and drying laundry along with keeping our weekend houseguest happy by providing a comfy chair in the garden, books, food and drink. That’s it. Wash, put on line, take off line, sort, put away, daydream, snooze, chat with Colin and DM, daydream, snooze, plot recipes and ideas for meals, snooze, chat, daydream………

I can’t honestly say that I’ve been a good hostess this weekend although Colin says he has been happy enough with my efforts. I’ve learned (via my psychologist) that I don’t have to be first out of bed, on stand-by in the kitchen as my guests arrive, dispensing tea and toast immediately they appear in order for them to be happy and comfortable here. Sometimes, I can cut myself a bit of slack and doze on the sofa and let them doze too or read or whatever. I am learning to be kind to myself. It’s about time.