Coldest Easter on record

My project to document my garden through the seasons during 2012 was quite an interesting exercise and provides a number of references for the year. My entry, alongside images for March, said it was unseasonably warm and reached 16 deg C on March 11.

Not the case this year. Average March temperatures have been just 2.5 deg C, it’s been the coldest winter since 1962 and the coldest Easter on record, with snow recorded in London on Easter day.

I think last Easter, we had some of the boys home and we had a barbecue on the patio. I went outside to do some gardening this year and my hands were frozen within an hour. I wanted to get the big border tidied up and I’ve only got about halfway down it. Even though it was cold, the ground had dried out on top, so it was workable and I managed a good chunk of weeding, also removing a very large clump of Solomon’s seal plants that had rather taken over.

What I couldn’t do was plant any seeds outside. I’m keen to get sunflowers in so that some could be ready for Max and Inna’s wedding in early August. I’ve started some sweet peas off in the house, but they are pretty hardy and won’t mind it being chilly if they go outside in a week or two. If I did sunflowers, it would be much too cold for a half-hardy plant; we really need to get this cold spell out of the way.

On Saturday, Pauline and Chris came for dinner and brought Jasper the labradoodle along. It’s just over a year since they lost Gremlin, so it’s nice that they have a new dog. Jasper is growing fast - he’s almost as tall as Gravel - but still quite unruly. He will make a very nice dog when he calms down a bit and becomes more easily trained. He’s very food-focused, so I’m sure you’ll be able to teach him anything if you have a biscuit in your hand.

I made a cassoulet, with gammon, chicken and sausage. Sam had made one in France and I thought it would go down well. There was far too much and so we have another three or four portions in the freezer to go with the three portions of butternut squash risotto I made on Friday.

On Sunday, we went to see Sam and Lucy for lunch and took Holly and Gravel along. I think Sam was keen to see how Gravel was doing. Springer Spaniels are good travellers - we just put them in the car and they sat happily in the back all the way down to London and all the way back. I’d given up chocolate for Lent and so enjoyed a chocolate Easter chicken for breakfast on Sunday, followed by a three-course lunch at Sam’s (including a meringue with cream and lemon curd). I’ve been keeping a food diary and trying to stay under 2,000 calories per day, so Sunday was a bit of a blip! Gravel and Holly sniffed every inch of Sam’s house and garden. They have a nice enclosed rear garden, so we could just let them out from time to time. Holly liked the fact that she could see people walking past on the street and would have happily stood in the bay window all day woofing at passers-by.

I thought Monday might have been cold but sunny; it was just cold - colder than ever. I had a wee potter outside, but it was nice when Max and Inna arrived and I could come in and chat. I made tartiflette for dinner, so it was another bad day for diets. Max helped me put it together and then we went to the Rose & Crown for a couple of beers leaving Margaret to take over putting it in the oven.

It’s a jolly nice dish and went down very well. Max and Inna will stay a few days and then head to Leicester to spend some time with Inna’s parents. Next weekend, we have a couple of wedding-related tasks. Margaret is going to Kilworth on Saturday for some kind of recce to do with flowers and then we’re there again on Sunday with Michael, Marina, Max and Inna for a tasting session to determine their wedding menu.