Another short blog from me at the end of another day dominated as much by the weather as anything else. Call this May? It’s bleedin’ freezing! Today Dawn and I went out for a light lunch with her parents over at Totties garden centre in ‘Last of the summer wine’ territory just outside Holmfirth. They have a good cafe there where John and Norah are regulars. The only problem is Totties is on the side of a hill and a stiff breeze left the place ‘Baltic’! I was glad we had a nice warm cafe to seek refuge in. It was hardly salad weather so three of us ended up ordering Sausage, chips and mushy peas with onion gravy, which was far more suitable – and warming.

Of course, I couldn’t resist a mooch around after eating so I left the others in the cafe and checked out what was on offer. They have a good range of plants but it was some of the plastic pots that really caught my eye as they had stuff in sizes and at prices I can’t find around home. In the end, I didn’t buy any but I’ve certainly got my eye on a few for the future when I’ve done some more changes to the terraces at the back of the house. I did end up with a couple of plants but they were indoor ones. I spied a plant I’d not owned for years. In fact, it’s so long ago I can’t even remember where and when it was I had it. I suspect it was in my flat in East London, but the memory’s hazy. It’s called Hypoestes. They’re small plants that have attractive pink polka dot leaves, although I also managed to pick up a red-leaved one too – all for £4.50. Back at their house Norah dived into the greenhouse and shared some Gladioli bulbs with me and some ‘Golden Rod’ which we dug out of the front garden. This will add a splash of colour to the back of the house later in the year.

It wasn’t the weather for hanging around in the garden so we quickly bade goodbye and came home to the warm, where Dawn’s stayed ever since (sensible woman!) whilst I potted up my new acqusitions before heading out for a walk to get my remaining steps in. I’ve always said the two valley’s (Calder and Colne) have their own microclimates and today was another example. The temperature at home felt a couple of degrees warmer than over in Huddersfield, but then we do benefit from being on the sheltered side of the valley and South facing, so we catch the sun. I’m hoping we’ll catch more of it tomorrow as the weather’s due to pick up, then I can get more jobs done around the place.

To round of the day I’ve spent some time editing travel pictures from Turkey which you can find in this gallery. There’s many more to add yet, so today’s picture is a sample. Here’s the inside of the magnificent blue Mosque, looking up into the domed roof.

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