It seemed today that Martin had brought the sun home with him.

The day was bright and warm and I pottered around at home to get some chores done and to make a start on work in the garden. I washed down the patio furniture and found what was left of the teak oil from last year. Unfortunately the spray bottle it was in it had seized up as the oil in the nozzle dried. Despite all my attempts I couldn’t free the mechanism and after pulling the trigger on the spray a dozen all more times all I had was a pressurized teak oil grenade. In the end I had to give up and break it open.

I’d wanted to do more in the garden but I had to give up, realising that I was still waiting for the return of some tools from L’s. The last gardening I’d done was at her place to make the front look a little better.

After a call to Martin to see how they were settling in we were off to Ann’s for the first barbecue of the year. Fhai stayed behind and slept but the rest of us came armed with wine hoping for Paul’s home made burgers.

The sun wasn’t warm enough to let us sit out too late (and I acquired a fleece from Ann to keep me warm) so in the end we retired to the conservatory for cheese, wine and blues from Paul’s amazing record collection.

It’s not summer, but it’s a start.