getting ready for floor screeding....

The icy winds that have dominated March, making it the coldest for over fifty years, continue.

once-beautiful helebores....

Last chance for us to get ready for floor screeding tomorrow. This is where the concrete layer that forms an even floor surface above polystyrene insulation and underfloor heating pipes is laid and trowelled smooth. I must say I'm more nervous about this than anything else we've done. I've only spoken to the floor screeder over the phone, he's never visited us and I am hoping that both he, his team and the tonnes of floor screed we've ordered all arrive. If all goes well they'll be finished by Wednesday pm and then we must wait until the floor is hard enough to walk on.

And as soon as it is, we have our airtightness test. Blimey, I thought OFSTED was bad!!!

But with work complete inside for a few days, it was chance for us to begin some monster catching up. First, another big slice of lasagne gardening with juicy horse manure in the meat layer this time : another 18m2 covered along the drive edge.

scorched rhubarb

Then tying our rush matting back to the fence. It's been battered by the cold easterlies and was flapping about like a flag of surrender and ready to give in.

Jill was then on a mission to tidy the mightily neglected polytunnel while I continued the 'weed the perennial trial beds' marathon.

And all the time the tundra winds blew. Here's some sorry helebores from the woodland garden who get the full force of the easterly winds, poor things. Even rhubarb has suffered.

Another cold week ahead....