Its been a busy weekend, but we did manage to get to the allotment on Saturday. There wasn't much to do as I had finished all the digging there was to do and we've got about as much manure as we can deal with. However, when we got there we discovered that the Council had been during the week to clear the ditch that runs along the site border just behind our shed. They had done a pretty good job, but left an enormous pile of clippings in a heap beside our shed. We had no idea if they planned to move this themselves, but we decided it would be more efficient if we did it ourselves. So we hauled several barrow-loads to the communal tip and returned with the barrow full of manure. This occupied us for most of the time we were there. We harvested the rest of the carrots and did a bit of tidying, had a cup of tea and came home.

Nils did try to buy some chicken wire to make a bigger leaf mould container, but we were horrified by the price so have decided to see what we have lurking in the back of our garden that might make a suitable container. We had planned to go to the allotment today (Sunday) but the weather was so awful we decided against it. There really wasn't much we could do in the torrential rain and howling gale.

Some time this week I intend to start planning our planting. It's a bit daunting at the moment because there is so much to think about, but if we plan our beds, then I hope the rest will follow! Also, I am trying to persuade Nils that raised beds would be a good idea. I like the idea of having contained areas to plant in that you don't walk on and I feel it would be easier to weed, dig and generally look after beds. Nils is not convinced and thinks that the construction of them would be too time consuming. Watch this space. I have suggested we start with just one or two to see how it goes.

There are no pictures so far this week - but they will come - the photographer in chief has been very busy, not least because he has a brand new Nikon D3 to play with. It's now Tuesday and the pictures have arrived. The following is a view of the allotment site and below is a very Christmassy view of our friendly robin.