Echinacea 4

Late night - not a good idea on a school day as Challenge warned me. A very convivial evening in travellersjoy's candlelit conservatory as a farewell to Dorianne. Delicious food and too much red wine, and a very hilarious and competitive game of pictionary. Fortunately Monday's mornings at school are always fairly calm. I always start off in the big room with 15 minutes brain gym - breathing and stretching exercises which are meant to wake us up and get all cylinders firing. This is completed with a massage, performed extremely seriously and by now rather expertly, in pairs.!! I then have to go and do the same thing, slightly modified, in the small room by which time I am quite spaced out! I think everyone would agree that the massage is the highlight of the day and a great way to start things off.

Yes, another damp, humid, grey, 'soft' day.Great for working in the garden. I cleared the old onion bed, pulled out masses of strawberry plants that had colonised since pulling the onions - I'm not keeping them apart from as a border, for although they look impressive they have not produced one single strawberry. I then dug it, accompanied by a little robin, a surprised frog and a curious cat. I filled one compost trough and covered it with old cardboard from the (too) numerous amazon purchases. The midges were out in force though, so I've been eaten alive. The echinacea is now dying, but still interesting. You can see its development here.