I’m going to start this post by showing you how much of a grip winter still has on us.
Ice breaks the stones up, its how mountain erode 
A circular frozen puddle 
Doofus getting in the way (and my feet in wellies) 
It’s a fish!
The wind chill was at -5’C yesterday, but those hardy snowdrops, first sign of spring were suddenly out in abundance. The hellebores have stared to flower too.
I’m learning about herb growing just now and we have some established in our garden:
Rosemary 
Bay
And this plant is flowering, don’t know what it is:
Other signs of spring include the Geordie Smallholder taking off his outer layer to free his movements so that he could climb up and fix the guttering in the barn. Thanks to his efforts, the track to the hen house is much dryer.
Is it a bird? is it a plane? 
No, it’s Geordie Smallholder!
The vegetable beds we used last year are to be left fallow this year to recover. We are going to dig in some manure and leave them. We still have beetroot in the ground, so I brought some in and roasted them with other veggies to go with our roast chicken Sunday dinner, lovely!
Veg beds 
Beetroot in situ
The Geordie Smallholder 