Late winter sunset...

The house seemed very quiet today, with Alex away in Newcastle. Pete and I did some much needed clearing in the garden in the morning, trying to reverse some of the neglect that was a result of last year's awful weather. We produced huge piles of prunings - but there's still a lot more to be done.

The early brightness was soon replaced by grey clouds, so I retreated indoors to fill in all my threatened species forms from 2012. Later in the afternoon the sky began to clear again, and Ben and I went for a brisk walk round Ferry Meadows with Rosie. The wind was bitter and we didn't stop long for any photographs. The sunset was pleasant but not stunning...

By early evening the rather gusty wind had dropped, so we decided to have a big bonfire to get rid of the prunings, just in case there was any rain on Sunday. All three of us pitched in and we soon got through all the cuttings - so we're ready for Phase 2 now!